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Gold Raiders (1951)

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Offline metaldams

      GOLD RAIDERS is a slightly less than one hour b western where The Three Stooges play some comedy relief.  They share top billing with George O’ Brien and is definitely one of the better pre Curly Joe Stooge features, even if it is not one hundred percent pure Stooges.  Basically a western where The Three Stooges get some comedy routines and are integrated nicely into the plot.

      As far as the western aspect, I’m not really a deep Western guy, so I’ll be brief here.  This was George O’ Brien’s last starring role.  He was in his early fifties at this point and did a lot of westerns.  He does an OK job as far as I can tell, but he was getting older and towards the end of his action star leading man days.  These days, he is most famous for playing the leading man in F.W. Murnau’s SUNRISE (1927) one of THE great silent films.  It’s fascinating watching him in that film and thinking he winds things down in a b western with Moe, Larry and Shemp by his side.

      If this was the end for George O’ Brien’s film career, it was signaling a new beginning for somebody we are more interested in on this board - Edward Bernds.  While not the first feature film he directed, shortly after GOLD RAIDERS Bernds would leave the Columbia shorts department and be a director full time.  It’s a shame The Three Stooges didn’t go with him, judging by Bernds work with The Bowery Boys.  Bernds does a fine job in GOLD RAIDERS, keeping a brisk pace between plot, action and comedy and never feeling like there’s a lull, exactly what I want from a b feature like this.

      As for The Three Stooges, this isn’t a ROCKIN’ IN THE ROCKIES scenario.  The team dynamic is kept firmly in place this time and I imagine having Bernds directing and Elwood Ullman writing makes all the difference in the world.  Working with familiar, sympathetic people makes all the difference between the joy of this film we’re now discussing and the disappointment of the other.

      There’s nothing really Earth shattering about the comedy, but it’s all entertaining stuff.  A few good verbal and slap exchanges and a few entertaining bits where the boys partake in three part harmony in song.  Simple things that makes The Stooge fan in me smile.  There is one nice bit where the boys are peddling glasses that universally work for anybody no matter their vision.  It’s an opportunity for Shemp to pretend to be a customer and do his glasses routine where in actuality, the glasses make him blind.  Great bit where they pretend he’s reading from an eye glass chart where it’s obvious he’s not looking at it - having the chart committed to memory.

      Another scene of interest involves Slim Gaut, the same guy who does all the gymnastics in the dental chair in THE TOOTH WILL OUT.  A similar scene, with an unconscious Gaut, is done here where the boys test his reflexes by hitting his knee and he gets twisted around in the chair.  At one point, his foot is completely behind his head!  No doubt inspired by the earlier filmed scene mentioned above, though quicker and not quite as developed.  Still a lot of fun to watch.

       GOLD RAIDERS ends with a climatic gun and fist fight that we see in so many westerns and only a few insert shots of The Three Stooges, reminding us we are watching a western first and Stooge comedy second.  Midway through, the boys do get integrated into the plot by hiding the gold the outlaws are after, so that is nice to see.  A lot of these comedies the comedians are in another world, but at least the boys feel integrated whenever they’re on.

      So if you’re expecting a straight Stooge comedy, I’m afraid GOLD RAIDERS ain’t it.  However, this is an entertaining b western that has a good amount of Stooge screen time and moments and because of that, I give this one a thumbs up. 
- Doug Sarnecky


Offline Dr. Mabuse

Excellent review . . . as always.

"B" western aficionados have been rather condescending toward the Stooges-George O'Brien teaming. However, "Gold Raiders" remains an agreeable 55 minutes — no better or worse than any sagebrush programmer of the era.  Apart from being O'Brien's last starring role, the film's "raison d'être" is Shemp's only feature-length Stooge appearance, with more location shooting than all his Columbia two-reelers combined.  Solid supporting cast to boot.

However, Edward Bernds was less than pleased with the results:  "It was an ultra-quickie shot in five days at the unbelievable cost of $50,000, which even then was ridiculously low. I’m afraid the picture shows it. When the shooting schedule was cut down from a respectable 12 days to five days, I should have walked out on the project. I didn’t because the producer, Bernard Glasser, pleaded that he would lose everything he owned if I didn’t do the picture." Though I understand Bernds' frustration, the finished product was certainly nothing to be embarrassed about.

