ThiefHott Too much of everything

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

bsmith5552 You have to wonder what a western starring The Three Stooges nad George O'Brien would be. Well it's not a bad hour of entertainment. O'Brien plays it straight and the Stooges...well are the Stooges.George O'Brien paying himself, is riding to town to sell insurance protection to miners to protect their shipments, when he is attacked by a gang. He is wounded but The Three Stooges in their peddler's wagon arrive on the scene and scare the bandits off.Bad guy Clete (John Merton) reports to boss Taggart (Lyle Talbot) that he has killed O'Brien just as O'Brien and the Stooges ride into town. O'Brien meets mine owner John Sawyer (Monte Blue) and sells him on the insurance idea.Later, Sawyer is planning a large shipment. O'Brien has a plan. He will carry a fake shipment down a back road while the Stooges will carry the real gold in their wagon down the regular road. He draws the plan on the back of a wanted poster. Laura Mason (Sheila Ryan) is concerned over her grandfather's (Clem Bevans) drinking and convinces him to reform and gives him money to buy new clothes.Doc has other ideas and hits the bottle and O'Brien's map falls into Taggart's hands. Knowing the plan Taggart plans a false attack on O'Brien while sending his main force after the Stooges and.....................This was George O'Brien's return to the "B" western after eleven years. Always in great shape, he looked like no time had passed since the end of his series in 1940. Unfortunately, this would be his last "B" western. The Three Stooges perform many of their slap stick routines but are mainly supporting players here. They did have their own director, Edward Bernds though. Fuzzy Knight a seasoned western veteran is totally wasted as the sheriff. He hardly has anything of substance to do.This movie is better than advertised. It's a good little "B" western worth watching.

MartinHafer Considering that this film does not have Curly, it automatically loses a couple points. However, much as I dislike Shemp films compared to the Curly ones, they are still miles and miles ahead of the later (ugghh) films with the annoying Joe Besser or the insipid Joe DeRita.The movie is unusual due to its format. Instead of the usual 20 minute running time, this one comes in at a little under one hour--B-movie length. Now in later years, longer films would be the norm. But her in 1951, it was definitely an anomaly. In this film, the same bad pattern develops that plagued the full-length the Stooges made late in their careers. Instead of being THE show, they are there more as supporting characters. Here, aging cowboy star George O'Brien (playing, of all people a guy named "George O'Brien"!) is an insurance agent out West to protect shipments of ore from bandits. Insanely, he hires the Stooges to help him protect the shipments.As for the Stooges, to a degree they pretty much do as you'd expect--lots of slapping and eye-gouging and the like. Unfortunately, though, it's like they are guests in another person's film. There is no crazy plot or the usual level of zaniness to the film--making GOLD RAIDERS an amazingly muted film. In fact, it's less like a Three Stooges film and more like a typical B-Western--something O'Brien might have done without the Stooges. Sadly, the craziness I'd hoped would be there wasn't.You know, I'd sure love to know why this film was made. After years and years of two-reel comedies, this film just seems to come from out of no where. Also, I'd love to know how in the final shootout in the bad that so many shots were fired but so few people got hurt!!

Justin Toner (J.Toner) I got this on DVD just last month, I've been waiting years to see this and I wasn't disappointed! This is a pretty good movie, it's not a straight comedy western but The Stooges provide the big laughs of course. I really enjoyed the fact they got a lot of screen time. The "magical eyeglasses" scene was hilarious and I also loved their attempt at a doctor exam on a prospective client. The acting from O'Brien and everyone else is pretty good and the plot is simple but with some neat little twists, esp concerning Doc Mason and his daughter.The only negative thing I could find was that the Stooges are absent for the last good 15 minutes of the movie before the big climactic fight with the bad guys. It dragged in a few parts when the Stooges were absent for a long time.But other than that I really enjoyed the movie. I wish they had gotten to make more full length movies with Shemp also. It's well worth it to get the DVD with this and "Meet The Baron". Its much better than most of the Curly Joe movies.If your a Three Stooges fan it's well worth your time to check it out!

JoeKarlosi GOLD RAIDERS (1951)A dull western/comedy feature with the Three Stooges (including Shemp Howard at this point, who I've always enjoyed as the "third Stooge") doing their usual schtick, and directed by the normally dependable Edward Bernds, who also did some of their funniest classic shorts -- so one has to wonder, just what went wrong this time? The most probable answer is that what worked pretty good as a 15-minute two-reeler comes up as too much for a 55-minute feature film. Unlike so many of their classic short subjects, GOLD RAIDERS is not worth revisiting.*1/2 out of ****