One of 51 westerns by Republic in the late '30s and early'40s, under the banner of The Three Mesquiteers. The identity of the 3 players varied. John Wayne is involved in only 8 of them, and this is one of those. With a run time of only 55 min., it packs in a lot of scheming and action. Incidentally, although this is scripted as taking place in New Mexico Territory, the Santa Fe in the title refers to the small town of Santa Fe Junction, not to the capital! Also, the closest thing to a stampede is the mob milling around outside the jail where John Wayne, as Stoney Brooke, is being kept. This was early in director George Sherman's career at Republic. Later, he would move to Columbia, and then to Universal. Each time, he would direct B westerns, nearly exclusively. Luci Ward and Betty Burbridge combined to develop the screenplay, both writing the screenplays for primarily B westerns from the late '30s through the '40s.......Here, Wayne, Ray Corrigan and Max Trehune were the 3 Mesquiteers. The latter occasionally got out his Elmer puppet to practice some ventriloquism. Petite June Martel played Stoney's quasi-girlfriend. Her small sister, Julie Jane, was played by Genee Hall, while her small brother Billy was played by Martin Spellman, whose film career was limited to juvenile roles. William Farnum played their father, Dave Carson. LeRoy Mason played the kingpin villain Mayor Gil Byron. Ferris Taylor ,as Judge Hixon, and Dick Rush, as Sheriff Tom, were his two main accomplices in obstructing law and order in the town......It was a gold vein that the Carsons discovered that forms the basis of the story. Mayor Byron and his cronies and henchmen want to take the mine away from the Carsons. To do so legally, they must obtain an ore sample. Toward this end, Byron sends 2 men out to sneak into the mine to get a sample. As they leave on 2 of Carson's horses, Billy shoots at them, alerting the others, who chase them. One is caught, but the other has the ore sample. Stony and bunch take the one to the sheriff, who tells them they need a court order to put him in jail. So, they go to the judge, who obliges them. However, he says there is be a trial right away. The sheriff brings the prisoner over, with a bunch men. One of the men says he couldn't be the thief, since he was working with the defendant at the time. Based on this flimsy evidence, the judge dismisses the case. Stony pipes up "This isn't a court. It's a three ring circus", and is fined for contempt of court. Soon, Stony starts a petition to be sent to the governor, that these corrupt officials be fired. Dave Carson is selected to take this to the governor while, at the same time, Stony takes his ore report to the claims office , in another town. The mayor sends two men to kill Carson, and return with the petition. This they do. However, little Julie Jan was also in the buckboard(why?), which went over a cliff, without a driver. It was assumed she died. Her reported death incensed the town people. Meanwhile, the mayor decided to charge Stony with the crime, since he was away from town at the time. He was jailed on this flimsy evidence, and a mob gathered, demanding that he be lynched. When the sheriff opened the door, Nancy slipped in but, mysteriously, fainted before reaching Stony. The impatient mayor ordered that the jail be set afire. There soon were several big fires within the jail. Then, several sticks of dynamite were thrown into the jail, One blew out a wall allowing Stony to escape, with Nancy in his arms, surviving the fire and smoke inhalation. This whole sequence, beginning with Nancy's fainting, is totally unbelievable. Other than this last part, I enjoyed the film , which was based on a good screenplay. See the ending of the film, at YouTube, for instance.

The Three Mequiteers - John Wayne, Ray "Crash" Corrigan, and Max Terhune come to the aid of an old friend who's besieged by a truly nasty group of politically connected claim-jumpers and horse-thieves who plan to steal his goldmine.With lots of atmosphere and suspense to spare, this excellent, rousing entry in Republic Pictures' Three Mesquiteers series is a joy to watch. It's loaded to the rafters with non-stop action, stunts, and close-calls on the part of the heroes. As with other titles in the series, Santa Fe Stampede seems seems like a twelve-chapter serial pressed into just under an hour!Certainly, this is one of the increasingly higher quality pictures leading up to John Wayne's breakthrough role the following year in John Ford's Stagecoach.One thing that's shocking to see in a 1930's Saturday matinée B-western is the sight of a little girl, who dies screaming as her wagon crashes violently from a steep rocky pass! I can't believe they did that!

William Farnum sends for The Three Mesquiteers to help him save his mining claim who some unscrupulous townspeople are trying to get a hold of. The villains are headed by town mayor LeRoy Mason.Mason proves to be a most resourceful villain. He kills Farnum and his little daughter and frames Wayne for the murder. When it looks like the Duke and Crash and Lullaby are going to get out of the frame, he gets a lynch mob going.This is the second film that I've seen where the Duke was the object of a lynch mob. In Range Law where he's also accused of murder, he's almost lynched as well. Marshal Buck Jones saves him in that one.LeRoy Mason played a lot of western villains and he gives the Mesquiteers a run for their money. He thinks pretty fast on his feet and it's a less nervy member of his own gang that ruins all his plans.How does Wayne get out of it? All I can say it's a rescue worthy of some of the serial cliffhangers.

"Santa Fe Stampede" is one of many Three Mesquiteers films made by Republic in the late 30s and early forties. The trio in this outing consisted of John Wayne, Ray "Crash" Corrigan and Max Terhune. For Wayne, this was the third of eight Three Mesquiteer films he appeared in and was his final "B" western series prior to his emergence as a major star.As usual the title of the movie bears little or no resemblance to the plot of the picture. The "Santa Fe" of the title is "Santa Fe Junction" and there is no stampede to be found, or for that matter, no cattle.What the film does have is a great cast. Wayne, Corrigan and Terhune look comfortable in their hero roles. Former silent screen star William Farnum, with his stage trained voice and elocution, plays the boys' friend and partner. The chief villain is played by Republic's busiest bad guy of the period, LeRoy Mason. In his gang of henchmen are such "B" western stalwarts as Charlie King, Bud Osborne and Dick Alexander. Tom London also appears as a marshal.In the video I watched, issued by Republic Pictures Home Video there are three minutes cut out. The key scene deleted involves the fate of the Farnum character and his young daughter, which some must have thought was too disturbing for young audiences. But I do not understand why the video didn't contain the complete version.Nevertheless, "Santa Fe Stampede" is a good way to spend an hour.