The Red River Land and Irrigation Company is experiencing sabotage at a number of their project dams, so Gene Autry hires on to investigate the trouble. Smiley Burnette's on hand as Gene's sidekick Frog Millhouse, but this isn't one of his pictures where you get to hear that distinctive frog voice. That's OK, as Gene and Frog foil a nefarious group attempting to undermine the local ranchers by disrupting the dam operation, but it's never really made clear what the scheme is all about. You kind of have to figure out on your own that if the local ranchers fail, the mortgages on their properties would be ripe for picking by the local hoods.
There's a term introduced in the story that I've never heard before in an early Western, or any Western for that matter. Once Gene hires on with the locals, he's referred to as a 'ditch rider', presumably for patrolling the local dam sites to prevent their destruction. The term didn't seem to be particularly appropriate, but it sounded kind of cool, so I guess I can let it pass.
I had to do a double take when I watched that scene of Gene going over the cliff on his horse Champion to escape the bad guy posse. I would swear I'd seen the exact same scene before in a movie, and since the era is the mid 1930's, I would suspect it's from one of John Wayne's early Lone Star Westerns. It will probably take me some time to research the exact picture, but I'll get around to it some day. As for Smiley following Gene into the drink, that's a different story. I like to think of events like that as a warm up for that great scene where Butch and Sundance escape Lord Baltimore's posse by jumping into the river at the bottom of a canyon.
Unique for an Autry Western, I thought the inclusion of the black character Iodine (Eugene Jackson) to be pretty entertaining. I don't think I've seen him before in a picture, but I'll be more attentive now. He actually got to do a little more than just a bit part with that dance routine at the saloon, nicely done.
As for Gene's nominal love interest in the story, it blew by pretty quickly. Frances Grant portrayed the daughter of one of the local ranchers, and she almost got as far as holding hands with Gene. Not too shabby, but the one thing that really caught me by surprise in the picture had to do with Gene and Smiley closing in on the bad guys. I never saw it before in at least a couple dozen of Autry's flicks, but Smiley actually takes a bullet in the shoulder!
There's a term introduced in the story that I've never heard before in an early Western, or any Western for that matter. Once Gene hires on with the locals, he's referred to as a 'ditch rider', presumably for patrolling the local dam sites to prevent their destruction. The term didn't seem to be particularly appropriate, but it sounded kind of cool, so I guess I can let it pass.
I had to do a double take when I watched that scene of Gene going over the cliff on his horse Champion to escape the bad guy posse. I would swear I'd seen the exact same scene before in a movie, and since the era is the mid 1930's, I would suspect it's from one of John Wayne's early Lone Star Westerns. It will probably take me some time to research the exact picture, but I'll get around to it some day. As for Smiley following Gene into the drink, that's a different story. I like to think of events like that as a warm up for that great scene where Butch and Sundance escape Lord Baltimore's posse by jumping into the river at the bottom of a canyon.
Unique for an Autry Western, I thought the inclusion of the black character Iodine (Eugene Jackson) to be pretty entertaining. I don't think I've seen him before in a picture, but I'll be more attentive now. He actually got to do a little more than just a bit part with that dance routine at the saloon, nicely done.
As for Gene's nominal love interest in the story, it blew by pretty quickly. Frances Grant portrayed the daughter of one of the local ranchers, and she almost got as far as holding hands with Gene. Not too shabby, but the one thing that really caught me by surprise in the picture had to do with Gene and Smiley closing in on the bad guys. I never saw it before in at least a couple dozen of Autry's flicks, but Smiley actually takes a bullet in the shoulder!