Well this is a little uncharacteristic for Gene Autry, he and Smiley team up with a band of Mexican bandits led by Noah Beery to expose the shady Alta Vista Oil Company and it's villainous owner Carruthers (William Royle). The bad guys have a phony oil rig set up to convince the locals to buy stock in their company. One of the investors, the Ochenta Mission for orphans, is about to go under when the crooks fail to pay dividends to the stockholders. Gene is tipped off to the scam by mission worker Anita Loredo (Luana Walters), and as is often the case, the first meeting between Gene and his leading lady gets off on the wrong foot.
The basis for Gene's alliance with Valdez (Beery) and his banditos is explained away rather tenuously. Valdez hijacks Champion, and when Gene tries to make the save, he and Smiley are taken into custody by the gang. Don't ask me how Valdez got that record player to work in the middle of the desert (where did he plug it in?), but when a clumsy Mexican breaks the record playing the title song, Gene takes up the tune to prove he's Valdez's favorite crooner. Soon enough, Valdez is bringing food to the orphans and turning into an all around good guy. You would think he'd make it to the end of the picture.
Now you really have to pay attention to follow how this story works itself out. Carruthers has to pull up stakes at the phony oil well to avoid disclosure, but Gene figures to divert their resources to a 'new' phony well. Except the 'new' phony well turns out to be real, as Carruthers' henchmen sell off the property to make their getaway. It's amazing to me how this stuff just sort of works itself out in a one hour film, but I guess that was the appeal for matinée fans of the era. By the time it's over Gene's serenading Miss Anita, as he saves the day one more time.
The basis for Gene's alliance with Valdez (Beery) and his banditos is explained away rather tenuously. Valdez hijacks Champion, and when Gene tries to make the save, he and Smiley are taken into custody by the gang. Don't ask me how Valdez got that record player to work in the middle of the desert (where did he plug it in?), but when a clumsy Mexican breaks the record playing the title song, Gene takes up the tune to prove he's Valdez's favorite crooner. Soon enough, Valdez is bringing food to the orphans and turning into an all around good guy. You would think he'd make it to the end of the picture.
Now you really have to pay attention to follow how this story works itself out. Carruthers has to pull up stakes at the phony oil well to avoid disclosure, but Gene figures to divert their resources to a 'new' phony well. Except the 'new' phony well turns out to be real, as Carruthers' henchmen sell off the property to make their getaway. It's amazing to me how this stuff just sort of works itself out in a one hour film, but I guess that was the appeal for matinée fans of the era. By the time it's over Gene's serenading Miss Anita, as he saves the day one more time.