(Courtesy of Les Adams)
Above, the production and distribution companies for the Range Busters.
The original Monogram Pictures had been one of the companies that had been merged to form Republic Pictures in 1935 (along with Nat Levine's Mascot Pictures, Herbert Yates' Consolidated Film Laboratories, and more). A couple years after the formation of Republic, Monogram was resurrected as a company, and some of their cowboy heroes during the late 1930s included Tom Keene and Jack Randall.
With the success of Republic's Three Mesquiteers, several forces came together around 1940 to develop a new 'trigger trio' for the screen. Involved were Ray Corrigan, a producer named George W. Weeks and Monogram Pictures. It's not clear to me who had the initial idea for the Range Busters, but I would think it was probably Corrigan.
The Range Busters was clearly a lower budget copy of the Mesquiteers. Big, muscular 'Crash' Corrigan was clearly the lead, and comic relief was in the hands of ventriloquist Max 'Alibi' Terhune (and his wise-cracking dummy Elmer). Both Corrigan and Terhune were established western film heroes with names and faces that Saturday matinee movie crowds would know and recognize.
Monogram would distribute the Range Busters but not be directly involved in the productions. The production deal gave Corrigan a substantial share of the film profits (in an interview years later, Ray said he received 50%).
Twenty-four films were released during 1940-1943, and Corrigan appeared in 20 of them. The final entry was BULLETS AND SADDLES (Monogram, 1943), and with it, the Range Busters rode off into Hollywood history.
If you want more details, go to the Range Busters section on the Old Corral.
 Above, the original Monogram Range Busters trio --- from L-to-R are: John "Dusty' King, Ray 'Crash' Corrigan & Max Terhune.  Above are the members of the final Range Busters group --- from L-to-R are: Terhune, Dennis 'Denny' Moore & Corrigan. |
Did Ray 'Crash' Corrigan try to bring another western series to the screen long after his work in the Range Busters of 1940-1943 ... and is there a completed film laying around somewhere that hadn't been seen in about fifty years?
Both Ray Corrigan and Max Terhune told Old Corral contributor Minard Coons that they had completed the initial film of a new trio series, starring themselves along with Monte Hale's brother Bill Hale (far right in the picture above). However, the film wasn't released nor was the series continued since the market for B westerns was in a rapid decline. As to the date of this, Minard recalls that it was filmed around the time that Terhune exited the Johnny Mack Brown westerns at Monogram (which was about 1949 or so). The name of the new trio was to be "The Buckskin Rangers". Ed Phillips reports that Tommy Corrigan (Ray's son in California) has the film, and it was shown several years ago at a gathering of western film fans. More recently, Boyd Magers made the film available on videotape.
