Arizona Stage Coach

The Range Busters - Ray "Crash" Corrigan, John "Dusty" King, and Max "Alibi" Terhune come to the aid of some friends who find their ranch surrounded by highway-robbers. Before their arrival, their friend discovers his partner with stolen loot and shoots it out before being framed for the hold-ups by villains Charles King and Kermit Maynard.

An enjoyable, straight-foreword entry in Monogram Pictures' Range Busters series, the successor to Republic's Three Mesquiteers, this has some good action scenes and an atmospheric (though probably canned) music score.

Both corny and creepy are several scenes where Terhune's ventriloquist dummy "Elmer" talks and moves independently! I know these Saturday matinée B-westerns were made for a primarily juvenile audience, but this is just too silly!

In the final scene when Terhune picks up Elmer, who just finished moving without him, a hand can be briefly glimpsed pulling out of the dummy and disappearing under the chair!

In reviewing a film like Arizona Stagecoach one has to remember that this was aimed at a kid audience so subtle it's not.

After some hijinks where Dusty King lost a bet and has to sing upside down hanging from a rope, the Range Busters get a request from a visiting sheriff to investigate a series of holdups on the Wells Fargo stage line. This gang is getting their information from the inside.

I can't say any more but that from the second the villain makes his appearance before a word of dialog is uttered we know it's him. This particular actor made several westerns and he's always a bad guy.

The matinee knew who it was as they knew the Range Busters would figure it out before it ended.

Still it's enjoyable on its own level.

Average Range Busters fare with the usual action scenes (chases, shoot outs etc.) interspersed by songs from Dusty King - one of which he warbles while suspended upside down from a tree - and comic interludes featuring Max Terhune and his dummy, Elmer.

Incidentally, this is one of those entries in which Elmer moves and talks when Terhune is nowhere to be seen. Some critics have suggested that this sort of thing is silly and implausible but, is not the whole B western world a fantastic and mythical universe bearing no resemblance to reality? Anyway, I'm an Elmer fan so, in the words of the little wooden man himself "what's it to yuh?"

During the 1930s and 40s, Republic Pictures had a lot of success with their Three Mesquiteers western series. However, after a dispute about money, the Mesquiteers left for Monogram Studios. And, unlike the Mesquiteers, had a much more stable lineup of heros, with Ray Corrigan, John 'Dusty' King, Max Terhune appearing in most of the films in the series. I generally enjoyed the films though there was one odd thing about all of them...Terhune. It seems that in addition to being a hero, he was also a ventriloquist and often took his dummy, Elmer, with him on adventures....which, if you think about it, is really stupid!

The Range Busters have been asked to head to Stoney Creek, as there have been a string of stage coach robberies there. And, it's very fortunate they've headed there, as Ernie Willard has been accused of the crimes...though he was just trying to give the stolen money back after he caught one of the gang members with it. The dumb posse wouldn't listen and was about to string up Ernie...so Ernie skidaddled to save his skin. The Range Busters meet with Ernie and convince him to stay in hiding while they investigate the case.

This is pretty much what you'd expect from a Range Busters film except for one thing....Elmer acts in the film WITHOUT Max in one scene. In other words, he talks with Corrigan and King and you see no Max anywhere....and the scene played like Elmer was alive...which is very creepy...hence I deducted a point. Apart from this creepy scene, the usual production values and acting are in the film and the story pretty decent for a B-western.

Wells Fargo employees are tipping off an outlaw gang so the gang knows when the coaches are carrying big payrolls. Its up to the Range Busters to break up this ring of bandits, and not without the par for the course shootin', fast riding' and more shootin'. This entry looks a bit shaky and cheaper, well cheaper than the 3 mesquiteers series, but if you're looking' for shootin', fast ridin' and more shootin', then look no further. It's an entertaining 58 min film, and a little bit odd with the puppet, more so because it speaks without Terhune holding him!