"In Old Monterey" (which, by the way, is not close at all to where the story actually supposedly took place), the US Army Air Corps apparently 'needs' a small western town to vacate in order to use the land for maneuvers. But, at the same time, the local borax mining company is stirring up the locals against selling their land to the government because the miners don't want to relocate either. The company keeps stirring up the locals with various atrocities that they blame on the government....and the incredibly dumb and fickle locals are led by a complete idiot, Gabby (Gabby Hayes). I may sound harsh...but one minute, Gabby is ready to take on the entire US Army...the next, literally, he's 100% in favor of selling out to them! And, amazingly enough, just a moment later he's once again ready to take up arms against the army!! To try to work with the Army AND locals, Sgt. Autry goes undercover....along with his posse of army buddies.
The plot here is pretty nonsensical and Gabby and the town being THIS fickle is just bad writing. I love Autry films....but not this one. The only major plus is Gene singing his best rendition of "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" because of backup he received from The Hoosier Hotshots....it really is lovely. But otherwise, it's yet another pre-WWII propaganda film (like "Buck Privates" and "Caught in the Draft") designed to prepare the US public to get behind the cause if there is war.
The plot here is pretty nonsensical and Gabby and the town being THIS fickle is just bad writing. I love Autry films....but not this one. The only major plus is Gene singing his best rendition of "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" because of backup he received from The Hoosier Hotshots....it really is lovely. But otherwise, it's yet another pre-WWII propaganda film (like "Buck Privates" and "Caught in the Draft") designed to prepare the US public to get behind the cause if there is war.