Gun Smoke Ranch

One of the timelier Three Mesquiteers westerns, Gunsmoke Ranch was inspired by the Ohio and Mississippi river floodings of 1937. As usual, the Mesquiteers are Stony Brooke (Robert Livingston), Tucson Smith (Ray "Crash" Corrigan) and Lullaby Joslin (Max Terhune). After rescuing young Marion (Julia Thayer) from the rising flood waters, our three heroes take on a no-good varmint (Kenneth Harlan) who is capitalizing on the disaster by buying up land dirt cheap. Comedy relief is provided by cornpone vaudevillians Oscar and Elmer, who are about as funny as an eviction notice. Actual newsreel footage of the previous years' floods adds a veneer of credibility to Gunsmoke Ranch.