Under Western Stars (1938)

'Roy' (Roy Rogers) is fed up with his community being starved of water by the greedy water company, so he vows to do something about it. Though the 'Frog' (Smiley Burnette) dropping the water valve into the reservoir nearby helps a little, he needs to engage with Washington and so he goes and gets himself elected. Once there, he discovers that nobody is paying attention to him or his cause, until he befriends the feisty 'Eleanor' (Carol Hughes) who's dad (Gary Usher) just happens to own the self-same utility. She takes our novice lawmaker under her wing and is soon showing him enough of the ropes for him to realise that he is going to have to be pretty devious if he is to enlist the help of his fellow congressman 'Marlowe' (Tom Chatterton) and 'Sen. Wilson' (Brandon Beach). That's where his friends come in, as they stage an ambush and then expose the visiting party to some of the dust-ridden hardships faced by these hardy but desperate farmers. Along the way, Rogers does his best wandering minstrel impression and it's probably the brief 'Send My Mail to the County Jail' that sticks most in the mind as a gentle chemistry emerges between him and Hughes; Burnette pretends to be Andy Devine and a broad swipe is taken at 1930s politicians who don't care a jot about their long-suffering rural constituents. On that last point there is quite a fearsome dust-storm to illustrates just how arid conditions were for these pioneers and though debutant Rogers is a little too wooden, this is still quite a watchable story with a message worth sharing.