When Gene Autry is ambushed while riding the mail for the Pony Express, he's left for dead in the wilderness along with the horse he was riding. Coming to, he staggers into a wild chase by a wolf pack trailing a wild stallion who broke out of a corral with a rope trailing behind him. The rope catches in some rocks and the horse would have been dog food if Gene hadn't arrived to save the day. Needing a mount, Gene needs to break the stallion for riding, and in a curious sequence, some old stock footage is used showing a rider who obviously isn't Gene, bringing the horse under control.
The credits show that Wonder Horse Champion portrayed the wild stallion El Diablo - King of the Wild Horses. Like another reviewer here, I have my doubts about that. Champion was stockier in build, and Gene rode him in other scenes so a comparison can be made. El Diablo was slimmer, and possibly a hand taller. Of course he was a lot darker too, being black, but then they threw in that painted horse ruse later in the picture for the great race which tripped up bad guy Ford (LeRoy Mason).
Speaking of that race, right after it was over, Frog (Smiley Burnette) addresses Senorita Moreno (Ann Rutherford) as Mrs. Norton; it even came out that way in closed captioning! I wonder why no one caught that during editing. And alluding back to that earlier mention of stock footage, the same thing was done during the horse race with some obvious cut aways of not-Gene riding El Diablo to first place across the finish line. I should mention that was AFTER Smiley crossed the finish line going the wrong way!
For an early Autry flick, this one didn't have many songs in it. There was the title tune of course to open the story, and a nice rendition of 'When the Campfire is Low on the Prairie'. But there's a real head scratcher in the middle when Senor Don Juan Frog (that would be Smiley) sings 'King of the Matadors' and quite visible are more than a few men with beards wearing dresses! What picture were they supposed to be in?
The credits show that Wonder Horse Champion portrayed the wild stallion El Diablo - King of the Wild Horses. Like another reviewer here, I have my doubts about that. Champion was stockier in build, and Gene rode him in other scenes so a comparison can be made. El Diablo was slimmer, and possibly a hand taller. Of course he was a lot darker too, being black, but then they threw in that painted horse ruse later in the picture for the great race which tripped up bad guy Ford (LeRoy Mason).
Speaking of that race, right after it was over, Frog (Smiley Burnette) addresses Senorita Moreno (Ann Rutherford) as Mrs. Norton; it even came out that way in closed captioning! I wonder why no one caught that during editing. And alluding back to that earlier mention of stock footage, the same thing was done during the horse race with some obvious cut aways of not-Gene riding El Diablo to first place across the finish line. I should mention that was AFTER Smiley crossed the finish line going the wrong way!
For an early Autry flick, this one didn't have many songs in it. There was the title tune of course to open the story, and a nice rendition of 'When the Campfire is Low on the Prairie'. But there's a real head scratcher in the middle when Senor Don Juan Frog (that would be Smiley) sings 'King of the Matadors' and quite visible are more than a few men with beards wearing dresses! What picture were they supposed to be in?