The Far Frontier

Action filled oater that really should have been titled Rolling Barrels. Seems a smuggling crew is using the barrels to sneak crooks across the border. On one trip they injure border guard Tom who loses his memory. His ex-border chief dad is broken hearted, and wants revenge. Roy gets involved when his cattle herd is part of the same border crossing. Good thing he gets help from the District Judge. And guess who that is—yup, it's Andy Devine. All in all, it's gonna be a real battle.

Lots of hard riding and flying fists, but not much fast shooting. Speaking of flying fists, what about those two old guys—now there's a switch. Good thing Roy gets important help from the speedy Trigger who comes to his rescue. And catch cutie Gail Davis before she went over full time to cowboy Gene Autry. In ways, there're some rather brutal scenes, more so than usual. Not much scenic background, mainly b&w from greater LA and a near-by mountain dam. All in all, it's an interesting Rogers entry. But from now on, I'm staying away from oil barrels.

Francis Ford is the former US Marshall of the district, and now the town's biggest landowner. Mostly, though, he's proud of his son, Clayton Moore, who's an officer of the border patrol. He's worried, because Tom is missing, and former scalawag and now unaccountably successful businessman Robert Strange accuses the missing lad of some nefarious doings. So Roy Rogers whups him, because Ford isn't up to it. When Moore shows up after a bank robbery, judge/sheriff Andy Devine has to arrest him, but he has amnesia.

There are some surprisingly corny bits in this Roy Rogers vehicle, and some fairly shocking ones too: we never see the dead people in the barrels, thank goodness. But even though the audience is informed of what's going on, there's still some fun in watching this practiced troupe figure it out under the direction of William Witney and the camera of Jack Marta; Republic didn't stick to the classic Seven Western Plots for Roy, and there are always a few good songs between Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers. In this one, the comic "I Still Love The West" is the best.

The version I found on Amazon Prime is the shortened television version. I am mentioning this because perhaps the full version, if it's even available, might be a bit different.

The story begins with Roy taking some cattle over the border. Out of the blue, a truck comes barreling along...nearly hitting him and scattering the cattle. Clearly, the drivers are no-goodnicks. Soon, the truck passes through the border checkpoint...but the officer there spots something odd and gives chase. The baddies inside the truck bash the agent over the head...nearly killing him and leaving him for dead.

What were these baddies up to and why would they attack the border guard? Well, it turns out they are smuggling in wanted criminals inside barrels. But the American public doesn't need to worry about this contraband, as the jerks transporting them soon toss the barrels (with the criminals inside) into a reservoir!! Clearly these smugglers are kindness impaired!

As for the border agent, the man in charge of all these shenanigans has a plan. He hates the agent's father...and he uses the injured man against his own father. How does he do this and how does Roy save the day? See the film.

This film should be accompanied with the message on the screen saying 'Kids....don't try this at home!'. Why? Because the border patrolman has amnesia after the beating and Roy cures him by beating him up...with the assumption that another head injury will restore his memory!! This is insane....though the rest of the film is reasonably enjoyable and not nearly as stupid!

When border patrol agent Clayton Moore goes missing after being crowned by bad guys smuggling criminals back into the US in barrels of oil, potential witness Roy Rogers winds up being subpoenaed by judge Andy Devine to help get to the bottom of Moore's disappearance, only to have him reappear, a framed man.

This above average Roy Rogers vehicle contains some good action sequences, a group of really ruthless heavies (the best kind), and an excellent, action-packed climax filled with great stunts.

It's also notable for a great co-starring role for Clayton Moore, who put on the iconic black mask for "The Lone Ranger" the following year! I wonder if his performance here had anything to do with it.

Foy Willing and The Riders Of The Purple Sage take over for The Sons Of The Pioneers as Roy's backup band. The difference in styles makes for a refreshing change of pace, away from the pop sound that was typical of Rogers at this point and back to a more traditional country and western sound. The songs are great.

One thing I disagree with Roy about though, is the wisdom of helping a person suffering from a traumatic brain injury regain his memory by starting a fistfight with him! I don't think that works in real life.

I was intrigued with the premise of The Far Frontier, cowboys in the smuggling racket where the items smuggled are criminals back and forth from the USA. I could have seen it done in a much bigger feature film.

This particular Roy Rogers movie while observing some parameters for the Saturday afternoon kiddie trade was a pretty violent outing for Roy. In this he's a border patrolman which is his involvement with bringing down this particular racket.

One of his fellow border patrolmen is Clayton Moore who stumbles on the racket and gets clipped on the head with a wrench and left on the trail. Moore is the son of Francis Ford, John's brother, and the amnesia he develops allows him to be framed for a murder that was committed for no other reason than to frame him. Francis Ford is a long time enemy of Robert Strange who was the head of the smuggling operation.

But that particular murder is just one of many acts committed by Strange's men under the leadership of his number Roy Barcroft one of the great B western villains ever. The crimes Barcroft commits here must have staggered those Saturday matinée kids in 1948.

Roy's leading lady in this film is Gail Davis, usually found opposite Gene Autry in his westerns. Also along is Andy Devine who did several films with Roy in the Forties.

There is a scene toward the beginning of the film where Barcroft and some of the criminals they're smuggling have a disagreement as Barcroft holds them up for more money. These guys are wise-guys and it would have made a great film premise to have their friends evening the score with these goniff cowboys.