Rough Riders' Round-up (1939) User Reviews

One of the few opportunities to hear Roy yodel

[krorie · 6/10 · 29 December 2005]

This action-packed Roy Rogers oater is filled with chases, fisticuffs, and shoot-outs with little music to slow it down. Roy does sing a couple of songs, one when serenading Dorothy Blair (Mary Hart) while she tells him all she knows about the situation, the other in the Catina near the beginning of the film. Roy was one of the best of the singing cowboys. He helped start the Sons of the Pioneers. The only other singing cowboy that could out sing Roy was Tex Ritter. Not everyone knows that Roy was one of the best yodelers in show business. Yodeling is no longer a lost art. Pop singer Jewel and country singer Suzy Bogguss do some yodeling every now and again. Yodeling reached its peak in the entertainment industry during the 1920's with the blue yodeler Jimmie Rodgers. It began tapering off in the 1930's. In the Catina number, Roy ends the song by letting go some of the best yodeling you're likely to hear on the big screen. This is an added treat for his many fans.

Roy's comical sidekick this outing is Raymond Hatton with his mule Dinah. Hatton was a dedicated actor but not much in the way of comedy. He looked and talked funny but his humor was lame. Eddie Acuff appears at the beginning of the movie to help with the clowning but is taken out by the bad guys early on. Gabby Hayes was sorely needed.

Roy's early movies sometimes centered on historical events and real-life characters such as Jesse James and Billy the Kid. This early Roy Rogers western deals with Theodore Roosevelt's band of cowboys and misfits known as the Rough Riders who won world-wide fame during the Spanish American War in 1898. "Rough Riders' Round-Up" takes place at the turn of the 20th century when a troupe of Rough Riders led by Roy are searching for more adventure this time as border guards along the Mexican border. Roy pulls the first punch when a William Jennings Bryan supporter is bad-mouthing Roosevelt. It is not clear what election is being touted but for the time frame it would have to be when Roosevelt was running for Vice-President with William McKinley. The movie leads one to believe that Roosevelt is running for President against Bryan even though that is not specified. Why the film is called "Rough Riders' Round-up" is unclear. I failed to see any cattle in the movie to round-up.

As border guards, the Rough Riders remnants are ordered to find outlaw Arizona Jack. Arizona Jack and his gang steal gold, kidnap Dorothy Blair, and hide out across the border. The rest of the show involves rescuing Dorothy and bringing Arizona Jack and his henchmen to justice.

Roy is just beginning his career in the movies and so he and the producers are still working on his image that would eventually lead to his moniker "King of the Cowboys." The present generation of movie goers finds it difficult to comprehend just how popular Roy was with the Saturday matinée crowd. I remember seeing westerns at a theater in my hometown in northern Arkansas in the early 1950's. When the previews of coming attractions flitted on the screen and Tim Holt or other popular six-gun heroes were shown the theater remained calm. But when Roy Rogers was advertised the whole movie house went crazy. The kids would scream, yell, throw popcorn, and cause a quiet riot. The manager would flip the lights on and off a few times, send ushers up and down the aisles, and sometimes even stop the show to restore order. That's how popular Roy was in those days.

There are a few surprises in the cast. Look for future western star and husband of Dinah Shore, George Montgomery, in a bit part as a telegrapher. Duncan Renaldo, the future Cisco Kid, plays the chief Mexican police official. Glenn Strange, who would later play the Frankenstien monster in films after Boris Karloff tired of the role, can be seen in a small part. There is an array of henchmen from Republic's gallery of outlaws including Budd Osborne and George Chesebro. The viewer may not recognize the names but will know all the familiar faces.

Director Joseph Kane who would go on to direct many a television western in that medium's early years does a routine but adequate job behind the camera. There is a major criticism of his methods. Why did he shoot most of the action sequences at night? Budget perhaps. At times it's hard to see some of the action shots because of the darkness. Otherwise, a good introduction to Roy Rogers films for the uninitiated. For the fans: Get ready for some straight shooting.

Very Little From The Western Genre Larder Is Left Out Of This Lively Work.

