''Gold Raiders'' is a 1951

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film starring George O'Brien and

The Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical farce and slapstick. Six Stooges appeared ...

(

Moe Howard Moses Harry Horwitz (June 19, 1897 – May 4, 1975), known professionally as Moe Howard, was an American actor and comedian. He is best known as the leader of The Three Stooges, the farce comedy team who starred in motion pictures and television ...

Larry Fine Louis Feinberg (October 5, 1902 – January 24, 1975), known professionally as Larry Fine, was an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is best known as a member of the comedy act the Three Stooges. Early life Fine was born to a Russian Je ...

and

Shemp Howard Samuel Horwitz (March 11, 1895 – November 22, 1955), known professionally as Shemp Howard, was an American actor and comedian. He was called "Shemp" because "Sam" came out that way in his mother's thick Lithuanian Yiddish, Litvak accent. He is ...

). The picture was O'Brien's last starring role and the only feature film released during Shemp Howard's 1947–55 tenure with the trio.

Plot

In the old west, The Three Stooges are peddlers, traveling by covered wagon. George O'Brien, formerly a federal marshal, is now active in the new field of property insurance. O'Brien enlists the Stooges to help him outwit a gang of desperadoes, led by saloon owner Taggart (

Lyle Talbot Lyle Florenz Talbot (born Lisle Henderson, also credited Lysle Talbot; February 8, 1902 – March 2, 1996) was an American stage, screen and television actor. His career in films spanned three decades, from 1931 to 1960, and he performed on ...

), who are robbing valuable gold-mine shipments.

Cast

* George O'Brien ... George O'Brien *

... Moe (billed as The Three Stooges) *

... Larry (billed as The Three Stooges) *

... Shemp (billed as The Three Stooges) *

Clem Bevans Clem Guy Bevans (October 16, 1880 – August 11, 1963) was an American character actor best remembered for playing eccentric, grumpy old men. Early life Bevans was born in Cozzadale, Ohio. Career Bevans had a very long career, starting in va ...

... Doc Mason *

Sheila Ryan Sheila Ryan (born Katherine Elizabeth McLaughlin, June 8, 1921 – November 4, 1975) was an American actress who appeared in more than 60 movies. Career Born in Topeka, Kansas, Ryan went to Hollywood in 1939 at the age of 18. Her acting career b ...

... Laura Mason *

... Taggart *

Monte Blue Gerard Montgomery Blue (January 11, 1887 – February 18, 1963) was an American film actor who began his career as a romantic lead in the silent era; and for decades after the advent of sound, he continued to perform as a supporting player ...

... John Sawyer *

Fuzzy Knight John Forrest "Fuzzy" Knight (May 9, 1901 – February 23, 1976) was an American film and television actor. He was also a singer, especially in his early career. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1928 and 1967, usually as a cowboy h ...

... Sheriff * Hugh Hooker ... Sandy Evans *

John Merton John Merton (born Myrtland F. LaVarre; February 18, 1901 – September 19, 1959) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 250 films between 1927 and 1959, mostly as a villain. He was the brother of filmmaker André de la Varre an ...

... Clete * Remy Paquet ... Singer * Al Baffert ... Bartender (billed as Andre Adoree) * Roy Canada ... Slim * Bill Ward ... Henchman

Production

''Gold Raiders'' was an attempt by independent producer Bernard Glasser to inaugurate a new western series starring George O'Brien, an action star since

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...

's 1924 epic '' The Iron Horse'' and later a top attraction in Western and outdoor-adventure features. The Three Stooges (who consisted at that time of Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Shemp Howard) appear with O'Brien. O'Brien and the Stooges receive roughly equal screen time.

co-stars as the granddaughter of alcoholic doctor

, while silent-film star

enjoys a larger part than usual as a local mine owner. Some of the stunts were performed by Hugh Hooker, who also plays a juvenile role. ''Gold Raiders'' marked the second and last feature film with Shemp Howard as part of the Stooges. The first had been the team's original screen appearance, ''

Soup to Nuts ''Soup to Nuts'' is a 1930 American pre-Code comedy film written by cartoonist, sculptor, author, and inventor Rube Goldberg and directed by Benjamin Stoloff. It was the film debut of the original four members who would later, minus Ted Healy, ...

