Gold Raiders is a 1951 western comedy, starring George O. Brien and The Three Stooges.
The film was more or less seen as an attempt to help O'Brien's struggling career at the time. It is well noted for being one of the only two Stooge films to feature Shemp, and the only one to feature him as a main character. The movie's plot is fairly divided between O'Brien, playing a frontier insurance investigator, and the Stooges, cast as itinerant peddlers. The star and his comic 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.
The cast also features Shelia Ryan, Monty Blue and Jerome Cowan.
Trivia[]
This film was released on DVD in 2006.
Jerome Cowan would also appear in Have Rocket will travel.
On a budget of $50,000 (approximately $650,000 in 2025), the production only had five days to work with, which was only a day longer than the average Stooge short was afforded. Edward Bernds instantly regretted making the film after seeing the final product.
The films low budget was made possible due to many of the actors being contracted players from Columbia’s Shorts department, with many (including the Stooges) not being paid extra for the work and only remaining on their regular weekly salaries.