classicsoncall In the ubiquitous battle between cattlemen and sheep herders, it's usually the cattlemen that are the bad guys, but not here. Plotting to frame old John 'Gospel' Moody (Hobart Bosworth) for murder, the sheep faction intends to steal his land and water rights to put down the cattlemen for good.There's not much to recommend this Tex Ritter vehicle; it's rather on the slow side and even though 1938 was well past the beginning of the sound era, it had some of that uncertain feel of an early talkie where the players seemed unsure of each other. Tex has a couple of sidekicks who provided the nominal comic relief, but I couldn't help but find them more annoying than funny. Particularly Snub Pollard in the early going who looked like he was a bit on the fey side. Horace Murphy as Ananias wasn't much better, and the pair didn't really complement each other all that well.The one lively scene that makes the picture worth your while is the well staged barroom brawl between Tex Ritter and perennial baddie Charles King. They mix it up pretty well and destroy enough furniture to lay waste to the set. It's one of your better B Western brawls.The picture does utilize a creative touch to begin bringing the villains to justice. Tex reads from the Bible in a darkened room after getting the drop on Cain Moody (Ernie Adams), as the 'ghost' of John Moody sings Rock of Ages. Cain goes berserk and spills the beans on the brains behind the sheepmen, Dan Barrow (Karl Hackett). Following your standard horse chase and shootout, Tex corners Barrow on the side of a cliff, where he loses his footing and falls to his doom. It's a rather awkward finish, but does provide the segue for Tex to sing the title song once more, just in case you missed it the first two times.

FightingWesterner Ritter plays a Texas Ranger who comes to the aid of a group of cattlemen who've found themselves in the middle of a vicious land war with ruthless sheep farmers (You heard it right!) and of one landowner in particular who finds himself framed for murder by the sheep men and by his own half-brother, who's in their back-pocket.Though not the best of Tex's vehicles, It's an alright way to pass an hour, with the requisite amount of action and music, though not as much of the latter as I'd have liked. The title song is pretty good.Once again, there's a great, rowdy saloon fight between Ritter and eternal heavy Charles King. Tex also shines in the climactic "ghost" scare scene, where he uses his deep voice and accompanying organ music to great effect.

John W Chance 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.)

falsecut Totally unremarkable oater with your typical damsel in distress that Tex has to rescue. A "surprise" villain, once again there's a respected town resident who's in on it and spying on our heroes. Perhaps the most noteworthy item in the movie is that it's the sheep guys that are the bad guys, trying to overpower the cattlemen. Usually, it's the other way around. The songs are OK but not Ritter's best ones. The sidekicks are Horace Murphy and Snub Pollard, who appear in several of Tex's westerns. This isn't Murphy's best performance. His dumb as a post act lacks humor I think. Snub is the more intelligent of the two but that's not saying much. He's got a great mustache though.