'' (1930), featuring the Stooges' original leader

Ted Healy Ted Healy (born Charles Ernest Lee Nash; October 1, 1896 – December 21, 1937) was an American vaudeville performer, comedian, and actor. Though he is chiefly remembered as the creator of The Three Stooges and the style of slapstick comedy th ...

Production and budget

The 56-minute ''Gold Raiders'' was economically filmed by director

Edward Bernds Edward Bernds (July 12, 1905May 20, 2000) was an American screenwriter and director, born in Chicago, Illinois. Career While in his junior year in Lake View High School, he and several friends formed a small radio clique and obtained amateur li ...

, who directed many of the Stooges' comedy shorts. Bernds asked his colleague

Elwood Ullman Elwood Ullman (May 27, 1903 — October 11, 1985) was an American film comedy writer most famous for his credits on The Three Stooges shorts and many other low-budget comedies. Career A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Ullman chose a writing caree ...

, who often wrote or co-wrote the Stooge shorts, to add comedy material to William Lively's straight western script. Bernds signed on for a 12-day filming schedule, brisk but feasible for a low-budget western. The director planned each day's work on paper, only to find that producer Bernard Glasser could not afford to keep the crew on salary for the full term. Glasser reduced the schedule twice before finally settling on a five-day schedule: December 26–30, 1950. Bernds, now faced with less than half the agreed-upon schedule, almost quit the project, but relented when Glasser pleaded with him to continue.

Ted Okuda Ted Okuda (born December 8, 1953) is an American non-fiction author and film historian. He has many books and magazine features to his credit, under his own name and in collaboration with others. Career Okuda's long-held interest in movie comedies ...

with Edward Watz, ''The Columbia Comedy Shorts'', McFarland, 1986. ISBN 978-0786405770 Bernds later commented, "I should have never made that picture. It was an ultra-quickie shot in five days at a cost of $50,000 ($ today), which, even then, was ridiculously low. I'm afraid the picture shows it!" Fortunately for Bernds, most of the cast members and cameraman

Paul Ivano Paul Ivano, ASC (May 13, 1900 – April 9, 1984), was a Serbian– French–American cinematographer whose career stretched from 1920 into the late 1960s. Born Paul Ivano Ivanichevitch, to Serbian parents in Nice, France, he served for two years ...

were industry veterans, who could be relied upon to film the required scenes with a minimum of takes. Producer Glasser had very little money left to promote the finished picture, and had to skimp on the publicity materials: a thin pressbook of newspaper ads complemented posters and lobby cards printed in only two colors (as opposed to full color). Independent producer

Jack Schwarz Jack Irving Schwarz (December 19, 1896January 6, 1987) was an independent producer of low-budget feature films in the 1940s and 1950s. Early life Jack Schwarz was born in Chicago, the son of Adolph Schwarz, a traveling clothing salesman, and Dora ...

released ''Gold Raiders'' through

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

in 1951. Although the principals worked well together, plans for an O'Brien-Stooges series were abandoned when George O'Brien and Bernard Glasser joined forces to pursue independent production in Europe. United Artists reissued ''Gold Raiders'' to theaters in 1958, and television distributor AAP issued two home-movie abridgments on 8mm film in the 1960s.Solomon, Jon. (2002) ''The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion''; Comedy III Productions, Inc.,

Home media

Out of circulation for years, ''Gold Raiders'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

in 2006 by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

References

External links

* * * * {{The Three Stooges filmography 1951 films The Three Stooges films American black-and-white films Films directed by Edward Bernds United Artists films American slapstick comedy films American Western (genre) comedy films 1950s Western (genre) comedy films 1951 comedy films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films