Dale Evans Movies

Roy and Dale appear as hosts in this family variety show. ~ All Movie Guide

In Roy Rogers' final big-screen effort, the cowboy hero plays a U.S. Border Patrolman assigned to prevent a herd of diseased cattle from crossing over from Mexico. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

After a string of winners, Roy Rogers faltered a bit with South of Caliente. Rogers, playing himself, is the owner of a trailer-van service who is hired to transport a prize horse across the Mexican border. En route, Roy is bushwhacked and the horse stolen. The animal's owner Doris Stewart (Dale Evans) suspects that Roy is the thief, but the actual crook is within her own circle of employees. The supporting cast includes burlesque funster Pinky Lee (checkered cap and all) and character actor Leonard Penn, the father of current screen favorites Sean and Christopher Penn. Though not Roy Rogers' best film, South of Caliente still scores in the action department. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

John Wayne stars as Lt. Col. Kirby Yorke, whose devotion to duty has cost him his marriage to his beloved Kathleen (Maureen O'Hara). Yorke gets word that his son, Jeff (Claude Jarman Jr.) -- whom he hasn't seen in 15 years -- has been dropped as a cadet from West Point, and that he lied about his age to enlist in the cavalry, in an effort to redeem himself. By chance, the boy is then assigned to his father's post. Once more, as a function of his duty as a cavalry officer, Yorke must sacrifice his love of family -- he cannot show any preferential treatment to the boy, or exhibit any sign of love and affection. But Jeff is too strong to be injured by his father's actions, and already enough of a man that he is befriended by two older recruits, troopers Tyree (Ben Johnson) and Boone (Harry Carey Jr.), who watch out for him while taking him in as a virtual equal. Yorke's resolve is further tested when his estranged wife, Kathleen, arrives at the post, the better to look after her son -- and possibly to buy back the boy's enlistment, which Yorke, as commanding officer in a remote post with a critical shortage of men, can't and won't permit. After an attack by the Apaches, Yorke orders the post's women and children to be moved to safety, and Jeff is assigned as part of the troop conducting the caravan, despite his wish to participate in the planned action against the Apaches. The caravan is attacked, and the wagon with the children is taken by the Apaches to their encampment in a deserted village across the Rio Grande in Mexico. Yorke has been given permission by General Sheridan (J. Carrol Naish) to take his men into Mexico in pursuit of the Apaches, but the punitive expedition is now a rescue mission, as the Indians' night-time vengeance dance is the prelude to certain slaughter of the children at daybreak. As part of the mission, it's up to Tyree, the slyest man in the troop, to infiltrate the enemy camp, and he chooses Jeff and Boone as the two men he wants with him on this dangerous mission. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

According to Roy Rogers himself, this action-packed western remained one of his favorites. The manager of a traveling show, Rogers is wintering at a ranch belonging to wheelchair-bound Colonel Harkrider (George Cleveland), his daughter Kay (Dale Evans) and grandson Larry (Peter Miles). The latter, whose mother, a circus bareback rider, was killed during a performance, grows up with a paralyzing fear of horses. In contrast, Roy wants to purchase a wild stallion accused of being a killer but his bid is turned down and the stallion instead condemned to death. Unbeknownst to Roy, however, Monty Manson (Grant Withers), who heads a crooked "Range Patrol," saves the beast and uses it to terrorize the area's horse-breeders. Putting two and two together, Roy attempts to unmask Manson for the criminal he is but is ambushed by the patrol. The stallion, meanwhile, attacks both Colonel Harkrider and Roy's horse Trigger, Jr. but is chased off the property by Trigger himself. Overcoming his fears, Larry mounts Trigger, Jr. and joins the party searching for Roy. With Trigger's aid, Roy destroys the killer stallion in a final battle and Manson is brought to justice. Backed by Foy Willing, The Riders of the Purple Sage and Dale Evans, Roy Rogers takes time out to perform "May the Good Lord Take a Likin' to Ya", by Peter Tinturin; "The Big Rodeo", by Foy Willing; and "Stampede", by Willing and Carol Rice. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Part of the Roy Rogers series, this film focuses on Roy Roger's horse, Trigger, and his infatuation with a handsome palomino mare. When Trigger discovers the mare being beaten by her lowlife owner, he kills him, leaving Rogers to take the blame. However, it seems that Trigger's new girlfriend might be unwittingly involved in some underhanded activity. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

A safecracker risks his own life to save an endangered child from an oncoming truck and finds his life changes forever in this drama. During the rapid rescue, the crook breaks his leg and while he heals, he is befriended by a good-hearted priest who guides him toward the straight and narrow. Now the former thief is determined to return all the loot to the bank, even if it means destroying everyone in his gang to do it. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

One of the better Roy Rogers vehicles of its period, Home in Oklahoma casts Rogers as a crusading frontier newspaper editor. Forsworn to find the murderers of a prominent cattle rancher, Roy teams up with big-city journalist Connie Edwards (Dale Evans) and grizzled ranch foreman Gabby Whittaker (Gabby Hayes). Following the trail of clues like a Sagebrush Sherlock, Rogers exposes a rival rancher (never mind which one-his identity is obvious to seasoned mystery fans) as the culprit. Musical highlights include Roy and Dale's rendition of the novelty tune "Miguelito." Chalk up another winner for the star-director team of Roy Rogers and William Witney. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Bells of San Angelo was the second Republic Roy Rogers western to be filmed in the "new" Trucolor process (actually the old Magnacolor process). Set in the modern west, the story involves a silver-smuggling racket headed by rotten Rex Gridley (John McGuire). In a novel scripting touch, Roy Rogers doesn't outwit the villains-and in fact is soundly beaten by the bad guys halfway through the film. It's up to heroine Lee Madison (Dale Evans), a writer of fanciful cowboy novels, to save the day! By taking Roy Rogers off his "King of the Cowboys" pedestal, Bells of San Angelo succeeds in humanizing this western icon, and the film is all the better for it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rainbow over Texas is set in a western never-never land, with vintage six-shooters and stagecoaches sharing screen time with modern limousines and radio studios. Roy Rogers (cast as "himself," as usual), plays a cowboy singing star who agrees to participate in a re-creation of the first Pony Express race. For reasons too numerous to mention here, the villains conspire to prevent Rogers from winning the race. Not only does Roy foil the bad guys, but he also finds time to sing several sprightly musical numbers with co-stars Dale Evans and The Sons of the Pioneers. And of course, there's always room for the comic interpolations of grizzled old Gabby Hayes. Two notes of interest: The principal villain in Rainbow over Texas is played by Sheldon Leonard, who would seem to be more at home in the mean streets of Brooklyn; and the screenplay was based on a novel by Max Brand, of Destry Rides Again fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide