Arizona Stage Coach (1942) User Reviews

Thr Range Busters bust up a gang of hooligans ........

[revdrcac · 5/10 · 13 July 2006]

Crash Corrigan and his compadres help rid a town of a gang of cut-throats terrorizing the citizenry of the local community. This Range Busters film features a little bit of everything (action, comedy and suspense) in a standard western programmer.

Corrigan had a long career in film, mostly in "B" films. His best work was in the 3 Mesquiteer series, but he does a good job in this routine oater. Terhune was decent comedian, but his ventriliquist dummy often seems out of place in his western films.

This film was fine when viewed in context, but does not leave the viewer with any lasting film memories. An average time-passer .........

Imagine....a lynch mob rushing to judgment!

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 27 May 2019]

During the 1930s and 40s, Republic Pictures had a lot of success with their Three Mesquiteers western series. However, after a dispute about money, the Mesquiteers left for Monogram Studios. And, unlike the Mesquiteers, had a much more stable lineup of heros, with Ray Corrigan, John 'Dusty' King, Max Terhune appearing in most of the films in the series. I generally enjoyed the films though there was one odd thing about all of them...Terhune. It seems that in addition to being a hero, he was also a ventriloquist and often took his dummy, Elmer, with him on adventures....which, if you think about it, is really stupid!

The Range Busters have been asked to head to Stoney Creek, as there have been a string of stage coach robberies there. And, it's very fortunate they've headed there, as Ernie Willard has been accused of the crimes...though he was just trying to give the stolen money back after he caught one of the gang members with it. The dumb posse wouldn't listen and was about to string up Ernie...so Ernie skidaddled to save his skin. The Range Busters meet with Ernie and convince him to stay in hiding while they investigate the case.

This is pretty much what you'd expect from a Range Busters film except for one thing....Elmer acts in the film WITHOUT Max in one scene. In other words, he talks with Corrigan and King and you see no Max anywhere....and the scene played like Elmer was alive...which is very creepy...hence I deducted a point. Apart from this creepy scene, the usual production values and acting are in the film and the story pretty decent for a B-western.

So, Who's Working Elmer?

[alan-pratt · 6/10 · 19 June 2009]

Average Range Busters fare with the usual action scenes (chases, shoot outs etc.) interspersed by songs from Dusty King - one of which he warbles while suspended upside down from a tree - and comic interludes featuring Max Terhune and his dummy, Elmer.

Incidentally, this is one of those entries in which Elmer moves and talks when Terhune is nowhere to be seen. Some critics have suggested that this sort of thing is silly and implausible but, is not the whole B western world a fantastic and mythical universe bearing no resemblance to reality? Anyway, I'm an Elmer fan so, in the words of the little wooden man himself "what's it to yuh?"

Does what it says on the tin

[coltras35 · 5/10 · 7 February 2022]

Wells Fargo employees are tipping off an outlaw gang so the gang knows when the coaches are carrying big payrolls. Its up to the Range Busters to break up this ring of bandits, and not without the par for the course shootin', fast riding' and more shootin'. This entry looks a bit shaky and cheaper, well cheaper than the 3 mesquiteers series, but if you're looking' for shootin', fast ridin' and more shootin', then look no further. It's an entertaining 58 min film, and a little bit odd with the puppet, more so because it speaks without Terhune holding him!

Framed

[StrictlyConfidential · 5/10 · 2 November 2021]

"Arizona Stage Coach" was originally released back in 1942.

Anyway - As the story goes - Welcome to the Flying R Ranch where the Range Busters, Crash Corrigan, Dusty King, and Alibi Terhune find their idyllic day interrupted by the arrival of friends in need.

It's a hoot!

[JohnHowardReid · 4/10 · 22 March 2018]

Not copyright 1942 by Range Busters, Inc. Released through Monogram Pictures Corporation: 4 September 1942. 58 minutes.

SYNOPSIS: The unusually complicated story of this 16th entry in the series, is a little difficult to follow. But if you pay close attention, you'll just manage to keep up with it. Not that you'll bother, because the whole affair, what with a loose talking dummy (in both senses of the word loose) and a hero with a bent for nasty practical pranks, is in many ways so childish, it's not really worth the effort. In brief, The Range Busters are enlisted to ferret out a gang of highwaymen who specialize in stealing Wells Fargo cash boxes from the Arizona stagecoach.

COMMENT: Of mild interest for rabid fans of Corrigan and company, this Range Busters entry, filmed against the serviceable but somewhat lackluster scenery of the Corrigan Ranch, does hold out three or four joys for the general viewer in the acting department. It's good to see Kermit Maynard filling the shoes of a bad guy and it's always great to find Charles King up to his old tricks. Another favorite heavy, Jack Ingram, can be spotted in a smallish but odd part as the local sheriff. But the real flavor of this entry is provided by Steve Clark who really revels in his role as a corrupt stage driver. And for once, Steve has the best lines in the movie!

