Overland Stage Raiders (1938)

• Year: 1938
• Released: 20 Sep 1938
• Country: United States
• Adwords: N/A
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030545/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/overland_stage_raiders
• Metacritics:
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: Passed
• Genre: Drama, Western
• Runtime: 55 min
• Writer: William Colt MacDonald, Bernard McConville, Edmond Kelso
• Director: George Sherman
• Cast: John Wayne, Louise Brooks, Ray Corrigan
• Keywords: airplane, three mesquiteers,

	5.7/10
	38% – Critics
	38% – Audience

Overland Stage Raiders Storyline

With the stage being held up regularly, the Mesquiteers decide an airplane would be better so they get the ranchers to sell their cattle and invest in the new airline. But when a gold shipment goes out, the stage line owner has his men hijack the plane. The pilot discharges the gas causing a forced landing and the Mesquiteers must now find the missing plane and recover the gold.—Maurice VanAuken

Overland Stage Raiders Photos

Overland Stage Raiders Torrents Download

Overland Stage Raiders Subtitles Download

Overland Stage Raiders Movie Reviews

The Flying Mesquiteers

Continuity was not a big thing back in the day with A films let alone B film serials. The Three Mesquiteers in their various adventures flipped back and forth between the old west and the modern west. Overland Stage Raiders is about as modern as you can get in their stories though.

The boys have decided to invest in an airline in this film. It seems as though the modern stage, make that bus, is constantly being held up and this seems a practical way to avoid robbers. Not to mention that Louise Brooks kind of perks John Wayne’s interest.

The robbers however are not to be denied. I have to say that this is the only western I know with a plane holdup. That in and of itself is enough reason to try and see this film.

The once in a lifetime teaming of John Wayne and silent screen legend Louise Brooks is also a reason to see Overland Stage Raiders. Who would ever have figured on them as a screen team.

Overland Stage Raiders is one of the best of the three Mesquiteer series with a very novel setting for a story.

The story behind the film alone is worth the viewing

_Overland Stage Raiders_ marks the convergence of two great performers, one on her way out of film, the other about to begin the most successful run in film history. Louise Brooks, star of G.W. Papst’s erotic masterpiece _Pandora’s Box_, makes her last appearance in this run-of-the-mill, twentieth-century entry in the “Three Mesqueeters” series. Though the plot is a preposterous hodgepodge involving the opening of air freight service to an isolated cattle town, Brooks is ever the stunner next to John Wayne, who was still a year away from A-line box office success in _Stagecoach_.

I recommend this film for three reasons:

1. The sheer curiousity value. The greatest western actor opposite the greatest actress in the history of German Expressionism while he was on his way up and she was on her way out. They met in obscurity and went on to immortality.

2. The chance to see the raw potential of John Wayne before his work with John Ford. The presence, the charisma, and the physicality that would make him a colossus are all here. Under a competent directior, these would bloom from reliable entertainment into art.

3. Everyone should see a “Three Mesqueeters” movie. This is probably the best series of the 1930s “poverty row” films, and it is a pure joy to see the workmanlike love put into these programmers. They aren’t auteur classics, but for many viewers in the period, they were what movies were all about.

This one is a hoot!

A real solid class “B” western with a pre-John Ford John Wayne at his shooting and roping best. Second of the “Three Mesquiteers” series, the plot is both far-fetched and intriguing for its ingenuity. Who would expect to go to a Saturday matinée and see a second billed western that involves the tactical integration of aerial spotting in defense of overland lines of communication, communications deception, gas hand grenades used to defend an improvised landing strip, parachuting cowboys and passengers, the hijacking and retaking of a cattle train, a talking ventriloquist’s dummy in flight gear, and an in-flight robbery — all within less than an hour! A more thorough examination of the plot reveals that John Wayne is aligned with the common folks against the evil and unscrupulous capitalist bus company owner who will go to no end to prevent the loss of his lucrative contract to carry the gold. I mean this movie introduces some basic economic theory into its entertainment. Quite a lot to process within such a short time. The bad guys are either shot outright, roped and hog-tied, or beaten into submission. Oh yes, Louise Brooks plays a quite forgettable part as the sister of the pilot. Not your run of the mill film. Not well made with a very lackluster ending, but worth your time. This one is a hoot!