Rough Riders' Round-Up

It's a boyish Roy, still a few years away from Dale and real western stardom. But already he knows how to fake a good barroom fight. Plus he manages one mean yodeling session. Then too, that eye-catching palomino looks a lot like Trigger before he got his co-starring name in lights. Nothing special here, just a solid little matinée programmer. I like the way the historical fact of Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders are worked into the story. That makes Roy and his border patrolmen kind of special.

They better be because Arizona Jack and his henchmen are one mean hombres as they smuggle gold back and forth over the Mexico border. Seems that makes problems for Roy and his patrolmen since international borders are involved. But then Roy wouldn't be a matinée hero if he didn't figure something out. Anyway, the girls are a relief from all the ugly guys, and I would have gladly plunked down my dime for a ticket if I'd been around in 1939. Good thing the movie's been preserved so guys like me can still get an hour's worth of fun.

This action-packed Roy Rogers oater is filled with chases, fisticuffs, and shoot-outs with little music to slow it down. Roy does sing a couple of songs, one when serenading Dorothy Blair (Mary Hart) while she tells him all she knows about the situation, the other in the Catina near the beginning of the film. Roy was one of the best of the singing cowboys. He helped start the Sons of the Pioneers. The only other singing cowboy that could out sing Roy was Tex Ritter. Not everyone knows that Roy was one of the best yodelers in show business. Yodeling is no longer a lost art. Pop singer Jewel and country singer Suzy Bogguss do some yodeling every now and again. Yodeling reached its peak in the entertainment industry during the 1920's with the blue yodeler Jimmie Rodgers. It began tapering off in the 1930's. In the Catina number, Roy ends the song by letting go some of the best yodeling you're likely to hear on the big screen. This is an added treat for his many fans.

Roy's comical sidekick this outing is Raymond Hatton with his mule Dinah. Hatton was a dedicated actor but not much in the way of comedy. He looked and talked funny but his humor was lame. Eddie Acuff appears at the beginning of the movie to help with the clowning but is taken out by the bad guys early on. Gabby Hayes was sorely needed.

Roy's early movies sometimes centered on historical events and real-life characters such as Jesse James and Billy the Kid. This early Roy Rogers western deals with Theodore Roosevelt's band of cowboys and misfits known as the Rough Riders who won world-wide fame during the Spanish American War in 1898. "Rough Riders' Round-Up" takes place at the turn of the 20th century when a troupe of Rough Riders led by Roy are searching for more adventure this time as border guards along the Mexican border. Roy pulls the first punch when a William Jennings Bryan supporter is bad-mouthing Roosevelt. It is not clear what election is being touted but for the time frame it would have to be when Roosevelt was running for Vice-President with William McKinley. The movie leads one to believe that Roosevelt is running for President against Bryan even though that is not specified. Why the film is called "Rough Riders' Round-up" is unclear. I failed to see any cattle in the movie to round-up.

As border guards, the Rough Riders remnants are ordered to find outlaw Arizona Jack. Arizona Jack and his gang steal gold, kidnap Dorothy Blair, and hide out across the border. The rest of the show involves rescuing Dorothy and bringing Arizona Jack and his henchmen to justice.

Roy is just beginning his career in the movies and so he and the producers are still working on his image that would eventually lead to his moniker "King of the Cowboys." The present generation of movie goers finds it difficult to comprehend just how popular Roy was with the Saturday matinée crowd. I remember seeing westerns at a theater in my hometown in northern Arkansas in the early 1950's. When the previews of coming attractions flitted on the screen and Tim Holt or other popular six-gun heroes were shown the theater remained calm. But when Roy Rogers was advertised the whole movie house went crazy. The kids would scream, yell, throw popcorn, and cause a quiet riot. The manager would flip the lights on and off a few times, send ushers up and down the aisles, and sometimes even stop the show to restore order. That's how popular Roy was in those days.

There are a few surprises in the cast. Look for future western star and husband of Dinah Shore, George Montgomery, in a bit part as a telegrapher. Duncan Renaldo, the future Cisco Kid, plays the chief Mexican police official. Glenn Strange, who would later play the Frankenstien monster in films after Boris Karloff tired of the role, can be seen in a small part. There is an array of henchmen from Republic's gallery of outlaws including Budd Osborne and George Chesebro. The viewer may not recognize the names but will know all the familiar faces.

Director Joseph Kane who would go on to direct many a television western in that medium's early years does a routine but adequate job behind the camera. There is a major criticism of his methods. Why did he shoot most of the action sequences at night? Budget perhaps. At times it's hard to see some of the action shots because of the darkness. Otherwise, a good introduction to Roy Rogers films for the uninitiated. For the fans: Get ready for some straight shooting.

Roy Rogers (as Roy) and sidekick Raymond Hatton (as Rusty) join Teddy Roosevelt's "Rough Riders". Soon, they get suspended in order to "Round-up" the killer of partner Eddie Acuff (as Tommy) along the Mexican-U.S. border; they discover creepy gold runners in the process. Notice how, even suspended, Mr. Rogers is able to get the Rough Riders to join in his Round-up!

This is not one of the better Roy Rogers westerns. The fighting scenes look like choreographed dances. Rogers sings/yodels "Ridin' Down the Trail", one of two relatively ordinary songs; and, a stand-out moment, overall.

** Rough Riders' Round-up (3/13/39) Joseph Kane ~ Roy Rogers, Raymond Hatton, Lynne Roberts

Frankly, if it says "Roy Rogers," the odds are it will be good. And this one is. For several reasons.

One, the historical setting is very interesting. It's around the turn of the 1900s and this contingent of Rough Riders is returning to these United States ... well, actually, considering the time, to a territory of these United States: Arizona, and the border with Mexico.

The Rough Riders' leader, Colonel Teddy Roosevelt, is being talked about as a vice-presidential candidate

Roy Rogers nearly always played either himself or a character named Roy Rogers, which was the case this time. It seems an odd practice, but was also done with Gene Autry, among others. Often, it detracted and/or distracted from the movie, but here it doesn't matter.

Soldier turned Border Patrol officer Rogers is joined by, among others, Rusty Coburn, played by veteran Raymond Hatton, an actor who had been around since the silent days and who often hammed it up like a B-class John Barrymore but who, here, was restrained and believable.

Other talent, and I do mean talent, included the beautiful Lynne Roberts and former chorus girl Dorothy Sebastian, as well as the prolific Eddie Acuff and the almost ubiquitous Hank Bell, again uncredited!

Seriously, it's hard to think of westerns without thinking of Hank Bell, he of the handle-bar mustache and Western drawl, and a superb character actor. Here he got some lines and again showed he should have been given many more speaking parts and many more-important parts. Maybe he never complained but many of us, his fans, do.

Amazingly, also uncredited were Duncan Renaldo and George Montgomery. The latter had a small part, but Duncan Renaldo's character was very important to the story.

Chris-Pin Martin and the really talented I. Stanford Jolley were also uncredited even though Martin also had an important part.

So, even if the story or directing or music were minor -- and they weren't; they were quite good; after all, the director was Joseph Kane - - the cast alone makes this more than worthwhile.

Roy Rogers and a few other veterans of Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders return from the Spanish-American War and take jobs as Arizona border patrolmen. When Roy's friend is killed in a rowdy border town by men operating on both sides, he takes off his badge and crosses into Mexico to settle the score.

One of Rogers' okay early outings, there's a lot of atmosphere (something Republic Pictures was really good at when they tried), some decent action scenes, including a fun saloon brawl, and a fairly rousing finale.

This time, music is an afterthought, with Roy singing only a couple of brief songs. There's a good (probably canned) music score too.