Pals of the Saddle (1938)

That was an excellent one.

A Major Disappointment

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

One of 51 westerns by Republic, in the late '30s and early '40s, under the banner of The 3 Mesquiteers: a combination of mesquite and musketeers. The identity of the 3 actors varied. John Wayne was in only 8 of them, including this one. With a run time of only 55 min., it packed in a lot of scheming and action. It's an early example of the direction of George Sherman of B westerns. He would eventually, switch to Columbia, and then Universal, always almost exclusively directing B westerns. Here, Wayne as Stony, Ray Corrigan as Tucson, and Max Trehune as Lullaby are the 3Ms. The latter occasionally got out his dummy, Elmer, to practice some ventriloquism...... The screenplay differs from the usual rustlers, gold thieves or range war. Here, they get involved in trying to stop the outward smuggling of a rare mineral, monium, that can easily be converted into a new type of poisonous gas, for warfare. Doreen McKay, as Ann, is much more than just a token female presence. She's a Secret Service undercover agent, trying to determine who the leaders of this illegal export are. When her partner, Frank, is killed by foreign agent Paul, she suggests Stony be her new partner. He has a price on his head for his said role in Frank's and Paul's deaths. If Stony works out well as her partner, she will drop the charges against him. Stony is given a new name, and a slight disguise . He brazenly gets in the stockroom for the monium, posing as the foreign agent, but is eventually recognized by Gordon: head of the storage facility, as a fake. The monium is loaded onto a series of covered wagons for transport to an awaiting ship across the border. Stony is tied up and put in the last one of these wagons, for an unknown fate. From a hill, Tucson, Lullaby and Ann see Stony put in the wagon. Ann goes for help from the border patrol cavalry. Meanwhile, Tucson and Lullaby sneak up on the wagons and disable the drivers, freeing Stony. They redirect their wagon, and another chases them. Somehow, their wagon catches fire, so they get on the horses and unhitch the wagon, which goes over a cliff. Later, they have a perch on a hill above the wagon trail, close to the international border. They fire at the wagons, hoping to stop them from crossing the border. Eventually , the cavalry arrives and finishes the job......Generally, an exciting western, even thought the main plot device: stopping the shipment of monium is purely imaginary.

Pals of the Saddle (1938) ** 1/2 (out of 4) The first of eight Three Mesquiteer films John Wayne made for Republic from 1938-39. In the film, Wayne is accused of murder so he and the two others must try and clear his name while bringing down bad guys trying to sell poison gas. This is one of the better films in the series that I've seen. Wayne is his usual self, although he certainly wasn't the legend he was to become. The story movies pretty fast at 55-minutes and the supporting cast adds nice support. The fight scenes are all pretty well done.

Pals of the Saddle find the Three Mesquiteers getting involved with a group of war profiteers in the time before World War I. Somebody has the bright idea to smuggle something called Monium out of the USA in violation of the Neutrality Act for use to make poison gas. People in 1938 still remembered the horror of poison gas used in the war and also recently by Mussolini in his invasion and takeover of Ethiopia. That made it a topical film and gave it a dimension we can't appreciate today.The bad guys use a salt mine as a cover and chlorides are what makes up salt. Why the scriptwriters were concocting some fictitious element called Monium to use when they could have just as easily said chlorine which was in the some of the poison gas used in World War I is beyond me.Doreen McKay is an undercover U.S. Secret Service agent who gets Wayne involved in her investigation when her partner is killed. Wayne takes the partner's place and nearly gets himself done in. Good thing Corrigan and Terhune are around. There's an exciting shoot out at the end as the Mesquiteers stop the wagon train of Monium from crossing the border. This was Wayne's first Mesquiteer film and it certainly was a step up from his Monogram films of the middle thirties. He and Doreen McKay have an interesting relationship, sort of like what Roy Rogers and Dale Evans had in some of their Republic Pictures.Pals of the Saddle is not however the best of Wayne's Mesquiteer films. Still it's entertaining and will please fans of the eternal Duke.

If you have any partiality towards B oaters then this is impossible not to like. In fact, it is in my Top 10 for this category of less-than-A sagebrush sagas. Some complain the emphasis in the Wayne Mesquiteer movies was on him and not the group. I think the camaraderie aspect is handled with gusto by director George Sherman right up front in the story and suitably reinforced throughout the plot. Granted, Max Terhune as Lullaby Joslin has too many "I'll look after the horses!" moments but he is not left to get lost. Ray Corrigan as Tucson Smith has wonderful times of camera mugging, a comedic style for which he has never been properly acknowledged. John Wayne, is, well, John Wayne, a presence to be reckoned with. The Duke's "Listen Mr. Big Chest" remark to Corrigan as they duel verbally over the femme interest is a great moment. Undoubtedly unscripted.This Mesquiteer epic also has more plot, more action and more stunts than most in the series. Hey, and a flag-wavin', patriotic story line that takes you right back to a kinder era. Herbert Yates, the head of Republic Pictures, obviously knew what (who) he had on contract and was actually investing in his product. It shows throughout the picture. The is a big B. And when the Mesquiteers do that triple-tandem leap onto a moving covered wagon, well, you've got all the thrills, all the action and all the spirit of "all for one, one for all" trigger trio cowboy flick any fan could stand.