The action spots are directed at a fast clip (with running inserts yet!) and, as inferred above, there's probably enough fast riding and quick-on-the-draw shooting to satisfy the inveterate fans. As usual, Mr King is handed a couple of songs, one of which he renders upside down. And also as usual, Mr Terhune and his poorly animated dummy (who receives an inordinate number of close-ups) waste a fair amount of our time.

DEATHLESS DIALOGUE. Corrupt stage driver (mildly chiding the leader of a group of masked bandits who has his eyes set on the cash box): "Say, this isn't the spot where you were supposed to hold us up." Bandit's quick-as-a-flash retort: "I liked this spot better."

"It's the Range Busters!"

[classicsoncall · 5/10 · 16 January 2010]

The Range Busters were clearly a lower budget version of Monogram's Three Mesquiteers series, hard to imagine for a 'B' Western unless you've seen a few hundred of these and could actually tell the difference. Twenty four Range Busters films were made, the first sixteen featuring two of the original Mesquiteers, Ray 'Crash' Corrigan and Max 'Alibi' Terhune. Joining them was John 'Dusty' King, and what I find interesting is that the trio was allowed to use their own names as characters in the pictures. I don't recall seeing one of these before, and interestingly, "Arizona Stagecoach" was the sixteenth and final picture of the series that the original principals appeared in.

The plot for this one is fairly standard, a corrupt Wells Fargo Station Agent (Charles King) is behind a string of stagecoach robberies as the Range Busters are called in to investigate. Agent Douglas (King) sets up local rancher Ernie Willard (Roy Harris) to take the fall for the robberies, but the Busters are onto him like white on rice. Following your usual gunfights and horse chases, the Range Busters bring the baddies to justice.

As an aside, this was the third 'B' Western in a row I've watched in which Charles King appeared. In the other two, "Feud of the Range" and "Forbidden Trails", King was easily recognized as the disheveled overweight henchman who reported directly to the film's main villain. Here, he IS the main villain, and in contrast, sports an uncharacteristic suit and tie while masterminding the hold-ups.

Oh yeah, there's another familiar face on hand if you're a Mesquiteers fan. Max Terhune has his dummy sidekick Elmer along for the ride. You'll be scratching your head though, as Elmer appears most of the time talking and moving around without benefit of Terhune at the controls; in fact no one at the controls. Don't know how that makes any sense, but matinée fans of these oaters didn't require much for entertainment. Come to think of it, there are times when neither do I.

Catching a holdup gang

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 10 April 2019]

In reviewing a film like Arizona Stagecoach one has to remember that this was aimed at a kid audience so subtle it's not.

After some hijinks where Dusty King lost a bet and has to sing upside down hanging from a rope, the Range Busters get a request from a visiting sheriff to investigate a series of holdups on the Wells Fargo stage line. This gang is getting their information from the inside.

I can't say any more but that from the second the villain makes his appearance before a word of dialog is uttered we know it's him. This particular actor made several westerns and he's always a bad guy.

The matinee knew who it was as they knew the Range Busters would figure it out before it ended.

Still it's enjoyable on its own level.

Fast-Paced Range Busters Picture

[FightingWesterner · 7/10 · 18 February 2010]

The Range Busters - Ray "Crash" Corrigan, John "Dusty" King, and Max "Alibi" Terhune come to the aid of some friends who find their ranch surrounded by highway-robbers. Before their arrival, their friend discovers his partner with stolen loot and shoots it out before being framed for the hold-ups by villains Charles King and Kermit Maynard.

An enjoyable, straight-foreword entry in Monogram Pictures' Range Busters series, the successor to Republic's Three Mesquiteers, this has some good action scenes and an atmospheric (though probably canned) music score.

Both corny and creepy are several scenes where Terhune's ventriloquist dummy "Elmer" talks and moves independently! I know these Saturday matinée B-westerns were made for a primarily juvenile audience, but this is just too silly!

In the final scene when Terhune picks up Elmer, who just finished moving without him, a hand can be briefly glimpsed pulling out of the dummy and disappearing under the chair!

They never discuss stolen gold when singing about the Wells Fargo Wagon in "The Music Man".

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 30 August 2022]

I'm sure this plot has been used a dozen or more times just in 1942 alone. The Range Busters are out to find out who's responsible for robbing the stage which leads to the framing of Ernie Willard. Adequate in every way, but quite tedious if you're watching a bunch of poverty row westerns and have just dealt with the same plot.

Lead hero Ray Corrigan, singer John 'Dusty' King and comical Max Terhune are the sound version of the Three Amigos, and there's even Terhune with a dummy, the closest they could come to a comical sidekick. Charles King and Kermit Maynard are the standard one dimensional villains, with Nell O'Day the lady in distress.

Kids from the 1940's probably got a kick out of Ernie, but today, they would expect him to all of a sudden go crazy and kill everybody. A little bit of this wooden performance goes a long way. The songs don't just slow down the action. They squash it to bits.