JohnHowardReid An unusually complicated story-line finds Rogers, Hatton and Acuff joining the Arizona Border Patrol after a stint in Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders. The territory is being terrorized by a gang of bandits led by a mysterious "Arizona Jack" who hides out across the Mexican border between raids. What seems at first a standard goodies-versus-outlaws chase (compounded by vengeance, though this aspect is soft-pedalled) is made more complex by the runaway daughter of a rich mine-owner who wants to marry her father's manager. Unfortunately for her, the manager...It can be seen that Rogers' role is less central than in most of his vehicles. Indeed it's the girl who has the main part - and that makes this a very unusual "B" western indeed. Rogers still finds time to sing a couple of pleasant songs plus a chorus or two of "Johnny Comes Marching Home", but all the numbers are staged in odd circumstances. What's more the musical interludes are not built up as ends in themselves, but are treated in a much more realistic and casual fashion. Compared to their obligatory central staging in his later westerns, here the songs are almost peripheral to the main action. Rogers' personality is more likably subdued here too, allowing the other players to make much more of an impression. Of course if you're a rabid Rogers fan, you may find the amount of screen time devoted to the other characters - Miss Hart, Pawley, Meeker, Miss Sebastian, even Rockwell - unappealing, though I really enjoyed their performances. (It was also good to see George Chesebro up to his usual villainy. Glenn Strange can easily be recognized as one of the bandits, while the more eagle-eyed will pick George Montgomery in a triple-threat role as a rough-rider, a bandit and a double for Rogers).Kane omits this picture from his filmography, though it's certainly nothing to be ashamed of. The director makes good use of his locations, his players and a surprisingly expansive budget. There's more than enough chase, fisticuffs and shoot-out action to satisfy the fans, though the final rounding-up of the bandits is disappointingly short.OTHER VIEWS: Herbert J. Yates had the bright idea of re-naming Miss Roberts as Mary Hart so that he could bill "Rogers and Hart" as the new sweethearts of the west. To this end, he probably ordered his scripters and directors to focus more - or at least just as much - as on Leonard Slye! (Slye didn't actually change his name to Roy Rogers until 1942).

dougdoepke It's a boyish Roy, still a few years away from Dale and real western stardom. But already he knows how to fake a good barroom fight. Plus he manages one mean yodeling session. Then too, that eye-catching palomino looks a lot like Trigger before he got his co-starring name in lights. Nothing special here, just a solid little matinée programmer. I like the way the historical fact of Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders are worked into the story. That makes Roy and his border patrolmen kind of special.They better be because Arizona Jack and his henchmen are one mean hombres as they smuggle gold back and forth over the Mexico border. Seems that makes problems for Roy and his patrolmen since international borders are involved. But then Roy wouldn't be a matinée hero if he didn't figure something out. Anyway, the girls are a relief from all the ugly guys, and I would have gladly plunked down my dime for a ticket if I'd been around in 1939. Good thing the movie's been preserved so guys like me can still get an hour's worth of fun.

classicsoncall It's 1900, and Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders have returned from Cuba. Roy Rogers and friends Rusty Coburn (Eddie Acuff) and Tommy Ward (Ray Hatton) seek work as border patrol agents, with the personal recommendation of Roosevelt himself. The border patrol captain is willing to take them on, especially since outlaw Arizona Jack is marauding the border passes and seeking refuge in Mexico. Adding drama to the plot is the presence of Dorothy Blair (Mary Hart), as the daughter of the owner of the Amco Mining Company. Rogers has orders to detain her, but when a fight breaks out in the cantina she escapes on a Mexican stagecoach, only to be captured by the bandits.Roy Rogers has the uncanny ability to walk into any situation, no matter how grim, and pick up a guitar to sing a song. This happens twice in Roundup - first in the unfriendly environs of the local cantina, and then again when captured and secured in Arizona Jack's bandit hideout; it's not very believable given the situation.Be attentive for a continuity goof in a chase scene in the second half of the film; as Arizona Jack's gang pursues Roy and Rusty on horseback, the good guys string a rope across their path to knock the first two riders off their horses. But as the bandits get up to dust themselves off, the rope is back in place again."Rough Riders Roundup" moves along at a brisk fifty eight minute pace, and as mentioned, has the obligatory fisticuffs, chase scenes and gunfights expected in a "B" western. One overlooked detail though - Roy appears to ride his trusty palomino Trigger in the film, however Trigger is not top billed as "The Smartest Horse in the Movies" in this flick. I assume he fired his agent before the next picture!

david Good oldtime B Western, with the greatest star of that genre in his early prime. Gold smugglers in Mexico, murder, capture, fist fights, gunfights - great Sat matinee at the Bijou stuff. And the reason why is, No Musical Numbers! I loved Roy's movies and TV and Radio shows; he was and is high on my list of Most Admired Men. A good man, and a humanitarian of the highest order. The Pearly Gates were a walkthru for him and Dale. But it woulda been better for everyone if Herbert J. Yates had never seen OKLAHOMA! on Broadway, cause his lamebrain notion to make all of Roy's movies from then on in that format - songs and more songs, then oh by the way, a story - compromised the genre severely, right when and where we didn't need it. Herb, baby, Roy's films were fine as is; don't mess with 'em. That's why this 55 minute gem gets 7 stars, outta 10.