Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence (1939)
*** (out of 4)
A poor New Yorker (Glenn Ford) saves all of his money for six years so that he can buy a ranch in Arizona. Once he has the deed he sets off by train for Arizona where he also meets a hobo (Ricardo Conte) and a Spanish immigrant (Jean Rogers). This film was the debuts of Ford and Conte and both men turn in winning performances but the real prize here is Rogers who is simply delightful and carries the film. When I first saw Ford I didn't recognize him due to how small he looked. The story is pretty good, if standard stuff and the 62-minute running time keeps things moving along. The sappy ending doesn't really work but there are plenty of laughs and nice moments throughout. However, this is another film rotting away in Fox's vault.