Three Texas Steers (1939)

I’m certainly glad John Wayne was granted time off during the shooing of this movie to film Stagecoach (1939). Stagecoach, of course, made him a star. I’m not sure what this film made him, though. This was a B movie so entertainment was the only consideration. It has some western action, humor, circus folk, a little romance and a man in a gorilla suit. And who could forget that small tracked vehicle that pulls a prairie schooner. As far as the plot goes there are about eight of them none of which get resolved. This was one of a strange breed of Westerns that blended the Old West with modern (at the time) technology. It wasn’t just this film. A few years back I saw a Roy Rogers picture that did the same thing. It led to a line that has stuck with me. Roy Rogers, sheriff of an 1880’s-like town proclaims, “We have to save the airline!”