[rsoonsa · 6/10 · 5 February 2008]

The fifth film in which Roy Rogers is given the leading role, this low-budget Republic Pictures production places Roy and a group of comrades, all freshly mustered from the United States Army in 1899, following service in Cuba with Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War, and still bulging with aggressive energy, as they join en masse the (not yet in existence) United States Border Patrol, assigned to the wild and woolly Arizona territory. Since this is, after all, a Roy Rogers picture, i.e., one that includes musical interludes, the entire contingent of stalwarts breaks into an a cappella rendition of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" as they first appear at a Border Patrol outpost where their station commanding officer assigns his new charges with effecting the apprehension of a mysterious "Arizona Jack" and his gang who are preying upon Territorial businesses and then fleeing across the international border into Mexico. The plot is pleasingly intricate and director/producer Joseph Kane, at the helm for his initial Rogers movie, includes as much as he can of Jack Natteford's screenplay before the dollars run out, with a viewer being treated to a well edited, crisply-paced affair, loaded with gunplay, fisticuffs, skillful horsemanship and stuntwork; there is even an abducted heroine. Scenes of dramatic action are halted twice to allow for musical interludes, first as Roy sings "Ridin' Down the Trail" and, later while behind bars, he serenades the lady he loves (Lynne Roberts playing as Mary Hart) who is confined to an adjacent cell, warbling "Here on the Range With You", accompanying himself by strumming upon a guitar. Raymond Hatton is Rusty Coburn, playing as Roy's sidekick, having succeeded Smiley Burnette for that honour, he himself soon supplanted by Gabby Hayes. There are numerous familiar Western genre players to be seen here, with George Chesebro being a particular standout as Arizona Jack's primary henchman. Kane's able direction provides for effective and vivid narrative pacing. Originally 58 minutes long, the film was competently edited down to 54 minutes for its television showings and video releases.

From San Juan Hill To Arizona

[FightingWesterner · 6/10 · 6 April 2010]

Roy Rogers and a few other veterans of Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders return from the Spanish-American War and take jobs as Arizona border patrolmen. When Roy's friend is killed in a rowdy border town by men operating on both sides, he takes off his badge and crosses into Mexico to settle the score.

One of Rogers' okay early outings, there's a lot of atmosphere (something Republic Pictures was really good at when they tried), some decent action scenes, including a fun saloon brawl, and a fairly rousing finale.

This time, music is an afterthought, with Roy singing only a couple of brief songs. There's a good (probably canned) music score too.

In Pursuit Of Arizona Jack

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 26 May 2009]

It's the end of the Spanish American War and newly mustered out Rough Riders Roy Rogers, Raymond Hatton, and Eddie Acuff get a letter from none other than their former commanding officer and now Vice Presidential candidate Theodore Roosevelt recommending them for jobs as border patrolmen in Arizona. Of course with that kind of pull, you know they get hired.

Two of their assignments get juxtaposed in Rough Rider's Roundup. The first is to stop and detain a young woman played by Lynne Roberts, but the second is to find out just who is this bandit Arizona Jack who is operating on both sides of the border. When Eddie Acuff is killed by him, the mission gets real personal.

Roy sings a song and gets to even yodel in this one and of all the singing cowboys, Rogers was the best yodeler of the bunch. He even gets to clock someone who at the very beginning downgrades the Rough Riders and calls TR an Eastern poser when he tells the guys he's voting for a real westerner in William Jennings Bryan. That's not something you say to a Rough Rider.

Funny when that was going and when the guys are hired as border patrolmen without question on TR's word, I was thinking of another Republic picture, War Of The Wildcats where former Rough Rider John Wayne got an oil lease simply because of where he served in the Spanish American War. Rough Riders could do no wrong in those years.

For Roy's fans and other aficionados of the B western.

Topnotch Roy

[keiljd · 7/10 · 6 March 2002]

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.

Rough Going on This Round-Up

[wes-connors · 2/10 · 3 September 2007]

Roy Rogers (as Roy) and sidekick Raymond Hatton (as Rusty) join Teddy Roosevelt's "Rough Riders". Soon, they get suspended in order to "Round-up" the killer of partner Eddie Acuff (as Tommy) along the Mexican-U.S. border; they discover creepy gold runners in the process. Notice how, even suspended, Mr. Rogers is able to get the Rough Riders to join in his Round-up!

This is not one of the better Roy Rogers westerns. The fighting scenes look like choreographed dances. Rogers sings/yodels "Ridin' Down the Trail", one of two relatively ordinary songs; and, a stand-out moment, overall.

** Rough Riders' Round-up (3/13/39) Joseph Kane ~ Roy Rogers, Raymond Hatton, Lynne Roberts

"Hi, Ho, Dinah!"

