The Last Round-up

Reviewer Henchman's commentary furnishes an excellent context for the movie. Columbia studios gave productions like this many more resources than the average Autry programmer. There's lots of action, some good desert backgrounds plus alpine scenery. The plot's more complex than usual, minus many tiresome clichés. I really like the amusing classroom version of "She'll be Comin' 'round the Mountain". It's charmingly done. Also, I had to look twice to make sure that was an actual TV broadcasting in the Stone Age of TV, 1947, and in a western, no less.

Note that there's no buffoonish comedy relief that came to identify Autry's later programmers with kids entertainment. In fact, the movie's good enough to be considered a B-western instead of a matinée programmer. Note too the presence of a young Bobby Blake as Mike. Whatever his adult transgressions, he was certainly an affecting child star. All in all, the movie's a superior entry in the Autry series.