FREE SEE FIVE CLASSIC "THREE MESQUITEERS" WESTERN MOVIES - JOHN WAYNE & MORE - NO SIGN-UP

The initial The Three Mesquiteers film was adapted from the novel of the same name by western author William Colt MacDonald, the story of a trio of cowpokes who take up ranching in the 1920s West, but find their survival more dependent on their success with colts than cattle.

The movie was a hit, and the studio followed up with fifty more sequels each as popular as the first.
The series lasted so long, that the actors who played the leads changed several times over the years, as one star or the other was injured, lured away with bigger paychecks by a rival studio, or graduated to bigger budget films.

As a result the list of actors who were featured in the title roles reads like a roster of B-movie stars, including Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Bob Steele, Ralph (Dick Tracy) Byrd, Bob Livingston, Tom Tyler, and the Duke himself, John Wayne.

Below you will find five of the most exciting Three Mesquiteers movies. We hope you will enjoy them. Included are Frontier Horizon, The Trigger Trio, Range Defenders, Roarin Lead, Riders of the Whistling Skull.

       

 If you like the Three Mesquiteers films,  you might want to check out Charles Lee Jackson II's homage, the brand new novel Trail Riders. Only 99 cents for this full-length western novel at Amazon Kindle.

New Blurb for "Trail Riders"

   If you liked "The Three Mesquiteers," "The Range Riders," and other classic Western movies, you will love reading this homage from the amazing imagination of Charles Lee Jackson II.

   Some of the roaring in the Roaring Twenties was from six-guns! At the end of WWI, three

soldiers set out to bring law and order to still-untamed reaches of the West. US Marshal Kit Cassiday, his singing sidekick Slim Rafferty, and their comical partner, Alibi Jones, earn a reputation for protecting the innocent and fighting villains—whether those villains break the law or hide behind it. Dubbed "The Trail Riders" and mounted on their faithful steeds, Gent, Duster, and Unk, these three out-ride, out-shoot, and out-think train robbers, cattle rustlers, claim jumpers, and other lawbreakers.

   Their rootin’-tootin’, rip-snortin’, gun-slingin’ adventures begin in "The Secret of Cibola," when Kit and Slim come to the aid of their old pal Alibi, who's been accused of robbery and murder. Next Slim and Alibi land in plenty of trouble when an entire train is stolen right out from under them—but Kit helps uncover the astounding how and why as they seek the “Train to Los Padres”. Then the trio investigates spooky doings when a herd of cattle vanishes into thin air, seemingly the loot of “Phantom Rustlers”. Finally, when the mail doesn't go through, and the US Mail driver is missing, the boys become "Cowboy Couriers", only to be drawn into a deadly trap by a very pretty young woman…

   More exciting adventures set in Charles Lee Jackson II's pulp and comic book inspired "Emperorverse," which has been compared to Lester Dent's over-the-top, widely beloved Doc Savage adventures. This new pulp novel, drawn from the Emperor's Secret Files, features a youthful Kit Cassiday, the retired lawman who many years later would sell the Emperor his Three-bar-R ranch and become one of his trusted advisers.

Read Trail Riders for only 99 cents at Amazon. Click on this line.

"TRAIL RIDERS" - CHARLES LEE JACKSON II'S HOMAGE TO THE THREE MESQUITEERS, THE RANGE BUSTERS & OTHER WESTERN TRIOS

Charles Lee Jackson's Trail Riders is an exciting entry in The Emperor's Secret Files series. But it is also his homage to the kind of 1930s-40s B-movie cowboy "trio" series kicked off by the 1936 film, The Three Mesquiteers (adapted from the novel of the same name by William Colt MacDonald).

MacDonald's book told of three disparate cowboys, Stony Brooke, Tucson Smith, and Lullaby Joslin, returned from fighting in World War I, who decide to take up ranching only to discover themselves more in need of firearms than farming implements.
     The film based on the book clearly captured something of which western audiences were in need, because the series lasted eight years and fifty-one installments (eight of which starred that scintillatingly handsome young actor, John Wayne as Stony Brooke).
   The series was so successful that rival studios soon began their own western series built around a similar trio of heroes, such as the Range Busters, the Rough Riders, and the Trail Blazers. To add insult to injury, these studios even lured away major stars from The Three Mesquiteers for their series. Which explains the turnover in the actors who play the three heroes of the Mesquiteers over the years. Tucson Smith, for instance was played by Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Bob Steele, and even Ralph (Dick Tracy) Byrd. While his compadre, Stony Brooke, was portrayed by Bob Livingston, Tom Tyler, and of course John Wayne.

