New Frontier (1939)

The Three Mesquiteers convince a group of settlers to exchange their present property for some which, unbeknownst to our goodguys, is going to be worthless. They are captured before they ... See full summary »

Director:

George Sherman

Writers:

Betty Burbridge (original screenplay), Luci Ward (original screenplay),

Stars:

John Wayne, Ray Corrigan, Raymond Hatton

Cast

Complete credited cast:
John Wayne	...	Stony Brooke
Ray Corrigan	...	Tucson Smith
Raymond Hatton	...	Rusty Joslin
Jennifer Jones	...	Celia Braddock (as Phylis Isley)
Eddy Waller	...	Major Steven Braddock
Sammy McKim	...	Stevie Braddock
LeRoy Mason	...	M.C. Gilbert
Harrison Greene	...	William Proctor
Reginald Barlow	...	Judge Bill Lawson
Burr Caruth	...	Dr. William 'Doc' Hall
Dave O'Brien	...	Jason Braddock
Hal Price	...	Sheriff
Jack Ingram	...	Harmon
Bud Osborne	...	Dickson
Slim Whitaker	...	Jed Turner (as Charles Whitaker)

Storyline

The Three Mesquiteers convince a group of settlers to exchange their present property for some which, unbeknownst to our goodguys, is going to be worthless. They are captured before they can warn the ranchers.

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Plot Keywords:

rancher | dam | property | construction | real estate | 

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 August 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

Frontier Horizon

Filming Locations:

Corriganville, Ray Corrigan Ranch, Simi Valley, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Republic Pictures (I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

57 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA High Fidelity Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jennifer Jones's film debut.

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Goofs

After a prologue that takes place immediately after the end of the Civil War, the body of the film takes place fifty years later, which would make it about 1914. At this time the Three Mesquiteers are supposed to be Pony Express riders; however, Pony Express only ran from 1860 to 1861, having been abandoned at the start of telegraph service.

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Connections

Followed by West of Cimarron (1941)

User Reviews

Farewell to The Mesquiteers

John Wayne said farewell to the Three Mesquiteers film series and to the character of Stoney Burke he had played in them. The Mesquiteers would continue on without the Duke as they had before him. Herbert J. Yates and Republic finally decided that Wayne had become too big a star to continue him in B westerns. His next film after this was a loan out to RKO, Allegheny Uprising.

In fact there was another change in the cast, Max Terhune left the series even before this and was replaced by Raymond Hatton.

New Frontier, not to be confused with the Kennedy administration, also has Phyllis Isley as the leading lady. Her next film would win her an Academy Award and a name change to Jennifer Jones. Of course that is the Song of Bernadette. She never did do a film with Wayne after this, but I'm guessing it was because the Duke didn't want to work for David O. Selznick.

This entry in the Mesquiteers films deals with the right of eminent domain. The Mesquiteers ranch and the property of all the others in New Hope Valley has been condemned because the state wants to build a dam for a large city and create a reservoir where their property is. This subject was dealt with in a quite serious way in Elia Kazan's film Wild River about the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Of course here it's all part of land swindle, but Stoney, Tucson, and Rusty put things to right in the end and do it with the same pioneer spirit their ancestors showed.

You would expect anything else from a John Wayne film?