Buck Jones, Raymond Hatton and Tim McCoy team up once more as the Rough Riders in "Below the Border" (Monogram 1942), filmed at Ernie Hickson's Placeritos/Monogram Ranch
(later named Melody Ranch), at the Walker Ranch in Placerita Canyon, and at Bronson Canyon (Griffith Park, Los Angeles).
Lobby card, 11x14 inches.
Produced by Monongram's Scott R. Dunlap and released January 30, 1942, "Below the Border" was the fourth in a series of eight "Rough Riders" pictures from 1941-1942 that featured
Jones, Hatton and McCoy. The trio would have been together for a ninth picture ("Dawn on the Great Divide"), but McCoy decided not to renew his contract and instead sought the Republican nomination
for U.S. Senate in Wyoming. He lost the primary election on August 18, 1942, and reenlisted in the Army two days later. (He also served during World War I.) Three months after that, on November 28, when
"Dawn on the Great Divide" (with Jones and Hatton) was ready for a Christmas release, Dunlap was treating Jones and friends to a night at the Cocoanut Grove in Boston when the fire broke out — the deadliest nightclub fire in U.S.
history. Jones died from his injuries November 30. His final picture premiered posthumously.
Directed by Howard Bretherton from an original screenplay by Adele Buffington (as Jess Bowers), "Below the Border" also features
Linda Brent,
Dennis Moore,
Charles King,
Eva Puig,
Roy Barcroft and
Bud Osborne.
Uncredited cast includes Chris Allen,
Jack Daley,
Frank Ellis,
Chick Hannan,
Reed Howes,
Howard Masters,
Kermit Maynard (stunts),
Merrill McCormick,
Bill Nestell,
Fox O'Callahan (stunts),
Tex Palmer,
Jack Rockwell,
Wally West (stunts), and Buck Jones' horse, Silver.
Monogram's Harry Neumann is the cinematographer, and as always with a Monogram picture filmed at his movie ranch in Placerita Canyon, Ernie Hickson is set decorator and propmaster.
Further reading: Buck Jones, Bona Fide Hero by Joseph G. Rosa, 1966.
LW3593: 9600 dpi jpeg from original lobby card purchased 2019 by Leon Worden.