The actors who played comic relief Lullaby Joslin were as peripatetic as the character, Max Terhune, Rufe Davis, Jimmy Dodd (of  Disney's 'Mickey Mouse Club' Mouseketeer fame),  and Sid Saylor, with Raymond Hatton, coming in as his cousin Rusty Joslin.

You can see the first film in the series, The Three Mesquiteers, the one that launched a legend, at YouTube by clicking below:
                 
    Take me to that legendary first movie! 



    Many movies in the Three Musquiteers series are available free on the internet.

       

Below is a complete list of the Three Mesquiteers films. Enjoy.  And you might want to check out Charles Lee Jackson II's homage, Trail Riders. Only 99 cents for this full-length western novel at Amazon Kindle.

1. The Three Mesquiteers
2. Ghost-Town Gold
3. Roarin' Lead
4. Riders of the Whistling Skull
5. Hit the Saddle
6. Gunsmoke Ranch
7. Come on, Cowboys
8. Range Defenders
9. Heart of the Rockies
10. The Trigger Trio
11. Wild Horse Rodeo
12. The Purple Vigilantes
13. Call the Mesquiteers
14. Outlaws of Sonora
15. Riders of the Black Hills
16. Heroes of the Hills
17. Pals of the Saddle
18. Overland Stage Raiders
19. Santa Fe Stampede
20. Red River Range
21. The Night Riders
22. Three Texas Steers
23. Wyoming Outlaw
24. New Frontier
25. The Kansas Terrors
26. Cowboys from Texas
27. Heroes of the Saddle
28. Pioneers of the West
29. Covered Wagon Days
30. Rocky Mountain Rangers
31. Oklahoma Renegades
32. Under Texas Skies
33. The Trail Blazers
34. Lone Star Raiders
35. Prairie Pioneers
36. Pals of the Pecos
37. Saddlemates
38. Gangs of Sonora
39. Outlaws of Cherokee Trail
40. Gauchos of El Dorado
41. West of Cimarron
42. Code of the Outlaw
43. Raiders of the Range
44. Westward Ho45. The Phantom Plainsmen
46. Shadows on the Sage
47. Valley of Hunted Men
48. Thundering Trails
49. The Blocked Trail
50. Santa Fe Scouts
51. Riders of the Rio Grande

 

Stan Lee's Lightspeed Writer and Return of the Killer Shrews Director Steve Latshaw Raves for The Emperor's Gambit

Fan fave Steve Latshaw is a writer/director/producer who has worked with popular film and television stars Dolph Lundgren, Treat Williams, Jason Connery, Lee Majors, Dean Stockwell, John Schneider, and James Best among others. His film credits include Stan Lee's Lightspeed, Command Performance, Jack-O, Death Mask, Rangers, and Xenophobia. Steve is also a fan of Charles Lee Jackson II's Emperorverse. Below you can read what Mr. Latshaw has to say about book one, The Emperor's Gambit.

"I have a fondness for looking back at the mind candy of my youth from the 60s and early 70s... the paperback spy novels featuring Matt Helm, The Saint and the Men from U.N.C.L.E.; the James Bond movies, soundtracks and Bubble Gum Cards (Sean Connery, thank you very much). So many memories... Alistair MacLean novels, the Avengers and the Persuaders on TV and, oh, those amazing Republic Serials, seen occasionally on the late show or local cable, and in Super 8mm Ken Films cutdowns. And I read about them in the pages of books by Alan Barbour and Don Glut & Jim Harmon, and the occasional, tattered issue of Screen Thrills Illustrated, treated like the gold it was.

