This is one of the later Roy Rogers Westerns where he got saddled with Pinky Lee and Estelita Rodriguez as part of the supporting cast. I don't have any idea what the thinking was to include those players. Unlike some of Roy's prior sidekicks like Gabby Hayes and Smiley Burnette, Roy doesn't even crack a smile when he and Pinky appear on screen together. Maybe that tells you something. Actually, Pinky's not so much a sidekick as a comic relief character, but most of his gimmicks fall flat, like the three times in this picture when he was released from his upside-down hanging position from a swinging rope.
In this story, Roy's nominal employer (Pierre Watkin) asks him to investigate drought conditions that threaten to put the local ranchers out of the cattle business. As expected, there's a villain (Roy Barcroft) who wants to thwart the ranchers' efforts to truck in water for their herds and prevent the seeding of clouds that would bring much needed rain to the valley. George Hill's son Phil (Kenneth Howell) temporarily sides with the bad guys before he sees the error of his ways. Phil conducts a running feud with his fiancée Pepita Martinez (Rodriguez) throughout the picture before they finally patch things up at the finale.
I had to chuckle during the scene where Phil hijacked the airplane with the cloud seeding equipment and threw out handfuls of silver iodide into the air to create rain. What little I know about seeding clouds doesn't prevent me from scratching my head over that one. But I guess simpler times required something that the matinee crowd could relate to.
The ending of this flick highlights Roy's athletic ability and is probably one of his most energetic stunts when he runs across the backs of four horses in order to mount Trigger and ride off into the sunset. It's one that's bound to have you do a double take, as I had to rewind the picture just to see him do it again!
In this story, Roy's nominal employer (Pierre Watkin) asks him to investigate drought conditions that threaten to put the local ranchers out of the cattle business. As expected, there's a villain (Roy Barcroft) who wants to thwart the ranchers' efforts to truck in water for their herds and prevent the seeding of clouds that would bring much needed rain to the valley. George Hill's son Phil (Kenneth Howell) temporarily sides with the bad guys before he sees the error of his ways. Phil conducts a running feud with his fiancée Pepita Martinez (Rodriguez) throughout the picture before they finally patch things up at the finale.
I had to chuckle during the scene where Phil hijacked the airplane with the cloud seeding equipment and threw out handfuls of silver iodide into the air to create rain. What little I know about seeding clouds doesn't prevent me from scratching my head over that one. But I guess simpler times required something that the matinee crowd could relate to.
The ending of this flick highlights Roy's athletic ability and is probably one of his most energetic stunts when he runs across the backs of four horses in order to mount Trigger and ride off into the sunset. It's one that's bound to have you do a double take, as I had to rewind the picture just to see him do it again!