| The first 16 of the Range Busters starred Ray 'Crash' Corrigan, John 'Dusty' King and Max 'Alibi' Terhune. King had a standard uniform and in most of the films, he rode the paint horse Lucky / Tex. |
 (From Old Corral collection) Above are Range Busters' Ray 'Crash' Corrigan and John 'Dusty' King. Corrigan is riding Silver/Silver Chief and King is atop his paint horse Lucky / Tex (which was also ridden by Jack Randall, Raymond Hatton, Jimmy Wakely, others).  (Courtesy of Minard Coons) There's always exceptions! Above are Max Terhune (riding Banjo) Ray 'Crash' Corrigan (on Silver/Silver Chief) and John 'Dusty' King on an unknown paint, not Lucky / Tex. Still is from Range Busters #7, WRANGLER'S ROOST (Monogram, 1941).  (Courtesy of Minard Coons) Above from left to right are John King, Gwen Gaze, Ray Corrigan, and Rudy Sooter on guitar in Range Busters number 11, UNDERGROUND RUSTLERS (Monogram, 1941). Sooter was a member of "John (Dusty) King and his Range Busters" which recorded four songs for RCA's Bluebird label in 1942. Bluebird B-8952 had "Deep in the Heart of Texas" / "I Promise to Be True While I'm Away" and Bluebird B-9038 had "Someday You'll Know You Did Wrong" / "I Hung My Head And Cried".  (From Old Corral collection) Above - lobby card from TONTO BASIN OUTLAWS (Monogram, 1941). King has been captured by the no goods ... and winds up battlin' the mustached Carl Mathews in the cabin fight which occurs around 46 minutes into this film.  (Courtesy of Minard Coons) Above - John King is pummeling prolific baddie John Merton in Range Busters adventure number 14, BOOT HILL BANDITS (Monogram, 1942). |
| Ray Corrigan exited the series after the initial 16 Busters and the next four had King promoted to lead hero and got first billing. He also upgraded his uniform to a plainer shirt and different hat ... and wound up riding a white horse. Stuntman Dave Sharpe was added to the series and he was around for 3 1/2 films before leaving for World War II service. |
 (Courtesy of Minard Coons) Left to right are John King, Max Terhune and Dave Sharpe in a still from TEXAS TO BATAAN (Monogram, 1942). When Corrigan exited the series, King assumed the lead role - and got a new hat, shirt ... and a white horse.  (From Old Corral collection) Above from left to right are stuntman Dave Sharpe, Evelyn Finley and John King in a lobby card from TRAIL RIDERS (Monogram, 1942), one of the four Range Busters' films that would co-star Sharpe (who replaced Ray 'Crash' Corrigan).  (Courtesy of Minard Coons) Above from left to right are Max Terhune, John King, Dave Sharpe, Forrest Taylor and Evelyn Finley in a still from TRAIL RIDERS (Monogram, 1942).  (From Old Corral collection) Above from left to right are John King, Fred 'Snowflake' Toones, Charlie King, Rex Lease, Bud Osborne, Glenn Strange and Max Terhune in a lobby card from HAUNTED RANCH (Monogram, 1943). Dave Sharpe started the film, but had to leave for World War II duty and Rex Lease came in to finish the movie. The scene in this lobby card is just prior to the closing brawl ... followed by Fred Toones discovering the "Little Brown Jug" tune that must be played on the organ ... and playing the song opens a secret wall passage with the missing gold from the Denver Mint. HAUNTED RANCH was the twentieth of the twenty four films in the Range Busters series. It was also King's finale as a Buster. His next job was World War II service in the Air Corps. |
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