Three Texas Steers

Republic release of William Berke production. Directed by George Sherman. Original screenplay by Betty Burbridge and Stanley Roberts. Photography Ernest Miller; editor Tony Martinelli; music score William Lava. Completed March 25, 1939 and released May 12, 1939. Running time 57 minutes.

Weekly Variety: Though not in a class with the high bracket westerns, the Three Mesquiteers series is showing marked improvement in recent releases. Current effort leans heavily on novel story angles which set the picture off the beaten track. Has enough entertainment value to fill box-office requirements on action fillers.

Director George Sherman expertly mixes a circus background with a western locale; comedy, drama and county fair horse trotting races being nicely balanced together which offset departure from straight blood-and-thunder, badman sagas. He even succeeds in imparting a poetry-in-motion effect in his handling of the Three Mesquiteers, achieving this with unified timing of the cowboys’ mounting, riding, wheeling, galloping and dismounting of steeds.

Considerably more footage than heretofore has been devoted to Max Terhune’s routines with his dummy Elmer, but effectiveness of voice tossing is handicapped by dialogue and material used. Girl owner of circus inherits valuable ranch which, unknown to her is being sought by the government as a site of waterpower improvement. Ralph Graves, her press agent-manager, secretly plots to get property away from her to cash in on the offer. When she fails to sell out to him, he drives circus out of business and later hires band of desperados to run her off the ranch.

Mesquiteers champion her cause; successfully expose and capture the crooks and help pay off the mortgage by turning her trick circus horse into a champion, winning the prize race at the fair.

Action highlights include dramatic stopping of runaway circus wagon team by Wayne; triple-action fisticuffs by the Mesquiteers; race against time in getting the horse out of jail to the racetrack, in a covered wagon pulled by a farm tractor, and stirring race trotter scenes. Letter sequence is a laugh getter, with Rajah, the horse slowing down when the race is nearly won, when he hears bugle music. Thinking he is back in his circus days, horse breaks into a waltz canter in time with the music.

Ralph Graves and Roscoe Ates, the familiar marquee names, embellish the film. Graves, as the heavy, handles his roles in a perfunctory manner and lacks pep. Ates snares a few laughs as the sheriff. Carole Landis does acceptable work as the circus owner. Racetrack announcer (not listed in the credits) scores a brief bit with incisive megaphoning, and Billy Curtis, also grabs some of the comedy honors. Wayne as usual hits the top with first-rate riding and carries his teammates along at a fast clip throughout.

Motion Picture Herald, June 17, 1939:

The Three Mesquiteers return in a lively story with many twists. John Wayne, Ray Corrigan and Max Terhune are the hard riding trio with Carole Landis in the leading feminine role. Starting with a circus, the story moves on to a ranch and then to a trotting race at the county fair, where Max Terhune drives the circus horse to victory.

‘Nancy’s’ circus is destroyed when her business manager ‘Ward’ sets fire to it in an effort to make her sell a ranch she has inherited. ‘Ward’s’ plans are ruined when the Mesquiteers, after much difficulty, save the ranch and return the money which ‘Lullaby’ has lost and later won back for her.

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