Border G-Man

George O'Brien stars as an undercover government agent trying to root out villain John Miljan's arms smuggling racket in this ridiculous RKO programmer. Made at a time when America was scrupulously trying to avoid taking sides in the European troubles of the late '30s, Border G-Men imagines a world where evil ranchers try to circumvent the Neutrality Act by shipping guns to an unnamed and unknown third party, apparently across the Mexican border. The only saving grace of this picture is the inclusion of a handful of western swing songs by Gene Autry.

The previous comment about the music in this movie is wrong. The music is performed by Ray Whitley, and there's a fascinating story behind it -- Whitley was contracted at the studio at the time, and received a phone call at 5:00 am from the producer to show up at the lot for filming. He told his wife, "Well, I'm back in the saddle again!" Then he also mentioned that the producer asked him to write a song to perform in the movie. His wife told him, "Well, you've got a title for one right there."

He immediately penned the song "Back in the Saddle Again," sang it in the movie (that same day), then later on, Gene Autry heard it, got together with Ray, made some slight changes and used it in his 1939 movie "Rovin' Tumbleweeds." Autry made it his theme song and became so identified with the song, people assume it's him singing it even when it isn't. Ray Whitley was a talented screen performer who was under-utilized by the studios.

My mom used to tell me about the Saturday matinees. This would be one of those movies. Good battling evil, with a period plot involving guns, money, and political blackmail. Also filmed around the old California ranches, Mulholland Drive (looks like), and the beaches and cliffs of Malibu. All in all a fun flashback back to a different time.

My mom used to tell me about the Saturday matinees. This would be one of those movies. Good battling evil, with a period plot involving guns, money, and political blackmail. Also filmed around the old California ranches, Mulholland Drive (looks like), and the beaches and cliffs of Malibu. All in all a fun flashback back to a different time.

My mom used to tell me about the Saturday matinees. This would be one of those movies. Good battling evil, with a period plot involving guns, money, and political blackmail. Also filmed around the old California ranches, Mulholland Drive (looks like), and the beaches and cliffs of Malibu. All in all a fun flashback back to a different time.