Heart of the Rio Grande

Spoiled teenager Connie Lane (Edith Fellows) has no desire to join her classmates on a two-month vacation at the Smoke River Dude Ranch. Even her caring teacher, Alice Bennett (Fay McKenzie), is unable to persuade her. Connie runs off to her father, business tycoon Randolph Lane (Pierre Watkin), and pleads with him not to send her away. Preoccupied with business matters and too busy to notice how spoiled his daughter has become, Lane dismisses her and sends her away to spend the summer with her classmates at the ranch.

Meanwhile, Smoke River's ex-foreman, Hap Callahan (William Haade), is not pleased with the new foreman, Gene Autry (Gene Autry), and how he turned the place into a dude ranch. Gene reminds him that ranch owner "Skipper" Forbes (Sarah Padden) hired him because Hap's mismanagement drove the ranch into debt. When the train arrives at Smoke River carrying Alice and the girls, Connie bribes the porter to keep her luggage on the train. In the confusion, no one notices that Connie hasn't disembarked until the train pulls away. Gene races after the train on his horse, Champion, and brings the willful youngster back to the ranch.

While Gene and his sidekick Frog Millhouse (Smiley Burnette) compete for Alice's attention, Connie complains about being stuck on an unsophisticated ranch. Despite the best efforts of Alice, Connie quickly manages to turn everyone at the ranch against her—everyone except Gene. The next day, after Hap ignores Gene's order to fix the brakes on the ranch truck, Connie steals the vehicle in another attempt to escape. When the brakes fail and Connie's life is endangered, Gene rides to her rescue, but not before the truck crashes. Instead of being grateful, Connie is angry with Gene for preventing her escape. Looking to exact revenge, she uses lipstick to mark up her back so it looks like she's been whipped, takes photographs of her injuries, and then sends them off to her father.

Later, when she learns that Gene took responsibility for the truck's destruction, a grateful Connie tells him she wants to reward him for the favor. Gene tells her that people should do favors for each other out of friendship, not for rewards. When Gene and Hap stage a contest to determine the better rider, Connie sees her opportunity to repay the favor—she tampers with Hap's saddle. During his ride, the saddle comes loose and Hap is hurt in a fall. When Gene discovers the sabotage, Connie admits to her mischief. Angered by Connie's actions, Hap draws his gun at Gene, who fires him.

Surprised that Gene would come to her defense, Connie is finally won over, and as the weeks pass, the two become good friends. Connie's happiness is short-lived, however, when her father arrives at the dude ranch, enraged by the photographs he received from her. When he demands that she leave with him immediately, she explains that the photos were a prank, but he is unconvinced. After Frog disables his plane and Gene goads him into accompanying them on a roundup, the business tycoon decides to stay.

During the roundup, Lane discovers that he enjoys the outdoors and spending time with his daughter. As the group moves through a narrow mountain pass, Hap shoots at Gene and misses, but the sound causes the horses to stampede. Just as Connie is about to be trampled, Gene rides in and saves her. After they return to the ranch, Lane finally acknowledges that his daughter is more important than his business. Sending his secretaries away, he joins the others on a music-filled hayride.

• Gene Autry as Gene Autry
• Smiley Burnette as Frog Millhouse
• Fay McKenzie as Alice Bennett
• Edith Fellows as Connie Lane
• Pierre Watkin as Randolph Lane
• Joe Strauch Jr. as Tadpole Millhouse
• William Haade as Hap Callahan
• Sarah Padden as "Skipper" Forbes
• Jean Porter as Pudge
• Jimmy Wakely Trio as Singing Ranch Hands
• Champion as Gene's Horse (uncredited)[1][4]

Citations

Bibliography

• Heart of the Rio Grande at IMDb
• Heart of the Rio Grande at the TCM Movie Database
• Heart of the Rio Grande at AllMovie