Gunsmoke Ranch (1937) Robert Livingston, Ray Corrigan, Max Terhune, Kenneth Harlan Movie Review

Gunsmoke Ranch (1937)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Gunsmoke Ranch (1937) Robert Livingston, Ray Corrigan, Max Terhune

Who's the Dummy Now

After a huge flood has left people homeless and living in a tented community land owner Phineas T. Flagg (Kenneth Harlan) offers them a chance to build a brand new town on part of his ranch with the promise that they won't have to pay him anything for the first twenty years. For many who have seen the homes they loving built washed away in the flood the offer is to good to turn down. But when The Three Mesquiteers stumble across the busses carrying the folks looking to start again they decide to look into things they discover that con man Flagg is behind it and are sure he is up to no good. And they are right as Flagg is up to no good, letting these homeless civilians improve his land so that he can sell it out from beneath them for a profit.

There was a time when I thought I had seen it all when it came to movies and then I stumble across a movie which whilst not necessarily good makes me sit up and pay attention for one reason or another. Now I didn't expect "Gunsmoke Ranch" to be a movie which commanded my attention yet this for the most typical western did because not only a heavy comedy aspect but also because it features a ventriloquist dummy. Now I should also say this is the first western I have watched featuring The Three Mesquiteers and so was not prepared for the comedy relief going on between them.

But beyond the frequent comedy of The Three Mesquiteers the rest of "Gunsmoke Ranch" is for the most typical with a nefarious business man who is of course up to no good and are good guys trying to show him up as the fraud which he is. The whole set up of a flood is in fairness quite an entertaining entry point but the mix of action, love interest and bad guy is just typical.

What this all boils down to is that "Gunsmoke Ranch" is an entertaining entry movie for those who have never come across The Three Mesquiteers before with its abundance of comic relief but at the same time it is a typical 1930s western, the sort which are a dime a dozen.


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