"But over time the words, flickering images and memories seem to fade. Or at least they did, until I stumbled into the first few pages of Charles Lee Jackson II's The Emperor's Gambit. And now it all comes back with his series of novels. Mr. Jackson has created an embarrassment of high adventure riches, a literary stew pot mixing every cool paperback, comic, Super 8mm reel, late night TV treasure and John Barry score I've ever owned. Mr. Jackson's books combine the best of heady 60s and 70s spy adventure with the breakneck pace and scale of the great Republic serials, and all with a wry sense of good humor that rival's Napoleon Solo's best lines. And best of all, when I read them, I'm 12 years old again, and the world is new and full of intrigue, and possibilities. And high adventure. Oh, and the good guys win. As they should."

Click here to be the first kid on your block, but not the last, to read Charles Lee Jackson II's The Emperor's Gambit. . Only 99 cents for Kindle at Amazon. We'd welcome your review.

Emperor Forerunners: Saturday Matinee Cliffhangers - G-Men Vs. the Black Dragon

This classic motion picture serial influenced Charles Lee Jackson II's style and sensibility, as well as those of his celebrated character, The Emperor.

Jackson writes, "B-movies and Saturday matinee movie serials were always interconnected in the "Golden Age" of motion pictures. The best of them combined solid, if shallow, storylines with slam-bang action, and some of the best of these had their influences on my style. B-movies routinely showed that action, romance, comedy, and even music could be mixed to provide great entertainment. Among serials, 1943's G-Men Vs. the Black Dragon (with its non-stop excitement) helped me envision a milieu of heroes, villains, and plots that go beyond those influences but remember their past, and The Emperor owes it and its companion films a tip of the crown."


G-Men Vs. the Black Dragon is not merely a good serial, it is one of the best. Wikipedia hails it as "noteworthy among adventure serials." Rather than relying heavily on stock footage of car chases and melting mountains for its thrills, G-Men Vs. the Black Dragon, perhaps because it was made during the first year of World War II, right after the stunning events of Pearl Harbor, featured an "unusually high number of fistfights, all staged by director William Witney and a team of stuntmen." Filmed as a homeland morale booster, following a series of major U.S. Naval defeats, the temper of the film, like the temper of the times, can best be summed up in the titles of its first chapter and its last. "The Yellow Peril" and "Democracy in Action."

One of the classic Republic chaptershows, G-Men starred that stalwart of the B-movie, Rod Cameron. In fact, it made the then unknown Cameron a star. Universal Pictures immediately hired the tall, rugged young actor to replace their outgoing western star, the likable Johnny Mack Brown, as their newest B-western hero. Later Rod Cameron would star in three early television series: City Detective, State Trooper, and COronado 9. Afterward, a much beloved figure, Cameron appeared in one or two movies or television shows each year, up until very near his death in 1983.

The Emperor's tip 'o the crown to G-Men Vs. the Black Dragon.

 And a tip of the movie serial and pulp magazine hat to The Emperor's adventures. Joe Vadalma, author of The Chronicles of Morgaine the Witch, says, "Reminds me of the old B-movie action."

You can read the first Emperor novel, The Emperor's Gambit, now - only 99 cents for Kindle at Amazon.

Audio Interview: Charles Lee Jackson II Talks About the Creation of The Emperor's Fearless Band of Adventurers

PART THREE OF AN EXCLUSIVE THREE-PART INTERVIEW.

Join CLJII as he describes the real life group of friends he based, and often named after, The Emperor's doughty crew of crime-fighter, and then details the comics and movies that inspired his characters, adventures and universe.

Click HERE to Buy book #1, The Emperor's Gambit, for only $0.99 on Kindle at Amazon, and begin the adventure now!

Publisher Creates Promotional Postcard for The Emperor Novels

FuturesPast Editions, publishers of Charles Lee Jackson II's Emperor novels, has created a postcard sized giveaway for the series and is  debuting it May 17-18 at the combined Big Wow Comicfest and Famous Monsters Film Festival in San Jose, CA. 

Here is a preliminary sneak peak at an early first draft of both sides.

 







                                                                                                
                                                                  






Don't forget! All Emperor novels are on sale for Kindle at Amazon for only 99 cents! Click here to go directly to Amazon.com.