This is another Roy Rogers film in which his horse Trigger receives a respectable amount of screen time and has a hand, or I should say hoof, in saving the day. When Roy's transportation service trailer gets hijacked by the bad guys, Trigger puts up a fight and gets away to find Roy. Later on, he recognizes a horse named Miss Glory, one that was kidnapped from it's owner Doris Stewart (Dale Evans). In a well choreographed chase scene, Roy mounts his racing horse from a moving car to take after the villains, making this one of his more elaborate stunts, if in fact a body double wasn't used. It's no wonder that Trigger was nicknamed 'Smartest Horse in the Movies'.
The main story has the bad guys led by Dave Norris (Douglas Fowley) stealing valuable race horses, one of which is owned by Dale Evans' character. Mixing them in with a herd of wild horses, they hope to evade capture, but when Roy recognizes some of them, he plans on retrieving them for their rightful owners. Trying to throw Roy and Miss Stewart off the trail, they kill a Miss Glory look-alike in the hope that Roy will give up the quest. With Trigger stepping in to save the day, Norris's bunch doesn't have a prayer.
What struck me as somewhat odd about this flick was the choice of Pinky Lee as Roy's sidekick. Lee was a former burlesque comic who had a brash and sometimes acerbic personality. He comes across as somewhat annoying here, especially in an early scene establishing his character, also named Pinky. I would have much preferred Pat Brady in the comic relief role, but he played his part straight in this picture. He'd get to ham it up once he became a regular on Roy's popular television show of the Fifties. The guy I felt bad for in this story was Willie Best, an often unappreciated black actor of the era, who was shot when he tried to prevent Roy's horses from being stolen. I always enjoy seeing him in anything he appears in, with a particular fondness for his role in a handful of Charlie Chan films of the 1940's.
The main story has the bad guys led by Dave Norris (Douglas Fowley) stealing valuable race horses, one of which is owned by Dale Evans' character. Mixing them in with a herd of wild horses, they hope to evade capture, but when Roy recognizes some of them, he plans on retrieving them for their rightful owners. Trying to throw Roy and Miss Stewart off the trail, they kill a Miss Glory look-alike in the hope that Roy will give up the quest. With Trigger stepping in to save the day, Norris's bunch doesn't have a prayer.
What struck me as somewhat odd about this flick was the choice of Pinky Lee as Roy's sidekick. Lee was a former burlesque comic who had a brash and sometimes acerbic personality. He comes across as somewhat annoying here, especially in an early scene establishing his character, also named Pinky. I would have much preferred Pat Brady in the comic relief role, but he played his part straight in this picture. He'd get to ham it up once he became a regular on Roy's popular television show of the Fifties. The guy I felt bad for in this story was Willie Best, an often unappreciated black actor of the era, who was shot when he tried to prevent Roy's horses from being stolen. I always enjoy seeing him in anything he appears in, with a particular fondness for his role in a handful of Charlie Chan films of the 1940's.