7/10


Offline metaldams

Excellent review . . . as always.

"B" western aficionados have been rather condescending toward the Stooges-George O'Brien teaming. However, "Gold Raiders" remains an agreeable 55 minutes — no better or worse than any sagebrush programmer of the era.  Apart from being O'Brien's last starring role, the film's "raison d'être" is Shemp's only feature-length Stooge appearance, with more location shooting than all his Columbia two-reelers combined.  Solid supporting cast to boot.

However, Edward Bernds was less than pleased with the results:  "It was an ultra-quickie shot in five days at the unbelievable cost of $50,000, which even then was ridiculously low. I’m afraid the picture shows it. When the shooting schedule was cut down from a respectable 12 days to five days, I should have walked out on the project. I didn’t because the producer, Bernard Glasser, pleaded that he would lose everything he owned if I didn’t do the picture." Though I understand Bernds' frustration, the finished product was certainly nothing to be embarrassed about.

7/10

When I did the research to find out which was filmed first, the TOOTH WILL OUT scene or this one (made more complicated by the fact I had to go by the MERRY MAVERICKS shooting dates), I was shocked to see a five day shooting for a feature film here.  Thanks for explaining the back story.


....and yes, I can imagine the b western fans being condescending towards this one.  George O’Brien’s last film, working with The Three Stooges and probably some other sins they’re committing that I as a non Western fan am unable to see.  That’s why I made the disclaimer about my lack of knowledge of the subject.  Hearing the point of view of pure western fans would be interesting.
- Doug Sarnecky


Offline Dr. Mabuse

Two capsule reviews of "Gold Raiders" — one positive, one negative.

Western Clippings by Boyd Magers (2008):  "A meeting of two genres — B-western and slapstick comedy — as the Three Stooges come to the aid (as best they can) of George O'Brien protecting gold shipments from outlaws (Lyle Talbot, John Merton). Written by longtime Stooges scripter Elwood Ullman and directed by Edward Bernds. Filmed at Iverson’s in five days between Christmas and New Year's. Some purists pooh-pooh this one, but it’s pure fun and nowhere near as bad a straight western as you might think. I’ve seen worse sidekicks and sillier humor than the Stooges provide. Good supporting cast — Fuzzy Knight, Sheila Ryan, Clem Bevans and Monte Blue. Stuntman Hugh Hooker (doubling O’Brien) does an eye-catching backwards somersault off a horse."

Western Films by Brian Garfield (1982):  "George O'Brien's last starring movie casts him as a tired foil for the slapstick stupidity of the Three Stooges. In black-and-white, it's mercifully short and grade Z."



Offline Shemp_Diesel

As far as film genres go, westerns have always been down at the bottom of the list for me & a genre I will almost, always pass on. Of course--like with most thing in life--there are one or two exceptions, but Gold Raiders is, unfortunately not one of them for me. Of course, if you wanted to put asses in theater seats, it makes sense to give the Stooges co-top billing on all the advertisements, but in reality this feels like a normal B-western yarn that the boys are merely making a quick cameo in, despite the billing on the movie posters.

In fact, over the last 10 or so minutes of the movie, I believe--it could have been longer--the boys all but disappear, then come back for the shootout finale; almost as if to say, yeah, we advertised the Stooges, so we better put them back in the movie. There is some good bits sprinkled throughout, as the stooges do some of there usual stuff, but it all feels routine. Not that I didn't laugh, but somehow I just wasn't really into the spirit of it.

I hate to be a downer, but Gold Raiders is not something I'll go back to for many repeat viewings. If anything--after watching it--I immediately put on Who Done It? & really raised my spirits...

4/10...
Talbot's body is the perfect home for the Monster's brain, which I will add to and subtract from in my experiments.


Offline Paul Pain

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I remember seeing GOLD RAIDERS on TV 15 or years ago.  It's neither terrible nor wonderful.  It's just a typical B western with the Three Stooges in place of Tonto or Fuzzy.
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Offline I. Cheatam

When Edward Bernds was interviewed in later years, he admitted that he never should have directed Gold Raiders. He might not have been happy with how the film actually turned out, but he also stated that he enjoyed directing the Columbia shorts more than feature films.