Gold Raiders
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Gold Raiders is a 1951 comedy film directed by Edward Bernds and writtten by William Lively and Elwood Ullman. The film was an attempt by producer Jack Schwartz to inaugurate a new western series starring old favorite George O'Brien. Adding novelty value to the proceedings are the Three Stooges: Shemp Howard, Larry Fine, and Moe Howard. Gold Raiders was filmed in a record five days and has a 56-minute running time.
The action is fairly divided between O'Brien, playing a frontier insurance investigator, and the Stooges, cast as itinerant snake-oil peddlers. The star and his comedian cohorts thwart a gang of thieves hijacking gold-mine shipments. The villain is local bigwig Sawyer (Lyle Talbot), but the plot sneaks in a few interesting twists, including a red-herring character who initially seems to be a spy for the baddies, but who turns out to be an agent for the good guys. The Stooges, despite their buffoonery, perform heroically during the climactic shootout.
Sheila Ryan co-stars as the granddaughter of tipster doctor Clem Bevans, while Monte Blue enjoys a larger part than usual as the local mine owner.
Gold Raiders was reissued in a shortened version as The Three Stooges Go West.
