A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

One of 51 westerns by Republic. in the late '30s and early '40s under the banner of the 3 mesquiteers: a combination of mesquite and musketeers. The identity of the 3 actors varied. John Wayne was in only 8, including this one. With a run time of only 55 min., it packs in a lot of scheming and action. It's an early example of the directing of B westerns by George Sherman. He would eventually move to Columbia, and then to Universal, always almost exclusively directing B westerns. Here, Wayne, as Stony, Ray Corrigan, as Tucson, and Max Trehune as Lullaby are the 3Ms. The latter occasionally got out his dummy, Elmer, to practice his ventriloquism........ The plot involves the forging of a fraudulent land grant issued by the Spanish crown in the 18th century, and the fraudulent claim of being a direct descendent of the grantee, by an ex-con and gambler: Talbot(George Douglas), who acts as the puppet for the forger: Hazelton(Walter Wills acts as the Baron's beautiful wife.). Soledad(Doreen McKay). This grant is said to involve 13 million acres somewhere in the West. This may sound preposterous, but it's clear that this story is based upon the historical Peralta land grant fraud, in which James Addison Reaves devised a fraudulent land claim issued by the Spanish crown This involved 12 million acres(close to the stated 13 million acres in this film) in central Arizona and New Mexico.. This story is told more accurately in the 1950 "Baron of Arizona".......Here, Talbot as 'Baron' de Serrano, soon begins evicting settlers for inability to pay his exorbitant rent or fees for use of certain internal improvements. The #Ms are booted out of the ranch house. They send a letter of complaint to President Garfield, who replies that he can do nothing unless it can be proven that the Baron has done something illegal. Thus, the 3Ms decide to become secret vigilantes, wearing white capes and hoods .(Unfortunately, they look disturbingly like the getups typically worn by the KKK: another vigilante group). They were soon referred to as Los Capequeros. They rode around looking for the Baron's rent and fee collectors, to rob and give the money to those immediately threatened with eviction. Thus, they were like a mix of Zorro and Robin Hood. During a period, they even masqueraded as henchmen for the Baron's posse looking for them. Eventually, they are found out, and sentenced to death by a firing squad organized by the sheriff. Fortunately, the sheriff in on their side, and the Baron doesn't stay to watch the proceedings. WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD! The sheriff puts blanks in the rifles and fakes their deaths. Assuming them dead, a large mob of townies heads for the Baron's hacienda, ready to string him up. The 3Ms ride out to the hacienda, and go around back to avoid the mob seeing them. They climb up from their horses and enter via a window. They stick up the frightened Baron, Soledad, and Hazleton. Hazleton confesses that he was the mastermind and maker of the fraud. Wayne tells them they won't reveal to the mob that they are alive until Hazleton and Talbot sign a paper confessing they are frauds.....Perhaps the film should have been titled "Day Riders", as they did most of their riding by day, when the rent collectors were active, and so as to distinguish them from certain other more violent vigilante groups sometimes referred to as the Night Riders. ...See it at YouTube.

. . . a Fraudster meets his just desserts in THE NIGHT RIDERS. Jack Cade, a.k.a. Pierce Talbot, a.k.a. Don Luis De Serrano, is obsessed with Wealth and Birther forged certificate hoaxes. John Wayne joins the Ku Klux Klan--white sheet and all--to battle sheriffs, judges, and corporate security guards as a Socialist Robin Hood. Anyone who's followed American celebrities--who're constantly going bankrupt--knows that when someone is THOUGHT to be worth billions, bankers back up dump trucks full of cash "loans" to their mansions, since Rich People only "lend" to folks who seemingly do not need more dough. This is called "The Art of the Deal." Our presumptive next U.S. President entered politics by claiming that our current leader is a FAKE. Like those people Famous for being Famous, The Trumpster is only Famous for being Rich. But IS he, really? I guy I know knows a guy who says The Don is not only broke--he OWES 12 billion bucks! (Why not elect Bernie Madoff President?) It appears that Trump is a bigger threat to Fort Knox than Goldfinger! It's time for THE NIGHT RIDERS to ride again!

Confession: I nearly always find early b-Westerns more or less enjoyable, there's usually a lot of pleasant easy familiarity and a lot of dated stuff that can or should be forgiven. Just switch off the analysin'. John Wayne made approximately one million of these swift potboilers before he made his name – the same year as Night Riders. Even good old Gene Autry didn't make as many.Baddies forge old document proving the legality of their claim to thirteen million acres of land – they promise fairness to the tenants but deliver harshness, endless taxes and death instead. How very like all politicians always! Wayne and his two sidekicks object to this and begin a fightback as mysterious caped crusaders – Los Capaqueros replacing The Three Mesquiteers. It's the usual stuff, sub-Zorro fisticuffs and shootouts complete with self conscious melodrama: therefore all I'd hoped for, nothing more. Wayne's cohorts Ray Corrigan and Max Terhune kept on mining the b-picture vein throughout the '40's while Wayne began his climb to superstardom and the making of many movie classics. Highly enjoyable non-serious time-filler!

The value of this today can be found in two things: the action -- that is, the obligatory saloon brawl, shootouts and horseback chases are all competent, and are filmed competently.The writing: the writer places himself in this -- as 'the Forger'-- and through his 'writings' he pulls the villain's strings. The storytelling centers on the notion of changing identities -- Douglas playing an ex-con, who becomes a card shark, who assumes the mantle of 'the Don'. And the heroes play the 'three Mesquiteers', who assume the identities of the 'Capequeros', who assume the identities of henchmen, who assume the 'identities' of corpses. It all resolves when the 'true identities' are revealed, and the villain is forced to extricate himself out of his false exterior through 'writing'.On the whole, this is not a very good Western...the screenplay, acting and dialogue are horrible. Sherman has to get poor marks too, for giving all of this a pass. Ironically, it would take a Kurosawa to utilize Western themes and turn them into great storytelling, a la "Seven Samurai".When you watch this, you can see where ideas came from for such spoofs as "Blazing Saddles" and "Three Amigos!".