[JoeytheBrit · 6/10 · 4 August 2005]

This is one of those perfectly acceptable 30s B-movies that does exactly what it sets out to do with a refreshing degree of professionalism by all involved, but which is completely forgotten within a couple of days of viewing. Roy Rogers' fans might feel a little cheated by the fact that he doesn't sing much but it's something of a bonus for us viewers who prefer cowboys of the non-singing variety. The writers must have been struggling to find reasons to have Rogers singing in this one, and one of the few occasions when he does a little crooning is courtesy of a guitar he discovers in a deserted house in which he has been imprisoned by dastardly Arizona Jack's ragtag band of desperadoes – which is about as likely as finding an ice cube in a sauna when you think about it. Perhaps he leaves guitars dotted around the western countryside for just such an eventuality. Perhaps they're a source of energy like goblets of wine and stuff found in unlikely places in PC games. I don't know.

Anyway, the story is reasonably absorbing, although the bad guys might as well walk around with "Bad Guy" badges on their lapels. I mean, spotty tie, checked shirt and spivvy 'tache – what a giveaway! And all of a sudden Eddie Acuff as Roy's semi-comic sidekick starts riding around on his horse hollering "Hi Ho, Dinah" at every opportunity as if he fancies himself as the next Lone Ranger.

It's all pretty good, undemanding fun and, clocking in at less than an hour, it's well worth giving it a try.

"Roy says it's boots and saddles for all you Rough Riders!"

[classicsoncall · 5/10 · 16 November 2004]

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!

Leonard Slye ruides again!

[JohnHowardReid · 7/10 · 31 January 2018]

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).

Comprehensive Genre Flick.

[rmax304823 · 5/10 · 5 November 2012]

If you don't expect much in the way or originality, you may enjoy this lively inexpensive Western. Roy Rogers and two buddies are discharged from Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders and join the Border Patrol. Intrigues, fist fights, shoot outs, and romance follow. The girl in the case, Mary Hart, is attractive enough but neither here nor there.

Roy Rogers gets to sing dumb songs with lyrics like "the stars never fail while I'm ridin' on the trail." But he has a pleasant voice and he actually plays the guitar he's holding, and doesn't just use it as a prop.

I always liked these cheap Westerns as a kid -- Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Wild Bill Elliot. The heroes were always so polite, well-dressed, honest, and they never threw a punch or drew their guns without just cause. Rogers, in particular, was a favorite because he was younger than some and, I thought, handsome enough to be envied.

When I grew up, I watched his TV program once in a while and he was STILL a nice guy. His chat buddy asked him why he'd had Trigger stuffed. "What was I going' to do?", replied Rogers, still the candid man of yesteryear, "put him in the ground and let the bugs eat him?" The former Leonard Slye came west with an Okie family during the depression, had had a hard youth, and was lucky enough to become a movie star instead of a peach picker. Good for him.

Better even than usual Roy Rogers movie

[morrisonhimself · 8/10 · 25 September 2012]

Frankly, if it says "Roy Rogers," the odds are it will be good. And this one is. For several reasons.

One, the historical setting is very interesting. It's around the turn of the 1900s and this contingent of Rough Riders is returning to these United States ... well, actually, considering the time, to a territory of these United States: Arizona, and the border with Mexico.

The Rough Riders' leader, Colonel Teddy Roosevelt, is being talked about as a vice-presidential candidate

Roy Rogers nearly always played either himself or a character named Roy Rogers, which was the case this time. It seems an odd practice, but was also done with Gene Autry, among others. Often, it detracted and/or distracted from the movie, but here it doesn't matter.

Soldier turned Border Patrol officer Rogers is joined by, among others, Rusty Coburn, played by veteran Raymond Hatton, an actor who had been around since the silent days and who often hammed it up like a B-class John Barrymore but who, here, was restrained and believable.

Other talent, and I do mean talent, included the beautiful Lynne Roberts and former chorus girl Dorothy Sebastian, as well as the prolific Eddie Acuff and the almost ubiquitous Hank Bell, again uncredited!

Seriously, it's hard to think of westerns without thinking of Hank Bell, he of the handle-bar mustache and Western drawl, and a superb character actor. Here he got some lines and again showed he should have been given many more speaking parts and many more-important parts. Maybe he never complained but many of us, his fans, do.

Amazingly, also uncredited were Duncan Renaldo and George Montgomery. The latter had a small part, but Duncan Renaldo's character was very important to the story.

Chris-Pin Martin and the really talented I. Stanford Jolley were also uncredited even though Martin also had an important part.

