The Border Legion (1940)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The Border Legion finds Roy Rogers in the unusual position of being both an Easterner and a fugitive. He's busted jail there, serving time for a murder he didn't commit. He's fled from Albany, New York to the wilds of Idaho Territory with his fiancé Carol Hughes in hot pursuit. Both are riding into territory terrorized by the gang called The Border Legion.Roy's fugitive status lands him with the leader Joe Sawyer. Roy's a doctor who treats him for a gunshot wound and possible gangrene complications. That puts him in solid and he's in a position to help bring law and order to Idaho.Gabby Hayes is in this one and he's a lovable rogue who rises from derelict to mayor of gold strike town with the lovely Maude Eburne at his side.Some butchered editing for television makes one have to fill in the gaps. Still Roy's fans should be pleased.

In the 1950s, Roy Rogers' films were often trimmed in order to fit TV time slots. That's why so many of his movies are now about 53 minutes. In the case of "The Border Legion", while it has been trimmed, fortunately only five minutes is missing--far better than most of the Rogers films. Heck, one I just saw had 24 minutes trimmed by some idiot editor! The film is a little unusual in that although Gabby Hayes is in this one, he isn't exactly Roy's sidekick and spends most of the film acting without Roy. Additionally, Roy is a wanted man when the film begins--a bit of an unusual situation! When the film begins, you learn that a young doctor (Rogers) is on the run from back East. What exactly he did or who he is covering for, the viewer has no idea. However, through some unusual circumstances, he's able to infiltrate the Border Legion--a group of criminals that have been plaguing the West. But, since the Doc is a good guy at heart, he agrees to help the Sheriff--provided the Sheriff trusts him to do a bit of undercover work. In addition to Roy and Gabby, Joe Sawyer plays a baddie and Maude Eburne plays the wonderfully crusty Hurricane Hattie. While the ending is just too perfect to be believed, it does move along well and is entertaining.

I saw this film under the title "West of the Badlands", even though "The Border Legion" fits it a lot better and actually has something to do with the story. A gang of outlaws headed by Big Jim Gulden (Joe Sawyer) operates in the Idaho Territory as the Border Legion. Roy Rogers' character is a fugitive doctor from Albany, New York, on the lam for a crime committed by the brother of a gal (Carol Hughes) he hooks back up with on the outskirts of Miles City. Never mind the million to one shot of running across each other like this in the Old West, it happens all the time in these B Westerns.I got a kick out of Gabby Hayes' introduction in the story, rolling down a hill in a wooden barrel after literally falling off the wagon. He's using the name Honest John Whittaker this time out; he and Roy's character don't know each other until Steve Kellogg gives him a lift into town. There Whittaker takes up an amusing relationship with Hurrican Hattie McGuire (Maude Eburn), proprietor of the Idaho Palace Hotel and Bar. Hattie 'owns the bar but don't hold to drinkin', which doesn't make a whole lot of sense if you think about it, but you're really not supposed to think about it.Just like you shouldn't think too much about the way the story reaches it's conclusion. Gulden's right hand man Santos (Jay Novello) overhears Kellogg's plan to lure the Border Legion into a trap using a fake gold shipment, but Gulden decides to go along anyway, figuring he's got too much muscle and will be too quick to strike to get caught. Bad decision - the good guys storm in from opposite sides to capture the outlaws, and Gulden doesn't make it to the end of the picture. Too bad, I kind of like Joe Sawyer as an actor, even as a villain.Roy only gets to sing a couple of tunes in the film, the first being 'With My Guitar and You' early on, then follows up later with a spirited rendition of 'Get Along Little Dogies'. He also offers the picture's best line when confronted by an official looking blow-hard who wants to put Kellogg in jail - "You bellow more and accomplish less than a state senator". It was as true back then as it is today.

Fugitive doctor Roy Rogers flees to Idaho after taking the rap for a robbery committed by his sweetheart's brother. Before long, he finds himself holed up with a group of bandits, treating the gang-leader's gunshot wound and has to decide whether to stay with the villains or risk being captured and sent back east.A perfectly ordinary, though glib Roy Rogers vehicle, this isn't among his best, but it's alright. George "Gabby" Hayes easily steals the show as small-time conman "Honest" John Whittaker, who talks his way up from derelict to mayor in no time at all!The musical highlight is when Roy joins the gang of outlaws for a spirited rendition of the cowboy classic "Get Along Little Doggies".