FightingWesterner When dynamite-wielding mystery men repeatedly sabotage the construction of a new reservoir and kill the "ditch rider" responsible for the site's security, cowboy Gene Autry is hired to replace him and bring the saboteurs to justice.A typically entertaining Republic Pictures production, this has some good action and stunt work, with the always likable Smiley Burnette backing up Gene and offering some comic relief to the proceedings.One interesting sequence (that should have been longer) involves Autry tracking the villains to an abandoned territorial prison in the middle of the desert.Keen viewers will recognize future Producers' Releasing Corporation contract villain Charles King, who figures prominently in the film's climactic riot!Musical interludes are few this time around, though Gene does get to sing his big hit version of the title song.

dougdoepke 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.

classicsoncall The Red River Land and Irrigation Company is experiencing sabotage at a number of their project dams, so Gene Autry hires on to investigate the trouble. Smiley Burnette's on hand as Gene's sidekick Frog Millhouse, but this isn't one of his pictures where you get to hear that distinctive frog voice. That's OK, as Gene and Frog foil a nefarious group attempting to undermine the local ranchers by disrupting the dam operation, but it's never really made clear what the scheme is all about. You kind of have to figure out on your own that if the local ranchers fail, the mortgages on their properties would be ripe for picking by the local hoods.There's a term introduced in the story that I've never heard before in an early Western, or any Western for that matter. Once Gene hires on with the locals, he's referred to as a 'ditch rider', presumably for patrolling the local dam sites to prevent their destruction. The term didn't seem to be particularly appropriate, but it sounded kind of cool, so I guess I can let it pass.I had to do a double take when I watched that scene of Gene going over the cliff on his horse Champion to escape the bad guy posse. I would swear I'd seen the exact same scene before in a movie, and since the era is the mid 1930's, I would suspect it's from one of John Wayne's early Lone Star Westerns. It will probably take me some time to research the exact picture, but I'll get around to it some day. As for Smiley following Gene into the drink, that's a different story. I like to think of events like that as a warm up for that great scene where Butch and Sundance escape Lord Baltimore's posse by jumping into the river at the bottom of a canyon.Unique for an Autry Western, I thought the inclusion of the black character Iodine (Eugene Jackson) to be pretty entertaining. I don't think I've seen him before in a picture, but I'll be more attentive now. He actually got to do a little more than just a bit part with that dance routine at the saloon, nicely done.As for Gene's nominal love interest in the story, it blew by pretty quickly. Frances Grant portrayed the daughter of one of the local ranchers, and she almost got as far as holding hands with Gene. Not too shabby, but the one thing that really caught me by surprise in the picture had to do with Gene and Smiley closing in on the bad guys. I never saw it before in at least a couple dozen of Autry's flicks, but Smiley actually takes a bullet in the shoulder!

Spondonman 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.