So, even if the story or directing or music were minor -- and they weren't; they were quite good; after all, the director was Joseph Kane - - the cast alone makes this more than worthwhile.

it's OK

[funkyfry · 6/10 · 14 August 2007]

This is a good "B" movie – it doesn't offer up any life-changing concepts and, no, it doesn't pretend to. This movie is all about showing Roy Rodgers as a man of action, a former "Rough Rider" under Teddy Roosevelt who, along with a group of fellow veterans, takes a job patrolling the Mexican-American border after the war ends. Given that set-up the film is slightly disappointing depending on your point of view, because other than a brief amusing scene where Roy gets in a fight with a man at a train station because the man said something disparaging about Roosevelt there's really nothing in this film relating to the fact that they are Rough Riders. And the only thing they round up is a bunch of kidnappers.

This is a fairly early Rodgers film, so we don't see a lot of his usual co-stars. In place of Dale Evans, we have Mary Hart (aka Lynne Roberts) as the feisty daughter of a mine owner across the border. It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out that the man she's engaged to is also a criminal who has had her kidnapped. Personally I felt she was a bit too civilized for the frontier. Instead of Gabby Hayes we have Raymond Hatton, who I've previously seen in "grizly-man" type roles but not such a comedic one. He does an OK job in this movie; like Hart basically sufficient but not special. I liked how he beat Roy back to the camp on his mule and how he shouts "Hi Ho Dinah!" when he spurs the mule on. We do seem to have the famous horse Trigger, or a horse that looks very much like him, though I didn't see his name on the credits. That's significant, folks, because a few years later Trigger was probably a lot more famous than most of the human actors who appeared in these films! I haven't seen as many of Rodgers' films as I have of Gene Autry's, but it seemed to me that this film was somewhat grittier and more plot-driven than his later films. I recently saw "Trigger Jr." and felt that it had better photography and music but a less compelling story than this one. There was only a little bit of singing in this one, but Roy did get to show off his yodeling ability.

All in all it's not a very memorable film but there were some good stunts, decent songs, and I was not bored while watching it.

Roy Before Dale

[dougdoepke · 4 December 2013]

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.

Cowboys on border patrol.

[michaelRokeefe · 5/10 · 17 June 2010]

This outing Roy Rogers spends more time in the saddle ridin' and shootin' than singin'. Roy and two of his Rough Rider pals Tommy Ward(Eddie Acuff)and Rusty Coburn(Raymond Hatton)team up riding the range and trying to bring an end to corruption in a mining town. When Tommy is gunned down by a notorious outlaw Arizona Jack (William Prawley), Roy and Rusty end up as patrolmen on the Mexican border trying to capture their partner's killer and a gang of gold smugglers. Joseph Kane produces and directs this better than average western. Other players include: Mary Hart, George Meeker, Glenn Strange, Hank Bell, Dorothy Sebastian and Roy's trusty horse Trigger.

Worth seeing.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 7 September 2011]

Despite the title, this is not a film from the Rough Riders series from Monogram--though Raymond Hatton (one of the three Rough Riders) does appear in this film. Instead, it's a Roy Rogers film--and it's set just after the end of the Spanish-American War (1898)--rather late for a western film. So, the 'Rough Riders' in the title is a reference to the men who had just returned from fighting in Cuba (with Colonel Roosevelt).

The film finds these recent war vets in Arizona along the border. There is a bandit, Arizona Jack, who runs back and forth across this border--and US Customs officials are anxious to catch him without starting an international incident. At the same time, there is a runaway lady who they are also admonished to locate. Somehow these two things are interrelated and it's up to Roy and the gang to set things right--mostly be ignoring the law and international boundaries! This is a rather enjoyable Rogers outing and interestingly enough, it actually discusses a serious problem in the early part of the 20th century--Mexican bandit incursions into the US for raids. In the film, the bandit was an American but in real life they were Mexicans and resulted in the US briefly invading Mexico in search of him. Not a great film but worth seeing even if the music is only so-so.

Gold Smuggling

[StrictlyConfidential · 6/10 · 27 November 2021]

"Rough Riders' Round-Up" was originally released back in 1939.

Anyway - As the story goes - The Border Patrol's three newest recruits are Roy, Tommy and Rusty. The threesome is soon broken up when the villainous Arizona Jack guns Tommy down in a saloon shoot-out. This leads to Roy and Rusty's suspension from the force, after which they head south of the border in pursuit of Tommy's killer. They discover that Arizona Jack has joined forces with a crooked mining engineer to smuggle gold illegally, but when they find their hideout, they are captured and slated for death.