Roy Rogers Movies

In the tradition of several of the Gene Autry vehicles of the 1930s, Roy Rogers' Helldorado is built around a real-life frontier celebration. In this instance, the story is set against the backdrop of Las Vegas' annual "Heldorado Week", at which time the Old West came to life in the form of costumed revellers, equine parades and pre-rehearsed stagecoach holdups and bank robberies. Arriving in Las Vegas to participate in the festivities, Roy Rogers ends up crossing six-guns with a gang of gamblers who've been delinquent in their income tax. Gee, if Roy had stuck around a bit longer, he could have shot it out with Bugsy Siegel (or Bugsy's Godfather counterpart Moe Green!) Rogers' perennial costar (and later wife) Dale Evans costars as a female sleuth who gets in over her head when she tries to capture the gamblers herself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The West Coast's answer to Broadway's Stage Door Canteen, the Hollywood Canteen was created as a GI morale-booster by film stars Bette Davis and John Garfield. The Canteen was established so that Our Boys on leave in Tinseltown could have a good time with good food and good dancing -- and, as a bonus, rub shoulders with their favorite movie personalities, who functioned as waiters, chefs, busboys and dancing partners. Since the 1944 all-star flick Hollywood Canteen was produced by Warner Bros., it was only to be expected that the celebrities seen herein would consist mostly of Warner Bros. contract players. The frail plot concerns a soldier on medical leave (played by Robert Hutton) who falls in love with lovely leading lady Joan Leslie (played by Joan Leslie) while visiting the Canteen. Bette Davis and John Garfield are on hand to emcee the Canteen's variety acts, and to act as cupids for the Hutton/Leslie romance. The "supporting cast" includes the likes of The Andrews Sisters, Jack Benny, Joe E. Brown, Eddie Cantor, Sidney Greenstreet, Paul Henreid, Peter Lorre, Ida Lupino, Dennis Morgan, Roy Rogers, S.Z. Sakall, Barbara Stanwyck, and the Jimmy Dorsey and Carmen Cavallaro musical aggregations. Virtually everyone involved donated their salaries to the Canteen fund--even Jack Benny. As with most of these patriotic wartime star rallies, the results are a mixed bag: the best sequences include Benny's violin "duel" with Joseph Szigeti and Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers introducing Cole Porter's Don't Fence Me In. Hollywood Canteen won three Oscar nominations, more for its good intentions than its inherent excellence. Still, don't pass up the opportunity when this "movie star salad" shows up on cable TV. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

At 70 minutes, the Roy Rogers musical western Idaho was packaged and promoted as a "special", rather than just another B-flick. The story concerns the efforts by kindly judge Grey (Harry Shannon) to establish a "Boy's Town"-style establishment for wayward youngsters. The judge is opposed by gambling-house proprietress Belle Bonner (Ona Munson), who is a prositute in everything but name. Belle hopes to discredit Grey by revealing the judge's criminal record, but state ranger Roy Rogers comes to the rescue. The climax finds Rogers, heroine Terry Grey (Virginia Grey) and the ex-delinquent kids (played by members of the Robert Mitchell Boy Choir) capturing Belle's bandit gang. Gabby Hayes, Roy Rogers' former sidekick, is conspicuous by his absence in Idaho; Hayes was replaced on this occasion by the ubiquitous Smiley Burnette, as always cast as "Froggy Millhouse." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

As in all his early westerns, Roy Rogers battles true Old West outlaws in the fine In Old Caliente. He is, as usual, Roy Rogers, but this time a trusted hand at the Olde California ranchero belonging to Don José (Frank Puglia). Unbeknownst to the Don, however, his "half-breed" foreman, Suguaro (Frank La Rue), is in league with Calkins (Harry Woods), the nasty Gringo behind a series of gold-shipment robberies. With Suguaro's help, Calkins manages to pin the crimes on Roy and Gabby (George "Gabby" Hayes) and the Don has them imprisoned. But Rita (Katherine DeMille), Don José's Eastern-bred daughter, believes them to be innocent and secures their release. The ensuing chase leads straight to the Pacific Ocean and the evil Suguaro is killed in the surf. Roy Rogers performs "Sundown on the Range", by Fred Rose, "The Moon, She Will be Shining Tonight" and, in a duet with George "Gabby" Hayes, "We're Not Coming Out Tonight", the latter two penned by Walter Samuels. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a young businessman is forced to dig with a pick for a day after he almost caused a fire. While toiling away, he discovers a major coal vein on the Weaver's land. The greedy fellow then begins to slyly buy up their land. His incautious digging then causes a forest fire. Fortunately the Weaver family is there to help him out. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The budget for this fine Roy Rogers Western was doubled and the title changed from Starlight on the Trail to the more descriptive King of the Cowboys, mainly due to Rogers' great reception on a personal appearance tour in the fall of 1942. Republic had lost Gene Autry to the war effort and this film, more than any other, brought the heretofore also-ran singing cowboy to the forefront, where he remained through the early '50s. Following the example of Autry, Roy played himself, a rodeo star assigned by the governor, Russell Hicks, to investigate a series of warehouse bombings. With sidekick Frog Millhouse (Smiley Burnette) in tow, Roy infiltrates the Merry Makers, a touring tent show whose phony mind reader, Maurice (Gerald Mohr), is the chief operative for a sabotage ring run by the governor's secretary, Kraly (Lloyd Corrigan). But Maurice catches Roy stealing his book of codes and is about to shoot him in cold blood when tent show owner Dave Mason (James Bush) interferes. Maurice then eliminates Mason and frames Roy for the killing but despite this setback, Roy manages to stop the saboteurs before they can blow up a supply train needed in the war effort. An "everything but the kitchen sink" action-thriller, King of the Cowboys came complete with seven songs performed by Rogers, Burnette, and the Sons of the Pioneers, including "Ride, Ranger, Ride," "Roll Along Prairie Moon," and Johnny Mercer's "I'm an Old Cowhand." The film was restored to its full theatrical length by the Roan Group in the late '90s and re-released on a DVD that also features the original theatrical trailer and alternate scenes from a separate version released only to the War Department. In these scenes, Lloyd Corrigan's character is a businessman rather than the governor's secretary, and his Nazi affiliation is more clearly established. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

