Range Busters
| The Range Busters | |
|---|---|
| Starring | Ray "Crash" Corrigan John "Dusty" King Max "Alibi" Terhune David "Davy" Sharpe Rex Lease Dennis "Denny" Moore |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Monogram Pictures |
Release date | 1940–1943 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Range Busters was a 1940–1943 American Western film series of 24 films. They were about the adventures of a trio of cowboys, many filmed at the Corriganville Movie Ranch, produced by George W. Weeks and distributed by Monogram Pictures. The series used "Home on the Range" as its theme song with each film featuring the heroes waving goodbye and promising to return in another adventure.
Production
For a third member of the trio (or third and a half if you include Terhune's dummy Elmer) Monogram chose
The first film in the series in 1940 was appropriately titled The Range Busters. Monogram also had another "Trigger Trio" series of "the Rough Riders" which ended in 1942 after Buck Jones's death and Colonel Tim McCoy returned to active service.
Though the characters were the same from film to film, the series inexplicably changed time periods, going to contemporary times for 1942's Texas to Bataan, Cowboy Commandos and Black Market Rustlers (both 1943) then reverting to the Wild West days for the others in the series.
Corrigan left the series temporarily over money disputes and was replaced by ace stuntman
After the last Range Buster film, 1943's Bullets and Saddles, Corrigan mostly played in films wearing his gorilla suit in such films as Nabonga and gave his full attention to Corriganville. When Corrigan opened Corriganville on weekends to the general public in 1949, he hired his former co-star Terhune to entertain the ranch visitors.[2]
Films
The first 16 films star "Crash" Corrigan, "Dusty" King, and "Alibi" Terhune.[3]
- The Range Busters (1940)
- Trailing Double Trouble (1940)
- West of Pinto Basin (1940)
- Trail of the Silver Spurs (1941)
- The Kid's Last Ride (1941)
- Tumbledown Ranch in Arizona (1941)
- Wrangler's Roost (1941)
- Fugitive Valley (1941)
- Saddle Mountain Roundup (1941)
- Tonto Basin Outlaws (1941)
- Underground Rustlers (1941)
- Thunder River Feud (1942)
- Rock River Renegades (1942)
- Boot Hill Bandits (1942)
- Texas Trouble Shooters (1942)
- Arizona Stage Coach (1942)
The next four films star "Dusty" King, "Davy" Sharpe and "Alibi" Terhune, with Rex Lease joining the team in the fourth.
- Texas to Bataan (1942)
- Trail Riders (1942)
- Two Fisted Justice (1943)
- Haunted Ranch (1943)
The final four films star "Crash" Corrigan, "Denny" Moore and "Alibi" Terhune.
- Land of Hunted Men (1943)
- Cowboy Commandos (1943)
- Black Market Rustlers (1943)
- Bullets and Saddles (1943)
References
- ^ Anderson, Chuck. "The Range Busters". B-Westerns.com. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
- ^ Schneider, Jerry L. Corriganville Movie Ranch, 2007, Lulu, p. 178.
- ^ Anderson, Chuck. "The 24 Range Busters Films". B-Westerns.com. Retrieved February 2, 2020.