Frontier Horizon (1939)
When a scheming politician's dam project threatens to drown a frontier settlement, the Three Mesquiteers ride in to back the town's founder, uncovering the fraud behind the promised relocation deal before the flood gates open.
The last of eight Three Mesquiteers pictures to feature John Wayne, Frontier Horizon is best remembered today for a face in its supporting cast rather than its plot: the settlement founder’s daughter was played by Phylis Isley, a Republic contract player who would remake herself a few years later, under the name Jennifer Jones, into an Oscar winner.
Background
Frontier Horizon was directed by George Sherman for Republic Pictures and released in 1939 as part of the Three Mesquiteers series. John Wayne had appeared in several earlier Mesquiteers films before moving on to bigger roles, and Ray Corrigan and Raymond Hatton star as the other Mesquiteers. The film was released under the title New Frontier and later reissued as Frontier Horizon. Phylis Isley, who later became known as Jennifer Jones, appears in the supporting cast.
What to watch for
The plot centers on a dam project that threatens a frontier settlement. The Three Mesquiteers take the founder’s side and uncover the fraud behind the promised relocation deal before the flood gates open. Watch how the film stages its confrontations with the scheming politician, and the action set pieces that give Republic’s B-westerns their pace. The supporting cast matters here, and the role of the settlement founder’s daughter, played by Isley, is the film’s most notable piece of casting for later viewers. The brisk running time and simple moral structure are typical of the series.