After sixteen years of cinematic retirement, Roy Rogers made a surprise return before the cameras in Mackintosh & T. J. Rogers plays Mackintosh, an ageing, tale-spinning ranch hand who befriends T.J., a sullen young boy (Clay O'Brien). The film is low-key, like Rogers himself, and Rogers' faithful fans were gratified to watch him thrash several younger cowpokes who goad him into a fight. Waylon Jennings provides the C&W musical score. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Man from Cheyenne is Roy Rogers, who does his best to squash a gang of cattle rustlers. What Roy doesn't know is that the mastermind behind the gang is a beautiful woman, East Coast socialite Marian (Lynn Carver). Making Marian's job easier is the fact that all the local cattlemen are crazy about her, and have a tendency to tip off the times and locations of their impending cattle drives. But Rogers is not so easily flummoxed-after all, he's a government man. Man From Cheyenne was hailed at the time of its release as the film in which Roy Rogers received his first screen kiss, which was certainly not the case. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This gentle, tuneful western is one of cowboy crooner Roy Rogers' best and most successful films; it is also his personal favorite. The fanciful tale tells how Rogers obtained his magnificent horse Trigger and begins with horse trader Rogers as he prepares to breed his best mare with his best friend's glorious Palomino stallion. Trouble comes in the form of a villainous gambler who has similar plans for his own mare. He attempts to rustle the stud, but the attempt fails, the stallion escapes and breeds with Roger's mare. Angrily, the gambler shows up and shoots the beautiful horse, leaving Rogers to shoulder the blame. Fortunately, Roy and his impregnated mare flee. Later she gives birth to Trigger who helps Rogers get revenge after he grows up. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Roy Rogers goes "PC" in North of the Great Divide. In this one, Roy champions the cause of the Oseka Indians, whose supply of salmon has been cut off. The perpetrator is fish-cannery owner Banning (Roy Barcroft), who has been hogging the salmon for his own business. Not only that, Banning contrives to frame the Oseka chief for murder. No matter how many obstacles are thrown in the good guys' path, Roy Rogers still finds time to sing three tunes with Foy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage. The pro-conservation, pro-Native American stance of North of the Great Divide makes this one of the most prescient of Roy Rogers' feature films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Republic Pictures trotted out some of their popular Western stars -- including Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Trigger, Allan Lane and Don "Red" Barry -- for this backstage musical starring the company's newest singing cowboy, Monte Hale. To top it all off, the studio "inaugurated" Trucolor, which, in reality, was the old Magnacolor system under a more enticing name. Hale played himself, a cowboy seeking employment with "Globe Pictures" along with such other newcomers as little Bobby Blake (later Robert Blake) and his dancing horse Pardner. Monte and the horse are hired to appear in the newest Rod Mason (John Dehner) Western extravaganza, but the self-important Mason grows increasingly jealous of Monte's success and engages in a bit of sabotage. Pardner is slightly injured as a result, and although he is wanted for a series of his own, Monte takes time out to heal the animal's wounds. Mason immediately accuses his rival of not only kidnapping the horse but mistreating him as well. Assisted by Foy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage, Monte eventually forces Rod and his henchman Ace (Fred Graham) to admit their culpability in Pardner's injuries, doing so the oldfashioned way -- by brute force. In addition to offering an enticing glimpse behind the scenes at Republic Pictures in its heyday, Out California Way also included such songs as Boogie Woogie Cowboy, Rose of Santa Fe, Little Bronc of Mine, and the title tune. Columnist and occasional screenwriter Jimmy Starr appeared briefly as himself. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide