Wyoming Outlaw (1939)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

George Sherman

Writers:

Betty Burbridge (story)
William Colt MacDonald (characters)

Release Date:

27 June 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

$10,000 REWARD! For the capture of Will Parker, the most desperate killer that ever rode the Western plains.

Plot:

Will Parker has been destroyed by a local politician and now must steal to feed his family. He steals a steer from the Three Mesquiteers.

Plot Keywords:

Three Mesquiteers Series | Wyoming | Outlaw | Cattle | Gunfight

Cast

John Wayne	...	Stony Brooke
Ray Corrigan	...	Tucson Smith
Raymond Hatton	...	Rusty Joslin
Don 'Red' Barry	...	Will Parker (as Donald Barry)
Pamela Blake	...	Irene Parker (as Adele Pearce)
LeRoy Mason	...	E. B. 'Joe' Balsinger
Charles Middleton	...	Luke Parker
Katherine Kenworthy	...	Mrs. Parker
Elmo Lincoln	...	U.S. Marshal Gregg
Jack Ingram	...	Sheriff Nolan
David Sharpe	...	Newt - The cafe counterman
Jack Kenny	...	Radioman Doyle (as Jack Kenney)
Yakima Canutt	...	Henchman Ed Sims

Runtime:

56 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA High Fidelity Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #5415)

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Republic Pictures (I)

Movie Connections:

Follows Pals of the Saddle (1938)

Very Topical Film

Wyoming Outlaw is one of the most unusual entries in the Three Mesquiteers series of films. John Wayne, Ray Corrigan, and Raymond Hatton are not the center of the film. The center is Donald 'Red' Barry who plays young outlaw Will Parker who gets befriended by the Mesquiteers even though he tries to steal a steer from them.

This Mesquiteer film is set in the modern west of the dustbowl and has some themes that John Wayne later used in McLintock. During the World War, the cattle country was converted to wheat and after the demand from Europe subsided after World War I a lot of farm land was left arid and abandoned. That is exactly what happened to American agriculture in the boom period of the Roaring Twenties where the farmers did not share the prosperity.

Along comes the New Deal and a lot of local political bosses took advantage of government relief programs to entrench themselves in power. Such a boss is played by LeRoy Mason who was one of the shrewdest villains I've ever seen in a western. In fact during the course of the film, Mason really outsmarts our heroes at every turn as they try to bring him down legally.

Anyway though the Mesquiteers are really subordinate to Red Barry who's tired of having his family exploited by Mason and his gang. Circumstances make him turn outlaw and the chase for him is reminiscent of High Sierra a year later. In fact the just as Humphrey Bogart is referred to as Mad Dog Earle, Barry is called Mad Dog Parker by the radio and print media of the time.

High Sierra was an A film for Warner Brothers and this was just a quickie B western that probably didn't get too much notice. It's a pity that the production values were those of a B film because the story was very well done.

This is one of the few John Wayne Three Mesquiteer films that is not available on VHS or DVD. When TCM shows it again, catch it by all means.