BlazeLime Strong and Moving!

Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Derrick Gibbons An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

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.

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.

Kieran Kenney Gene Autry is essentially the only reason to watch Red River Valley (aka Man of the Frontier). He's a pretty good actor, an even better singer, and looks good in his cowboy costume. He's an interesting person to watch. Unfortunately, he's about the only thing to recommend this film. I found the whole affair dull and, quite frankly, uninteresting. Granted, the makers of this film weren't trying to create a masterpiece. It's pretty clear that their primary objective was to quickly and cheaply make a picture with a story that would appeal to most people and that would exploit the vocal abilities of their star. Autry doesn't arrive onto the scene until several minutes into the film. When he does, he waits around for twice as long until he gets to sing. Why wait so long to have him get back to doing what he does best? I don't know. As for the rest of the cast, few of them aspire to even slightly memorable portrayals of their roles. Smiley Burnette is probably the only exception to this. The townspeople, the judge, the romantic interest, all of them are totally forgettable in their roles. Not having see any of Autry's other western vehicles, I can't honestly say that I have anything to compare this film to. This is just my first impression. Still, despite it's numerous flaws, it's still fun to watch Autry do his stuff on screen.