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Very well executed

Brilliant and touching

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Three Mesquiteers film starring John Wayne, Ray 'Crash' Corrigan, and Raymond Hatton. This time around the trio are helping ranchers fight crooked land grabbers. This was Wayne's final entry in this series of B westerns before moving on to bigger and better things. It's also the film debut of Jennifer Jones, billed under her pre-Selznick name of Phylis Isley. She does a fine job. Corrigan and Hatton are fun. Nice support from Eddy Waller. LeRoy Mason plays the heavy for the second consecutive Mesquiteers film. This is a pretty standard B western with a wonky timeline (supposed to be the 1910s but it's more like the 1870s). There's little to recommend about it outside of its appeal to Wayne (and maybe Jennifer Jones) completists.

This is a Three Mesquiteer movie from Republic Pictures. This was a very popular series from the 1930s and 40s and while they were generally pretty well made and enjoyable, the composition of the cast changed frequently. While the most popular trio probably was the one that consisted of Robert Livingston, Ray Corrigan and Max Terhune, many other guys were members of this movie gang. In "New Frontier", you may be surprised to see John Wayne in the lead, though he played the leader of this group for eight movies. And, while the bizarre duo of Max Terhune and his dummy (literally a ventriloquist's dummy) are not in this one, the very familiar Raymond Hatton plays the third Mesquiteer. As for the middle guy, Ray Corrigan was on hand for this.Like many of the B-westerns of the day, this one actually is set in the modern day. It's very surreal to see cowboys riding about on horses one minute and the next seeing modern construction machinery! It's one of those weird things you just have to accept in films with Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and the Mesquiteers.One standout thing about this otherwise ordinary film is the presence of Jennifer Jones. Here she plays the usual not too romantic female lead who falls, kind of, the the leader of the Mesquiteers. She's pretty bland here--but this sort of role is almost always bland and forgettable. What's amazing is that Jones did these sort of roles for such a short period and was soon making A-pictures--culminating with her receiving an Oscar for Best Actress for "The Song of Bernadette" only four years later.The plot is very different--which is a plus. However, it's also a reasonably dull plot. A town is condemned by the state. That's because a dam is going to be built to flood the valley. The folks are naturally mad, but they are assured that they will be relocated to much better land--land that is fertile and with plenty of water. However, after using the Mesquiteers to sell the idea to the town, the trio learn that the project is a shame. What are they to do to be niceness and justice to the modern range? Overall, it's exactly what a fan of these films should expect. Quickly made, a relatively bad old print and a threadbare story. It's enjoyable but no better than average--at best.

New Frontier (1939) ** 1/2 (out of 4) The final Three Mesquiteer film for John Wayne has the boys trying to help some settlers who are about to lose their land to some bad men. At the moment I can't recall how many of the Wayne films I've seen from this series but this is just like most of them. The film contains some pretty good action scenes and Wayne is good as usual but the stories aren't really that strong. Jennifer Jones has a small supporting role and does a pretty nice job.As of now the only way to view these films is by AMC, which also includes commercials.

Starring: John Wayne, Ray Corrigan and Raymond Hatton.A great western style movie full of action. This story is about Three Mesquiteers who trade their property to these guys who capture them and they don't have time to warn their friends, The Ranchers. A fantastic movie that the whole family will enjoy!