Hands Across the Border
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Joseph Kane
Roy Rogers
Trigger
Ruth Terry
Guinn "big Boy" Williams
Onslow Stevens
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Wandering cowpoke Roy Rogers is resting by a stream when Teddy Bear, a down-on-his-luck gambler with a heart of gold, nervously tries to steal Roy's horse in order to escape a posse that is after him due to a saloon brawl. The affable Roy deduces that Teddy Bear would never hurt him and tosses him off the horse, then sticks up for him when the posse arrives. Believing that they are friends, Mac Barclay, the men's leader, wants to arrest them both. The posse, however, wants to go to Jeff Adams' ranch, where Jeff is throwing a lavish fiesta filled with singers and dancers. Once they arrive, Roy tries to convince his captors that he is one of the singers hired by Jeff's daughter Kim, herself an aspiring Broadway performer. Roy sings a number with The Sons of the Pioneers, Jeff's ranch hands, and the kind-hearted Kim hires both him and Teddy Bear to save them from being arrested. Meanwhile, Jeff engages in a verbal joust with his neighbor, Brock Danvers, with whom he competes every year for an Army contract for cavalry horses. Danvers has won for the past five years, but Jeff is convinced that his current herd will finally win and get him out of debt. Juan Morales, the Adams foreman, tells Jeff that the government men have arrived, and Jeff, Kim, Roy and Danvers go to look at the herd. Among the wild horses is a magnificent stallion named Trigger, whom both Jeff and Roy immediately realize will revitilize the herd. Danvers declares that Trigger is too wild to be useful, however, and bets that Jeff cannot ride him. Jeff is determined to tame the beautiful animal, but when he attempts to ride him, Trigger throws him and Jeff is killed. Soon after, the mourning Kim allows Danvers to run the ranch, and Roy and the men are hard-pressed to keep him from shooting Trigger, whom Roy maintains should be tamed as Jeff wanted. Roy captures Trigger on his own and begins to train him in secret, while at the same time persuading Kim to give up her Broadway ambitions and run the ranch like a true Adams. An astonishing demonstration of Trigger's new gentleness and abilities convinces Kim to fight for the Army contract, and she tells Danvers that she will neither sell him the ranch nor marry him. Roy then prepares Trigger and seven other Adams horses for the speed and endurance race, which simulates combat conditions such as explosions and gas attacks. Danvers is the lead rider of his team, and despite a few dirty tricks pulled by Danvers' men, Roy and Trigger win the race. Soon after, Kim and Juan organize a marvelous fiesta, and Roy happily performs at the party, which celebrates the cooperation between the American and Mexican ranch workers, who aided in the winning of the Army contract.
Director
Joseph Kane
Cast
Roy Rogers
Trigger
Ruth Terry
Guinn "big Boy" Williams
Onslow Stevens
Mary Treen
Joseph Crehan
Duncan Renaldo
Leroy Mason
Janet Martin
The Wiere Bros.
Bob Nolan
Roy Barcroft
Kenne Duncan
Larry Steers
Frederick Burton
Jack Kirk
Mary Dillon
St. Clair And Day
Betty Marion
Chiquita
Sherry Cameron
The Boyd Triplets
Estela
Matty King
Steve Condos
Guadalajara Trio
Crew
Hoagy Carmichael
J. Benton Cheney
Ernesto M. Cortázar
Earl Crain Sr.
Manuel Esperón
Dave Gould
Harry Grey
Reggie Lanning
Tony Martinelli
Bob Nolan
Phil Ohman
Fred Ritter
Bradford Ropes
Walter Scharf
Art Siteman
Marlin Skiles
Charles Thompson
Ned Washington
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Most of the songs were cut out of the print viewed. Some scenes were shot on location in Lone Pine, CA. According to a Hollywood Reporter news item, this picture was the first in a "new selling classification" devised by Republic called "Premiere Feature Productions." The Premiere features were to have a minimum budget of $300,000, and the upgrade of the Roy Rogers starrers was due to "the big box office strides Rogers has made in the past year, plus his films now being bookable in top first-run houses." Modern sources include Jack O'Shea, Curley Dresden and Bob Reeves in the cast.
