The Riders of the Whistling Skull (1937)

A supernatural western! The Three Mesquiteers accompany an archeological expedition to a lost Indian city of gold called Lukachuke.

Director:

Mack V. Wright

Writers:

Oliver Drake (original story), Oliver Drake (screenplay),

Stars:

Robert Livingston, Ray Corrigan, Max Terhune

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Robert Livingston	...	Stony Brooke
Ray Corrigan	...	Tucson Smith
Max Terhune	...	Lullaby Joslin
Mary Russell	...	Betty Marsh
Roger Williams	...	Rutledge
Fern Emmett	...	Henrietta
C. Montague Shaw	...	Professor Flaxon
Yakima Canutt	...	Otah
John Ward	...	Professor Brewster
George Godfrey	...	Professor Fronc
Earle Ross	...	Professor Cleary
Frank Ellis	...	Coggins
Chief Thundercloud	...	High Priest (as Chief Thunder Cloud)
John Van Pelt	...	Professor Marsh

Storyline

After a member of an archeological expedition is murdered, Stony convinces the other two reluctant Mesquiteers to accompany them. After another member is killed it becomes apparent that Rutledge and the Indian Otah are the culprits, but they are now in Indian territory without food and water.

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Plot Keywords:

indian | gold | racial stereotype | havoc | saddle | 

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Taglines:

YOUR FAVORITE TRIO OF TROUBLE-SHOOTERS BRING NEW THRILLS TO THE OLD WEST! (original poster-all uppercase letters)

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 January 1937 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Golden Trail

Filming Locations:

Coachella Valley, Mecca, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Republic Pictures (I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

58 min 53 min (edited)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shot in eight days.

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Soundtracks

"Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie"
(uncredited)
Traditional
Sung by Frank Ellis while night-herding

User Reviews

Great mystery western

I was never a western fan. It was made worse when we first got cable back in 1976 and several of the stations were heavily running the black and white programmers where only the names changed slightly from film to film. What ever it was never hooked me into liking westerns. John Wayne was never a favorite of mine as a result.

But as time went on I did find I will watch a western now and again and have raved about several, Unforgiven, Tombstone and Silverado for example, when really good ones come along.

But I've never been a fan of the genre, so when Sinister promised something different in their catalog I jumped.

The film is one of the Three Mesquiteer series that came from a a long running series of novel and was turned into a long running series of films. John Wayne was one of the original trio of ranch hands who do good in the West.

The plot involves an expedition to find a lost Indian city and a lost pair of scientists who earlier went looking for it. Supposedly its located in a Whistling Skull. Just as the party is to leave one of the scientists shows up speaks of finding the city and being taken prisoner only to be killed before revealing the exact location. The Mesquiteers, who had found the now dead scientist, tag along as the party sets out in order to find the city and the one remaining scientist.

The movie moves like the wind, running in this print only 53 minutes, and has just about every western cliché you can think of and then some. Assuming you haven't seen a bunch of these in a while its worth seeing, and even if you have seen a bunch of these its still fun.

Its simply a fun frantic mystery western, recommended.