Hands Across the Border

When ranch owner Joseph Crehan is killed,his daughter, Ruth Terry, thinks about letting Onslow Stevens run the ranch, while she scurries back to her Broadway career. But Roy Rogers is willing to be her top hand if she sticks around, and three generations of ranching tradition impel her to try for an army contract that eluded her father.

Roy starred in nine westerns for Republic Pictures in 1944, and this good-natured effort was priced for success. There are no villains in this wartime western, just a bunch of people in friendly competition, with dance director Dave Gould running three production numbers. The lyrcs are by Ned Washington, the music for the title number was written by Hoagy Carmichael, and if it occasionally seems a little florid in those production numbers, the race to see who gets the contract is well shot by Reggie Lanning; the Alabama Hills have rarely looked so good. The supporting cast has Big Boy Williams, Duncan Renaldo, Mary Treen, the Wiere Brothers, and of course, the Sns of the Pioneers. The money shows n the screen, even if it's a far more introspective movie than you'd expect from a B Western; clearly, Herbert Yates knew who made money for Republic and was willing to spend some to bolster the brand.