Red River Valley

This was an incisive indictment of American capitalist greed in a similar vein to Battleship Potemkin ... sorry, I've got my notes mixed up. This is much better than Potemkin! The print I watched needed some of the same TLC however, but I guess and reckon that won't happen.

Gene delivers his herd of steers to the railroad, only to change his job into that of the more exciting sounding "ditch rider" for the dam builders. I don't know, I suppose I could have missed it but what the heck is a ditch rider's duties, apart from thwarting the baddies at every turn? They're trying to stop construction on the dam, but not destroy it - a fine line in movies like this! The acting and screenplay is what you would expect; the title song is sung suitably downbeat throughout, with a little help from Smiley and a Novelty Hillbilly Band in the starkly lit saloon.

I loved it - not recommended for the serious.

Wow, I love that torrential water rushing from the dam. Then too, director Eason shows why he was one of the best in the matinée business. He really knows how to stage action, whether jumping off sheer cliffs or fisticuffs atop a dam. I expect the concrete barrier was one of the many WPA public projects of the 30's, of which the TVA is the best known.

This is one of Gene's earliest and it's a doozy, really well produced by Republic with lots and lots of extras, locations in Yuma, AZ, and an unusual storyline. So who's trying to sabotage the dam and keep the farmers out. Gene and Frog work to find out, and you know they will since our hero is decked out in his best finery. But can Autry get the payroll money to the men in time—it's a nail-biter as Gene struggles across the barren flats. Music-wise, I couldn't get enough of the title song and ended up croaking it out til the wife left the room. And how about that jug band, just about everything but the proverbial kitchen sink. All in all, it's a great Autry mix that I expect helped put him on the matinée map.

A "9" on the matinée schedule.

In Red River Valley, Gene Autry delivers a herd of cattle to the camp of a group of construction workers and then saves a couple of children from a charging steer which of course nears and endears him to the boss's daughter Frances Grant. The workers are constructing a kind of Tennessee Valley Authority on the Red River, but someone has been regularly sabotaging the job. Gene and Smiley Burnette take jobs as ditch riders which is the expression for security guards to patrol the dams and river. It's a job that's been fatal for the last few riders.

Of course the bad guys are now dealing with America's number one singing cowboy so we know things will be set right. The most interesting performance in the film is that of George Chesebro who acts as an agitator among the workers, but he's really in cahoots with the one trying to sabotage the job for his own nefarious ends.

If you've seen a gazillion B westerns on the big screen and small you know exactly who's behind the dirty work. Gene sings a couple of forgettable songs and of course the unforgettable title song. As for the identity of the villain, just remember these are the years of the New Deal and certain professions inevitably were villains.

A typical low-budget 30s western which is entertaining enough when taken on its own terms. Probably aimed at young boys, it focuses more on action than anything else, and quickly dispenses with the obligatory romancing of a fetching wench so that it can concentrate on the ultimate foiling of a dastardly plan by the bad guys to ruin local farmers in order to benefit on the foreclosure of their mortgages. Memorable moments are few and far between, but here are a few that might linger: Autry and his comedy sidekick launching their horses over the edge of a cliff into a river below; mine workers singing a curious ditty and performing a shuffling sort of step as they stroll through town to collect their wages; the (then) present-day costumes worn by half of the characters; the complete absence of music during a chase scene

Champion runs, Gene sings. A mixture of modern day cowboys (with Damsand stuff) and old time cowboys. Plus some pretty decent non -Health & Safety action. Gene is a ditch rider and Champion knows he is really the Star ! Sabotage and dirty works at the irrigation plant, involving dynamite and songs along the way.

There is such an aura of dust bowl and emigration around this film. Jug blowing novelty acts, Woody Guthrie chord breaks in songs. When is a strike not a strike - when there's baddies and guns.

The usual shoot-em up finale and a few bars of Red River Valley.The film was marketed under the title Man of the Frontier, around the world, and that may be because of the clash with the other, more violent and more mediocre, film of the same name.

Champion runs, Gene Sings, nearly perfect in this movie.