Roy Rogers Movies

This documentary concerns the legion of B-westerns made from the end of the silent era to the present, including stock footage of all the classic cinema cowboys. ~ John Bush, Rovi

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, Rovi

As a reward for a $10 million endowment, Jed Clampett receives an honorary doctorate from Greely College. Unfortunately, this incurs the jealousy of Granny, who up until now was the only "doctor" in the family. Somehow or other, the plot of this episode brings Granny in close contact with a troupe of sideshow performers, including a "chicken woman" (imagine the jokes inspired by this character!) "Doctor Jed Clampett" initially aired on October 21, 1964. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Bob Hope plays a 19th-century insurance agent whose miserable sales record prompts his boss to send him out West, where he can (supposedly) do little harm. Hope manages to sell a $100,000 life insurance policy--to outlaw Jesse James (Wendell Corey), one of the worst "risks" in history! In his efforts to get the policy back, Hope finds himself being mistaken for Jesse, which is all part of the outlaw's plan to get Hope killed and thereby collect the policy money himself. But with the help of beauteous Rhonda Fleming (the essentially honest beneficiary to Jesse's policy), Hope gains a reputation as a lightning-fast gunslinger. In the inevitable shoot-out with the James gang, Hope is helped out by several famous Westerners, including Gary Cooper, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, James "Maverick" Garner, and even Tonto (Jay Silverheels). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A sequel to Bob Hope's 1948 box-office success The Paleface, 1952's Son of Paleface is a superior product in every way, thanks largely to the spirited, creative direction of Frank Tashlin. Hope is cast as Junior Potter, a Harvard-educated dude who heads West to claim the inheritance left him by his gunslinger father. Much to his chagrin, Junior discovers that his dad has left him nothing but debts. To stave off Potter Sr.'s angry creditors, Junior pretends that his father has salted away a fortune somewhere in the hills. This arouses the attention of curvaceous saloon owner Mike (Jane Russell), who doubles as a mysterious masked bandit known as The Torch. Meanwhile, Roy Rogers (playing a federal agent named Roy Rogers) keeps tabs on Junior, hoping that he'll lead him to The Torch and her gang. True to form, ex-cartoonist Tashlin fills the screen with a wealth of inventive sight gags and inside jokes: Cecil B. DeMille shows up as a photographer in one scene, while in another, Hope, about to embark on the film's wild climactic chase sequence, shoos away a couple of vultures wearing bibs, warning them that "You'll make the whole thing look impossible." Our favorite scenes: Hope's Wile E. Coyote-like reaction to a particularly potent drink, and his bedroom scene with Roy Rogers' wonder horse Trigger. And don't forget the film's slightly risque punch line "Let's see them top that on television," (you have to be there). Songs in Son of Paleface include "You Are My Valley of Sunshine," "Four-Legged Friend," "Wing Ding Tonight," "What A Dirty Shame," and a reprise of The Paleface's Oscar-winning "Buttons and Bows," performed by Hope, Russell and Rogers. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Roy Rogers and Trigger, "The Smartest Horse in the Movies," enjoy above-the-title billing in Heart of the Rockies. This time, Rogers (playing himself) is pitted against Andrew Willard, a crooked but very powerful landowner, played with relish by Ralph Morgan. Opposing the construction of a new highway, Willard dispatches his toughest henchmen, headed by Devery (Fred Graham, one of Hollywood's top stunt men), to prevent the road workers from completing their job. When not duking it out with Devery and his pals, Rogers is kept busy trying to rehabilitate a gang of tough street kids. Penny Edwards plays the heroine, who happens to be the niece of the head villain. The musical portion of the program is provided by the golden-throated Mr. Rogers, together with Foy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Yet another Roy Rogers Western whose title refers to a song, In Old Amarillo actually takes place in and around Amarillo of 1951. Fired by cattleman George Hills (Minor Watson), foreman Clint Burnside (Roy Barcroft) plans to avenge himself by ruining Hills' wastrel son, Philip (Ken Howell). Along with local saloon owner Mike Carver (William Holmes), Burnside is also attempting to buy up all the area's ranches during a prolonged drought. When Roy Rogers, Hills' new foreman, suggests that the ranchers come together and use modern rainmaking equipment, including airplanes armed with dry ice, Burnside and Carver lure Philip into committing a bit of sabotage. At first Roy accuses the young man of shooting down the rainmaking aircraft but then discovers that he was forced to pilot the attacking plane by Burnside, the real killer, who is himself killed in a climactic fistfight. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Filmed in eye-pleasing Trucolor, Republic's Trail of Robin Hood is one of the most entertaining and likable of Roy Rogers' starring films. Roy comes to the rescue of veteran cowboy star Jack Holt (playing himself) when the latter's Christmas-tree business is jeopardized by greedy rivals. With the aid of several other western stars, Roy thwarts main bad guy Clifton Young and allows misguided lumber baron Emory Parnell to see the error of his ways (it helps that Parnell's pretty daughter Penny Edwards is on Rogers' side). The film's best scene is the climactic rally of Republic's top cowboy heroes. After Rex Allen, Allan "Rocky" Lane, Monte Hale, Tom Tyler, Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Kermit Maynard, Tom Keene and William Farnum have ridden up and taken their bows, in gallops veteran western "heavy" George Cheseboro, who also wants to help Jack Holt but is shunned by the others. Cheseboro wins them over by explaining "After 20 years of being beaten up by Holt, he's reformed me." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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, Rovi

The King of the Cowboys and the Queen of the West perform their noublesse oblige in Twilight in the Sierras. Roy Rogers plays a US marshal, pursuing a vicious gang of counterfeiters. Dale Evans (not yet Mrs. Rogers) hasn't got much to do but provide love interest, warble a few tunes, and display jealousy when co-star Estelitta Rodriguez sashays into view. The story is motivated by the kidnapping of an ex-counterfeiter who's gone straight. Filmed in the restful Trucolor process, Twilight in the Sierras was designed and marketed as a "special," aiming beyond its usual small-town and regional audiences. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi