John Chard

Steve Blaine Charged With The Murder Of Tom Sloan! Across the Rio Grande is directed by Oliver Drake and written by Ronald Davidson. It stars Jimmy Wakely, Dub Taylor, Reno Browne, Riley Hill and Dennis Moore. Music is by Edward Kay and cinematography by Harry Neumann. Running at just under an hour, Across the Rio Grande is pretty much a quintessential "B" Western for the decade it was made. It crams as much as it can into the story and has no ideas above its station. Plot finds amiable Jimmy Wakely and his amusing side-kick Cannonball Taylor in amongst silver smugglers, murder, kidnapping, jail breaks and of course shoot-outs and fist-fights. There's even time for a couple of songs and a magic trick! and a gun phobia angle and also a cheeky locked room murder that adds some meat to the frothy stew. Production value is low and the fights are the kind where the thrown punches miss by about a mile, but this is a pleasant way to spend an hour if your a Western fan purely seeking some time filling light entertainment. 6/10