A Video Response to my Old Phantom Menace Review

While writing my post on the prequels a last month I read through my old reviews for Episodes I and III. As I now completely disagree with them, I decided to make a video rebuttal about them. Earlier this month I did a video on Revenge of the Sith. Today, after some delay, I've finished my video response to my Phantom Menace Review:

Western Wednesdays: Cowboys from Texas (1939)

     Cowboys from Texas was released on November 29th, 1939. Directed, once again, by George Sherman, it is the second film in the series to feature the trio of Robert Livingston (newly returned to replace John Wayne who had left the series after the success of Stagecoach) playing Stony Brooke, Raymond Hatton as Rusty Joslin (a character who had been revamped somewhat after the departure of Wayne and Ray Corrigan) and Duncan Renaldo as Rico Rinaldo (a new character created to replace Corrigan's Tuscon Smith). In it the three heroes join together to prevent a range war between their fellow ranchers and the newly arrived homesteaders.

     A noteworthy factoid about this particular crop of Mesquiteers movies with Livingston, Hatton and Renaldo is that Livingston began to utilize his Lone Ranger persona (the actor had played the character in Republic's second Lone Ranger serial) alongside his Stony Brooke character. Here Stony infiltrates the gang run by Duke Plummer, who is trying to pit the ranchers against the homesteaders, in order to discover their plans. When he does he puts on a mask to hide his identity and thwarts Plummer's schemes as "the masked rider."

     This film features Charles Middleton, who's best known for playing Ming in the Flash Gordon serials, as Kansas Jones the leader of the homesteaders. He makes for a surprisingly forthright and honest farmer. His daughter, June, is a solid love interest as played by Carole Landis, who would make a name for herself in Hal Roach's One Million B.C. before her tragic suicide at the age of 29 just 8 years later. Ethan Laidlaw's Duke Plummer makes for a decent enough heavy but is outshone somewhat by Betty Compson's Belle Starkey, an unscrupulous saloon owner whose in bed with Plummer.

     Raymond Hatton's "Rusty" Joslin is more of a blowhard compared to Terhune's mischievous yet reliable Lullaby. Though the equal of his two companions when it comes to fighting, shooting or riding, he falls short when it comes to charm or charisma. Duncan Renaldo, a Romanian American actor who would go on to play the Cisco Kid, plays a somewhat stereotypical Mexican cowboy as Rico Rinaldo. He's eminently charming and competes with Stony and Rusty for June's affections. This makes for a more comedic tone then previous entries in the series, with Hatton and Renaldo providing the comedic contrast to Livingston's straight man but without the stolid Corrigan, it feels a little unbalanced.

     Like all the Mesquiteers movies Cowboys from Texas is action packed and features plenty of exciting chases and fight. The highlight is certainly the big shootout with Plummer's gang in the middle of town that serves as the film's climax, set off after an unmasked Stony reveals Plummer's treachery. Yakima Canutt's stunt-work is top notch as always.

Score: 7/10

Western Wednesdays: New Frontier (1939)

     New Frontier was released on August 10th, 1939. Directed by George Sherman and written by Betty Burbridge and Luci Ward it is the last of the Three Mesquiteers movies to star John Wayne. In it the Mesquiteers find themselves in the middle of an eminent domain dispute when the citizens of New Hope Valley are instructed by the government to leave their homes to make way for a new reservoir.

     This entry in the series has a more complex and politically driven plot then usual. Major Braddock (Eddy Waller) and the citizens of New Hope Valley stubbornly refuse to abide by the governments decision, leading them to the brink of a violent insurrection. Meanwhile, M.C. Gilbert (LeRoy Mason), the man charged with building the reservoir and moving the settlers out is both greedy and ruthless. He is secretly working with Harrison Greene's William Proctor to swindle them and the Mesquiteers, wanting to avoid a violent conflict, unwittingly aid the villains.

     This was the movie debut of Jennifer Jones (billed as Phylis Isley) who would become a star a few years later in Henry King's Song of Bernadette. Her character, Celia Braddock, is the more level headed daughter of the fiery Major Braddock. She does a good job with the limited material she's given. Eddy Waller is excellent as her hot-headed father. LeRoy Mason is a solid bad guy once again and his man of action provides a good contrast to the more conniving Harrison Greene.

