When Gene Autry returned from WWII's military service, he found his spot as Republic's top Western star had been usurped by Roy Rogers. Rogers had been in some of Autry's early movies as one of the Sons of the Pioneers. Autry was interested in producing his own films, but he had to first win a court battle with Republic who said that he still owed them time on his contract. Autry made a deal with the studio that he would continue to make films while the courts figured if he was still obligated to honor the contract. If he won, then he was free to go. Autry made five films during this period, using the light musical touch that he had used previously. Sterling Holloway was chosen as his sidekick since Smiley Burnette had left for Columbia. In Twilight on the Rio Grande, Autry is teamed with Bob Steele, who had been part of Republic's three Mesquiteer series. Steele's role in the film is short-lived since he is murdered. Since the plot is in Mexico, there are plenty pretty girls, singing gauchos and romance. While Gene does a good job with the title song, he never released it on record. The song could have been a hit when paired with the other featured song, The Old Lamplighter. For the record, Gene finished his series at Republic in 1947 and went to Columbia to produce his own series which competed with Rogers at the box office.

For a Western cowboy hero, Gene Autry often found himself in some unflattering situations on screen. Like here, when in the Mexican cantina, he inconsiderately yells for Mama Lopez during Elena Del Rio's song performance, then gives her a spanking afterward. Granted, Elena threw a bunch of knives at him, but I think if she really wanted to connect, she would have done a better job. This is actually the second time I've seen Gene spank his leading lady, it also happened in 1935's "Sagebrush Troubador".Something curious I caught in the opening credits, Gene's horse in this one was Champion Junior. I hadn't really noticed that before in his later films, so I'll have to keep an eye out for that in the future. By the way, Champ did a nice side step dance in that early scene when the Cass County Boys played their first tune.In the story, Sterling Holloway portrays Gene's sidekick Pokie. Holloway appeared in other Autry pictures, but I've only seen him before as a character in the story who didn't know Gene when the picture started. Veteran Bob Steele started out as Gene's business partner, but gee, he didn't last very long. I thought for a while into the story that he would pop up again as a look alike character on the bad guy side, but things didn't play out that way.The story involves a jewel smuggling operation which seemed rather clumsily written to me. There were an awful lot of victims with knives in their back just to get some baubles across the border into Texas. Strong writing was never a characteristic of Gene's films, so in that respect, this one followed suit. For fans of Gene who like a Mexican theme, the one to watch is 1941's "Down Mexico Way" featuring an entertaining song and dance number you'll wish was done in color.

This film is listed in Harry Medved's "Fifty Worst Movies" book but this really doesn't make sense, as it's a decent little B-western. I usually agree with Medved but this time the film isn't particularly bad, nor good--just a very typical programmer.While much of the film doesn't make sense (such as the extensive use of phones and trucks in the West and a guy patronizingly named "Mucho Dinero"), the film is rather likable and is pretty indistinguishable from other Gene Autry films. The usual singing, light banter and adventure is all here, though I must admit the "action" was very, very muted. I guess Gene was getting older and exerting himself just wasn't in his contract! However, he did sing some lovely songs and I was surprised how much I enjoyed the title song--especially since I usually hate cowboy music! So is it a bad film or not? Well, it all really depends on your perspective. All of Autry's and Roy Rogers' films were pretty cheesy--with very simple plots, incredibly dumb sidekicks and lots of pointless singing. If you can't stand them, then this film is a "must avoid" film. However, if you like the genre, then it's pretty typical and well made compared to these films--though not the average non-B Western.

Oddball entry in the Autry cowboy cycle. The year is 1947, perhaps the peak year for film noir in Hollywood. The presence of shadowy lighting, darkened streets, and ambiguous characters in "Twilight..." shows how the European film style reached into even the unlikeliest of genres, the matinée Western. About a third of the way through, the movie takes a really surprising turn since Bob Steele was then a cowboy star in his own right. How he came to take this role which could have gone to dozens of non-star supporting players is a mystery to me (I don't want to give away the surprise). But it does seem a curious piece of casting.The plot is also unusual for a Western-- it's a not-very-well-hidden "who dun' it ?" -- a novel idea, but with a plot too complicated and a mystery too meandering to work very well. There are a few character surprises, along with some mangled Spanish accents. Don't expect much gun play or hard riding, but there is enough knife throwing to satisfy a Ninja warrior. As I recall, the central song "The Old Lamplighter" was a huge popular hit of that day and is nicely staged here. Anyway, the film amounts to something of a curiosity among the Autry Westerns, so the hour should be worth a tune-in..