Too much of everything

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

I've seen a lot of the Three Mesquiteers films--especially the ones starring Livingston, Corrigan and Terhune. So, I know that their films can certainly be better than this one. However, two big problems made this tough viewing. One is Elmer. No, I am not talking about Terhune's ventriloquist dummy by the same name (though he was always an unwelcome addition to their films), but a guy whose act is to do the most annoying and unfunny stuttering acts you could possibly see and hear. The guy stuttered MUCH worse than Porky Pig and it seemed cruel and unfunny--and completely unnecessary to the film. Second, the towns people were just too dumb--way too dumb.The film begins with lots of stock footage of flooding. The film concerns a group of folks who lost everything in these storms. A benefactor comes forward and offers to take them all out West to a new community he's building--and all at very, very low prices. But the guy is really a land swindler--and he's done it before and it's obvious he's about to do it again. When the perennial do-gooders, the Mesquiteers, find out, they go to warn the folks--who immediately mistreat them and treat them like lepers. Why, then, did the trio stay and help them out when they realized they were being swindled?! I felt that this was handled VERY poorly. The townsfolk reaction was bizarre and the Mesquiteers reaction to this was also quite odd. Still, if you love these films, this one is worth seeing and rather typical--but certainly more flawed than usual. If you aren't a fan...steer clear!

This was a cute movie - good for relaxing. Some of the comedy wasn't. It was like a bit of corn, so if you are hungry, watch this movie. If you want to relax - watch this movie. It was mildly humorous, but was interesting to watch the old time acting and their concepts of "acting." Today they would not cut it. I would say it is more of a novelty to watch to see differences in quality compared to today's movies. I watched this movie and saved it on PVR. Decided not worth keeping. Just a cute type of movie. located. Maybe we could move there.Typical guy woos girl plot. Could use new plots, with shocker endings.Nice background - I always watch the background. Nice scenery. The town (Set) was nice too. Looked like a nice place to live. But, sadly, there was no such place as Gunsmoke Valley. I googled it, that is how I found this movie title. Wish there was someone who knows where this movie was

Republic's Three Mesquiteers series (51 in all) was popular in its day and remains one of the most memorable of them all. Based on characters created by William Colt MacDonald who in turn was inspired by the original Three Musketeers from the classic 19th century novel by Alexandre Dumas, the idea is: One for all and all for one. The cowboy trio usually consisted of a lover, a scrapper, and a jokester. Robert Livinston starred in the series from the beginning as the dashing man on the white horse Stony Brooke. He appeared in 39 of the 51 features. He was spelled for awhile by none other than John Wayne himself, before the Duke made a splash with "Stagecoach." Ray "Crash" Corrigan was Tucson Smith from the beginning of the series in 1936. He ultimately portrayed the "middle cowboy" in 24 outings. In the first of the Three Mesquiteers films, Syd Saylor played Lullaby Joslin. After only one film, Saylor was replaced by Max Terhune, who had an unusual talent for a comical sidekick. He was a ventriloquist. Elmer the dummy became somewhat of a 4th Mesquiteer, or was Terhune the dummy?...never mind. This trio stayed together for fourteen movies (1936-1938). "Gunsmoke Ranch" was their fifth oater. These Three Mesquiteers are the ones most fans remember best.As with many Hollywood films from the days of the Great Depression, Roosevelt's New Deal is promoted. Keeping it as apolitical as possible, no mention is made of FDR or any of his programs. Flood control and with it cheap electricity was one of the main planks in Roosevelt's restructuring of the American economy. A devastating flood forces farmers to pull up steaks and head for Gunsmoke Valley, Arizona, where they can start anew on land each bought from the unscrupulous Realtor and land developer Phineas T. Flagg (even the name sounds lowdown and mean), played with verve by Kenneth Harlan. Naturally one of the farmers has a beautiful daughter, Marion (Jean Carmen). It doesn't take Stony long to start drooling and howling at the moon. Tucson and Lullaby do their best to thwart their saddle pal's efforts to win the damsel's hand. The farmers discover that the land has been condemned so the government can flood it when a dam is built. To keep the farmers from being swindled out of their land, the Three Mesquiteers take charge. There lies the rest of the movie. There's usually plenty of action in any Republic shoot-'em-up. This one is no exception, except most of the action comes with a big shootout near the end with lots of dare devil stunts. Yakima Canutt is on hand to make sure all the tricks of the trade are utilized to make the action exciting and realistic. Canutt even plays one of the henchmen. He's the one who throws the first egg during the big street brawl.By this time, the singing cowboy craze was taking off. A popular radio singer and recording artist named Gene Autry was beginning to change the direction of B westerns by always performing many of his songs, or introducing new ones, in his films. To roll with the flow Stony attempts to sing a ballad called "When the Campfire is Low on the Prairie." Needless to say, Gene didn't have a thing to worry about. Fans were quick to throw water on the campfire. Not until Roy Rogers (and to some extent Tex Ritter) began plying his trade did Gene have any serious rival. One song that Gene sang early in his career, "That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine," is used briefly in the film during the social gathering just before Stony sings. The old standard "When You and I Were Young, Maggie" is a sing-a-long near the beginning of the flick.Lullaby and his dummy Elmer are satisfactory in the humor department but a couple of clowns billed as Oscar and Elmer are lame by today's standards and that's being kind. Elmer's character is now politically incorrect. Audiences who saw this when it was first released probably found Oscar and Elmer hilarious. Several comedians in those days used stuttering as a gimmick to get laughs. Porky Pig is a classic example of utilizing stuttering to provoke laughter. Even as late as 1992 Austin Pendleton cracked up viewers with his stuttering in "My Cousin Vinny." There should be more action and less talk and romance in "Gunsmoke Ranch," but it's still worthwhile for B western fans. Those who enjoy the Three Mesquiteers should find this entry acceptable, though not up to par for the series.

This 'Three Mesquiteers' feature is a fair B-Western, rather routine, and with quite a low-budget look to it, but watchable. It has generally likable, if ordinary, characters, and the story holds some interest. It has some lighter moments and just enough action to keep it moving along.The story has the 'Mesquiteers' running across a new town that is being built to help out some settlers who have been displaced by a flood. The trio start to suspect that something might not be what it seems, so they stick around to look into things, and the action proceeds from there, with some occasional humor (much of it from Max Terhune). Some of it works, and some of it doesn't really come off. Overall, there's not too much that's either especially good or especially bad about this one.