     By this point, Raymond Hatton had taken over for Max Terhune, and Lullaby was renamed Rusty. Hatton's is a more irascible character then his predecessor. He's less of a comedic third wheel and more of a pompous, but reliable partner for Stony and Tuscon. Like John Wayne, who would leave the series for greener pastures after the success of Stagecoach, this was to be the last Mesquiteers picture for Ray Corrigan. Republic had refused to raise his salary and the departure of Wayne lead the studio to re-cast Robert Livingston, who Corrigan greatly disliked, so the actor walked away from the role he had played in 24 movies.

     It's not the best entry in the series. The pacing a little sluggish in places and the resolution is a bit too easy but it is a solid B-Western nonetheless. George Sherman, yet another young director who was destined for greater things, delivers the usual blend of action, intrigue and comedy and the stunt-work, coordinated by the legendary Yakima Canuut, is great as always. Incidentally, this the only film in the series with a decent restoration, as it was restored for a screening at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City as part of their John Wayne centennial retrospective in 2007.

Score: 7/10

Western Wednesdays: Ghost-Town Gold (1936)

     The second film in Republic's "Three Mesquiteers" series, Ghost-Town Gold was released on October 26th, 1936. Directed by Joseph Kane it stars Robert Livingston as Stony Brooke, Ray Corrigan as Tucson Smith and Max Terhune as Lullaby Joslin. This film sees the trio help out the owner of a bank in the small town of Prospect when he is robbed by an unscrupulous promoter.

     Like most of the B-westerns from this era, Ghost-Town Gold presents a very moralistic world-view. The reason that the Thornton's bank is robbed is because he was leading the effort to drive Dirk Barrington and his prize fighting, gambling riff-raff out of Prospect. Some of the other leading townsfolk oppose Thornton because of all the money that Barrington brings to town but he remains adamant. The banker is nearly lynched when it is revealed that his bank is out of funds but, in the end, when Barrington is revealed to be behind the robbery, he is vindicated. Of course it's a bit ironic that the Mesquiteers attempt to use the very things that Thornton opposes (ie. fighting and gambling) to save his bank but it does lead to a pretty entertaining fight between Ray Corrigan and Frank Hagney's 'Wild Man' Joe Kamatski.

     This is Max Terhune's first outing as Lullaby Joslin, taking over from Syd Saylor who played Lullaby in the first movie. Terhune's take on the character is radically different from that of Saylor, who played Joslin as a good-hearted blow-hard, who pretends to be a westerner despite being a city boy, but earns his stripes by the end of the film by helping Stony and Tucson beat the bad guys. Terhune's Lullaby is more of a con-man, he cheats at cards and generally gets himself into trouble, from which his two friends often have to bail him out. Ghost-Town Gold also introduces Elmer, Lullaby's Ventriloquist Dummy which he wins by cheating at a carnival shell game.

      In general the trio feels more well defined then they did in the first movie. Ray Corrigan's Tucson Smith is very much the straight man to Bob Livingston's Stony Brooke, always getting the trio involved in hair-brained schemes to help some vulnerable folks out. Here, he gets Tuscon into a prize fight, hoping they can raise enough money through betting to save the Thornton's bank. Livingston, Corrigan and Terhune would star in 14 of the 51 Mesquiteers films, and were together longer then any of the other actors.

     Rounding out the cast in this installment are Burr Caruth as the upstanding banker Ben Thornton; Kay Hughes as his daughter Sabina who, surprisingly, is not a love interest for Stony; Milburn Morante as the crochety (and slightly crazy) old prospector Jake Rawlins; and LeRoy Mason, always a reliable heavy, as Dirk Barrington. The film also features western fixture Yakima Canutt in a small role as one of the henchman and Hank Worden makes an uncredited but memorable appearance in one scene.

     Director Joseph Kane keeps the film moving at a steady clip and his handling of the action is assured. Kane was one of Republics most reliable directors, and would become their go-to-guy on many of their Roy Rogers pictures. He would later go on to helm major Hollywood westerns like Dakota with John Wayne and The Maverick Queenwork with Barbara Stanwyck before moving to television where he worked on shows like Bonanza and Rawhide.


Score: 7/10