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Friday, June 24, 2022

THE NIGHT RIDERS (1939)

Even after STAGECOACH lifted John Wayne to A-list status in Hollywood, he still had quite a few Western programmers in the pipe line and contracted in his future.  This one is on the low end of its type.  A late entry in Wayne’s popular ‘3 Mesquiteers’ series from Republic, it holds two standout features: One helpful/One disqualifying.  The helpful one is Jack Marta’s striking nighttime cinematography (really red-filtered daytime lensing) still showing its original luminescent glow thanks to pristine source elements.  And, ironically, that pristine preservation undoubtedly due to the film’s disqualifying factor.  But first, a brief plot precis: Riverboat card sharp & a forger use phony documents to claim huge territorial land rights.  Enter the 3 Mesquiteers disguised as a trio of Robin Hood/Zorro types fighting back for the little people.  The problematic/disqualifying part?  Someone thought white Ku Klux Klan robes would be just the thing for them to wear as cover when they ride around dispensing justice.  Yikes!  No wonder the negative & prints are in such good shape.  Who’d show this thing?  No doubt an informal ban has kept this safely hidden away for decades.  (By comparison, STAGECOACH no longer has an original negative to work from.)  Too bad this isn’t one of the better entries in the series.  Not even the bizarre puppetry of Mesquiteer Max Terhune helps much.  (His wooden dummy barely gets an appearance.)  And the climax, a fake-out firing squad, must have given kiddie matinee audiences nightmares for weeks.  George Sherman  haphazardly directs an original story that lifts its one big twist (President Garfield’s promise to help out is stopped by assassination!) from another recent pic.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: Listen close to hear Hank Worden’s distinctive voice get a line in when the ranchers complain about the unbearable rents from the new land owner.  And look fast to see cute kid Sammy McKim give Wayne a sucker punch right in the kisser.

WATCH THIS, NOT THAT/LINK:  For a better-than-average 3 MESQUITEERS oater, try SANTA FE STAMPEDE/’38.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2018/02/santa-fe-stampede-1938.html

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