Easy-going sidekick Ray Whitley was much more than just a loyal friend to cowboy heroes like Tim Holt. In addition to being a popular singer of western ballads, he wrote Gene Autry's signature song, "Back in the Saddle Again". The song was purchased by Autry for just $200. After Autry collaborated with Whitley on changes in the chorus, verses and melody, the song eventually became one of the most popular western songs in history.
Slim Whitaker, who plays Pete the henchman, was in real life an actual cowboy, who was working rodeos by the time he was 17 years old, was hired as an extra and stuntman in westerns in 1912 and over an almost 40-year career appeared in more than 300 films.
Photo 6 on this page is a reissue card on which the art department used an incorrect scene that shows Ernie Adams, Cy Kendall and Tim Holt. The still show is from "The Fargo Kid" and is not from "Along the Rio Grande". Ernie Adams and Cy Kndall are not in "Along the Rio Grande,"
At one point Tim Holt looks straight into Betty Jane Rhodes eyes and says, 'You've got a pretty face, a nice voice, and beautiful eyes--and to top it off, brains". Complimenting a woman on her intelligence was an extremely unusual thing for a hero to do to his leading lady in 1940s westerns--or most non-westerns, for that matter--where looks and the ability to ride a horse were usually a woman's most important attributes.
Ray Whitley had been playing the loyal sidekick to Tim Holt even before Holt became a major cowboy star.