Heart of the Rockies

Andrew Willard (Ralph Morgan) is a very nasty old man who runs a ranch out west. The state wants to put a highway through his property. and he's against it...which, at first, seems reasonable. But Willard is NOT a reasonable man...he is violent, nasty and a schemer...but why?! Why is he really so much against the road? And, why is he campaigning for the state to close a local boot camp for first-time offenders? Again, he is a schemer...and his anger and hate seems way out of proportion. Well, his foreman, Devery knows about why...and he knows about something Willard has done which is highly illegal and this is why he's so adamant against the road.

In Roy Rogers' earlier films, the plots were usually very much like other westerns of the day and they were set in the old west. However, something happened in many of his later films. Instead of making B-westerns, the films seemed more like 'personality movies'...where Roy played Roy Rogers the western star. In other words, instead of bringing hardboiled plots about the old west, the films promoted a modern mythic hero...the swell Roy Rogers who is adored by kiddies. Frankly, this sort of plot is pretty dull and seeing a swell do-gooder Roy instead of a tough western hero Roy doesn't do much for me. Sure, he's tough in this one (with a could brutal fights with Devery), but the story seems more designed to show Roy as a friend to all as opposed to a real tough guy....and the result is pretty insipid. Plus, not having a sidekick like Gabby really made this one a second-rate B-movie....not up to the standards of his earlier films.