Hands Across the Border (1944)

Horse breeders Adams and Brock are vying for the Army contract. When Adams is killed trying to ride his horse Trigger, Roy saves the horse from being shot. He trains him and then plans to ... See full summary »

Director:

Joseph Kane

Writers:

J. Benton Cheney (original screenplay), Bradford Ropes (original screenplay)

Stars:

Roy Rogers, Trigger, Ruth Terry

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Roy Rogers	...	Roy Rogers
Trigger	...	Trigger
Ruth Terry	...	Kim Adams
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams	...	Teddy Bear
Onslow Stevens	...	Brock Danvers
Mary Treen	...	Sophie Lawrence
Joseph Crehan	...	Jeff 'Bet-a-Hundred' Adams
Duncan Renaldo	...	Juan Morales
LeRoy Mason	...	Sheriff
Janet Martin	...	Rosita Morales
Harry Wiere	...	Harry (as The Wiere Bros.)
Herbert Wiere	...	Herby (as The Wiere Bros.)
Sylvester Wiere	...	Sylvester (as The Wiere Bros.)
Bob Nolan	...	Bob
Sons of the Pioneers	...	Musicians

Storyline

Horse breeders Adams and Brock are vying for the Army contract. When Adams is killed trying to ride his horse Trigger, Roy saves the horse from being shot. He trains him and then plans to ride him in the race to win the contract.

---

Plot Keywords:

horse | horse actor

---

Taglines:

The screen's brighest star shines brilliantly in the most sparkling, song-filled, action-packed production of his metoric career!

---

Genres:

Western

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 January 1944 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cita en la frontera

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Republic Pictures (I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

72 min 72 min (original) 54 min (edited)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"The Girl with the High Button Shoes"
Music by Phil Ohman
Lyrics by Ned Washington

User Reviews

Not Horrid But Not Rogers Best

Hands Across the Border (1944)

** (out of 4)

HANDS ACROSS THE BORDER has the reputation of being one of Roy Rogers' worst film but I'm not quite certain I'd go that far. It's certainly one of the strangest ones I've seen and I only viewed the edited TV version, which was missing a few of the musical numbers but more on that in a bit. The "story" has Rogers and Teddy Bear (Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams) getting a job on a ranch but when the owner is killed after being thrown from Trigger, Rogers must convince the man's daughter not to have the horse killed. Yeah, that's pretty much the entire story to be found in this film. It's easy to see why so many people might hate this movie as it often gets attacked for having way too much music and not enough action or story. In the TV version I watched there were countless musical numbers so it's pretty amazing that a few are still missing. I'd be lying if I said this was one of the worst Westerns I've ever seen because it's really not close to being that bad. With that said, the entire film is pretty much a waste for a number of reasons. The biggest is certainly the lack of any real story. I'm sure many fans came to this picture at least expecting some sort of action but we really never get any. The story seems to be all over the place because when we're introduced to Williams he is having people chase him but it never makes much sense why or why when they catch up they believe he's a different person than who they were chasing. It also doesn't make sense that the Onslow Stevens character is made to be the bad guy but then this here goes nowhere. The entire story is a real mess but it's not helped by the fact that the majority of the music numbers aren't very catchy and just come across as bland. Rogers is good in his role, as usual, but Williams isn't nearly as effective as he usually is and even Stevens appears to be bored. Ruth Terry isn't too bad as the love interest but the screenplay gives her very little to do. HANDS ACROSS THE BORDER will probably disappoint Rogers fans but I think fans of the weird, such as myself, might get some mild entertainment out of the strangeness.