John Wayne Movie: See over 3 Hours of Foreign Legion Action! Classic Early 1930s Serial, The Three Musketeers, back when Wayne was only 25, at the WEJB/NSU Theater!

Re-posted by N.S.

“2,393 views premiered may 31, 2024 #westernmovies #johnwayne #filmhistory

By Rob Word

“This John Wayne film is a variation of Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers, except this 12-chapter Mascot serial deals with three soldiers in the Foreign Legion. Those soldiers are aided, not by D’Artagnon, but by American flyboy, Tom Wayne, who sees the three of them under attack by arabs. Guess what rising star appears as 'Tom Wayne?

“The 3 Musketeer Legionnaires are played by Jack Mulhall, Raymond Hatton, and Francis X. Bushman Jr. The film is co-directed by Colbert Clark and Armand Schaefer.

“Seeing young John Wayne developing as an actor in action, learning the business, how to move, react and command the screen, makes this 1933 Mascot serial very special for fans of Duke.

“This is the 3rd and best of the John Wayne serials he made at Mascot. In 1932, Duke starred in The Shadow of the Eagle and The Hurricane Express. Even though he’s 4th billed in The Three Musketeers, he’s the real star. Young kids were beginning to take notice and were already following this good-looking guy, John Wayne. Also in the cast are a couple of other future Hollywood stars, Noah Beery, Jr. and Lon Chaney Jr., billed here as Creighton Chaney. Plus, there is action a-plenty coordinated by stunt legend Yakima Canutt.

“With 12 cliff-hanging endings, this version of The Three Musketeers is epic and runs over 3 hours. You won’t have to wait for 12 weeks to see all the action. Stay tuned to our special, "A Word on Wayne," tribute to watch it in one sitting. If you dare! Or take a cocktail break every now and then. With Mascot serials, you’ll be glad you did.”





The WEJB/NSU Theater, 1902-1981:

Georges Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon (1902);

The Great Train Robbery (1903);

C.B. DeMille’s The Squaw Man (1914);

D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation (1915);

D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance: Love’s Struggle Through the Ages (1916);

Harry Carey and John “Jack” Ford’s Straight Shooting (1917), the First Feature-Length, “Cheyenne Harry” Western;

Charlie Chaplin’s Shoulder Arms (1918);

The Outlaw and His Wife (1918), Starring and Directed by Victor Sjöström (Seastrom);

Starring “Jack”: See the 1920 Silent Picture Classic of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde;

Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920);

Buster Keaton’s One Week (1920);

D. W. Griffith’s Way Down East (1920);

F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu (1921);

The Kid (1921), Charlie Chaplin’s First Feature as Director;

Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou’s First Pictures Featuring the Evil Genius, Dr. Mabuse: Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler, Teil I (Dr. Mabuse, the Player, Part I); and

Dr. Mabuse, Teil II: Inferno (Dr. Mabuse, Inferno, Part II, both 1922, released one month apart) with English subtitles;

James Cruze’s The Covered Wagon (1923);

John Ford’s The Iron Horse (1924);

Charlie, in The Gold Rush (1925);

Lon Chaney, in The Phantom of the Opera (1925);

King Vidor, Laurence Stallings, and Harry Behn’s The Big Parade (1925), Starring Gilbert and Adore!

Buster Keaton’s The General (1926);

John Ford’s 1926 Western, 3 Bad Men;

Barrymore and Astor in Don Juan (1926);

When a Man Loves (1927), Starring “Jack” and Dolores Costello;

Josef von Sternberg and Ben Hecht’s Underworld (1927), the First American Gangster Picture;

Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lodger (1927);

“Wild Bill” Wellman’s Restored, Classic Silent Picture, Wings (1927), One of the First Two Best Picture Oscar Winners;

F.W. Murnau’s Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927, One of the First Two Best Picture Oscar Winners);

Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou’s Dystopian Science Fiction Epic, Metropolis (1927), the Greatest S/F Picture Ever, Plus Its Soundtrack Suite;

Frank Borzage and Austin Strong’s Seventh Heaven (1927);

Samson Raphaelson, Alfred A. Cohn, Jack Jarmuth and Alan Crosland’s The Jazz Singer (1927), the First-Ever Talkie, Starring Al Jolson, by Warner Brothers;

King Vidor’s The Crowd 1928;

Bessie Smith in St. Louis Blues (talkie, short, 1929);

John Wayne, in His First Starring Role in an “A” Picture, Raoul Walsh’s Western Epic Talky, The Big Trail (1930)”;

Fritz Lang & Thea von Harbou’s First Talkie: M: Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder (1931) (M: A City Searches for a Murderer);

Paul Robeson in Eugene O’Neill’s The Emperor Jones (talkie, 1933);

"John Wayne Movie: See over 3 Hours of Foreign Legion Action! Classic Early 1930s Serial, The Three Musketeers;

The Man Who Knew too Much (1934): The Original Version of the Early Hitchcock Classic;

John Ford’s Judge Priest (1934), Starring Will Rogers, with Hattie McDaniel;

The Fighting Westerner (1935);

Kate Hepburn in the Super Chief’s Quality Street (1937);

Cary Grant and Roz Russell in Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur, and Howard Hawks’ His Girl Friday (1940);

Zero’s Since You Went Away (1944);

Orson Welles’ The Stranger (1946);

The Lethal Lure (1946);

William Dieterle’s A Portrait of Jennie (1948);

Jules Dassin, Albert Malz, and Malvin Wald’s The Naked City (1948), Plus Music;

Antonioni’s Blow-Up (1966);

Lee Marvin as Sergeant Ryker (1963/1968); and

Paul Newman, in Fort Apache, the Bronx (1981).