I thought the plot of this story was somewhat suspect. The one thousand dollar bills that were being passed off by Driscoll's (Paul Harvey) hired men was NOT counterfeit money, but the explanation offered didn't make a lot of sense to me. It was stated that the money was never declared for tax purposes. But when is newly minted money ever declared for tax purposes?
Anyway, what the bad guys were doing in the picture would be considered money laundering, that is, putting the good money into circulation and clawing back a certain percentage from the players involved, like the casino operation. Driscoll thought a sixty percent return was pretty good, but if the Byrdes from 'Ozark' had been around, he might have gotten a better payback. Or maybe not, a Mexican cartel might have moved in on him.
The setting for this story is Las Vegas for the annual Helldorado Parade and Celebration, and it's kind of surreal to see the main drag without the cluster of hotels and casinos that are prevalent today. Roy Rogers is a government inspector for the Boulder Dam (now the Hoover Dam), and while in Vegas, gets named the Grand Marshal for the Parade. At the same time, he's asked to investigate a suspect who's been identified as one of Driscoll's agents passing thousand dollar bills. Dale Evans is on hand as Carol Randall, doing double duty as a deputy sheriff and Queen of the Heldorado Parade. She and Roy get off to a bad start, but they eventually manage to team successfully to out the baddies. At one point, Gabby Hayes expresses his frustration with Carol, saying he gets the 'tremblin' fidgets' trying to keep up with her.
As with many of Roy's pictures, Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers have a prominent role in the story. You have to credit Nolan for being gracious, he allowed himself a couple of scenes where he gets thrown off a horse while competing in the celebration rodeo. Pat Brady also got thrown for a loop, but later redeemed himself with a generous solo inside one of the Pioneer tunes during the Helldorado festivities. Speaking of which, you just can't help notice that the title of the picture was spelled 'Heldorado', while every single reference to the celebration and rodeo was spelled 'Helldorado'. My guess is that potential matinee fans of the day might have been put off by 'that word' in the title; it might have been 'l' to pay.
Anyway, what the bad guys were doing in the picture would be considered money laundering, that is, putting the good money into circulation and clawing back a certain percentage from the players involved, like the casino operation. Driscoll thought a sixty percent return was pretty good, but if the Byrdes from 'Ozark' had been around, he might have gotten a better payback. Or maybe not, a Mexican cartel might have moved in on him.
The setting for this story is Las Vegas for the annual Helldorado Parade and Celebration, and it's kind of surreal to see the main drag without the cluster of hotels and casinos that are prevalent today. Roy Rogers is a government inspector for the Boulder Dam (now the Hoover Dam), and while in Vegas, gets named the Grand Marshal for the Parade. At the same time, he's asked to investigate a suspect who's been identified as one of Driscoll's agents passing thousand dollar bills. Dale Evans is on hand as Carol Randall, doing double duty as a deputy sheriff and Queen of the Heldorado Parade. She and Roy get off to a bad start, but they eventually manage to team successfully to out the baddies. At one point, Gabby Hayes expresses his frustration with Carol, saying he gets the 'tremblin' fidgets' trying to keep up with her.
As with many of Roy's pictures, Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers have a prominent role in the story. You have to credit Nolan for being gracious, he allowed himself a couple of scenes where he gets thrown off a horse while competing in the celebration rodeo. Pat Brady also got thrown for a loop, but later redeemed himself with a generous solo inside one of the Pioneer tunes during the Helldorado festivities. Speaking of which, you just can't help notice that the title of the picture was spelled 'Heldorado', while every single reference to the celebration and rodeo was spelled 'Helldorado'. My guess is that potential matinee fans of the day might have been put off by 'that word' in the title; it might have been 'l' to pay.