For those who don't know, but can probably guess, Tex Ritter was the father of the 'Three's Company' TV situation comedy star and actor John Ritter. Here, in one of Grand National Films' best, Tex displays his singing, fighting and acting talents.
First, he sings "Rollin' Plains" three times, over the beginning and ending credits and an extended version in the middle of the film. The song was a big hit in 1938; I have the complete version by Kenny Baker from the radio show 'The Jello Program Starring Jack Benny' from January 1938. I love it. There are actually three other songs in the film, with Tex singing "My Pal My Pony and Me" which explains in detail the feelings of the cow puncher. The film, as was usual in many 30s and 40s westerns, casts the sheepherders as the villains, encroaching on the free use of the range and water rights by the dominant longhorn cattlemen. Remember, they were called cowboys not sheepboys. This is the background for the story.
The film really follows Tex and his involvement with 'Gospel' Moody and proving his innocence on a murder charge. When confronting the henchmen who waylaid him while he was obtaining Moody's pardon from the governor, Tex has another of his classic fights with Charles King, here known as 'Trigger Gargan'. Looking closely, you can see there were no stunt doubles-- they really mixed it up having practiced this routine in a dozen films.
Finally, Tex gets an extended acting sequence with Cain Moody (played by veteran 'uncredited' actor of over 400 films, Ernie Adams), giving a funeral oration for 'Gospel' and reading from the Bible in a darkly lit setting which is capped off by Adams getting his fifteen minutes of fame by playing off Tex in a frantic and terrified way. You don't see a sequence like this of 95% of the other low grade programmers. Credits to the script writer and the director on this one. The director, Al Herman, directed over 190 films, including more of Tex's westerns as well as all 30 of the 'Mickey McGuire' comedy shorts with Mickey Rooney.
Then we have the obligatory final chase / shoot out ending, in this case a for no reason shooting race between cattle men and sheep herders, with Tex finally trapping the villain on a cliff, where the desperado falls to his doom.
Except for the odd chase at the end, what we have is a better than average 30s western. I'll give it a 5.
Surprise note: The music when Horace Murphy and Snub Pollard walk into a 'ghost building' can be heard again in Bela Lugosi's 'The Corpse Vanishes' (1942). (Snub Pollard, from the 'Keystone Kops' days of silent film slapstick acts awfully gay, but apparently he was happily married.)
