Bells of San Angelo

It's been years since I've saw several number of Roy R.'s movies made in the late 40's and 50's, when they were made in color, and got this lately to see again. It always has bothered my acceptance to suspend reality to believe that practices of the pioneer days of the old west was continued, as related in the plots as still practiced in the 1940's: having buses and modern autos involved and yet chasing around on horses shooting at each other. In other words, mixing the to time period's just didn't fit and somewhat ruined some of it all for me. It made it slightly "hokey(?)" At least this movie restrained from using certain elements in the plot, which therefore made it barely feasible that all this possibly could have happened in the more modern times. Overall, I liked it and when over, I felt rather "uplifted" partially because of the good songs it contained.

To all of my learned comrades that posted comments insulting the late, great Roy Rogers & Dale Evans, I say from the bottom of my pea-picking, reminiscing-good old days heart, PPPPPPTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL! I honestly do realize that the color quality isn't exactly top shelf, most of the acting is sub-par & the plots are tissue paper transparent, but who gives a horses saddle bag? I love each and every dusty one of them. And this includes the 50s TV show with sidekick Pat Brady and Nellie Belle the jeep. Yes, Gaby Hayes is the best sidekick ever! I grew up watching R.R. He brought to the youth of my time, "truth, justice & the American way"! I stole that quote, by the way. It brings me back to my childhood, which I guess was worse than these movies were. Maybe that is why I enjoyed them so much. PapaLarry H

The movie contains action Western ,songs, adventures, shoot-outs, fighting and is quite entertaining . Swinging From His Toes And Shooting From His Hips...Roy Battles His Foes With A Song On His Lips! . Roy Rogers and Evans team up again in the habitual thin story , but filled with riding stunts and noisy action . It deals with a Border Patrolman (Roy Rogers)who is sent to the Mexican frontier in southwest Texas to investigate strange events in Rancho San Angelo. There, with the help of local sheriff named Cookie Bullfincher (Andy Devine) and a Western pulp magazine novelist named Lee Madison (played by his spouse Dale Evans) looking for plot material , Roy aware that the Rancho is actually a nest for smuggling silver along the Mexico frontier into USA . He sends Lee Madison for help only to have her kidnapped by Gridley (John McGuire) . Gridley is mining silver from a worthless mine and bringing it into the United States thru a hidden passage . Trigger brings help that takes care of Gridley's hoodlums and now Roy has to save Lee . After rescuing Madison from the nasty band led by "Red" Grindley , there is a surprise awaiting Sheriff Cookie when a Lord comes from England looking for a man named Lancaster . As Roy foils thieves' attempts to steal and smuggle the precious silver . Meanwhile happen songs alongside with pursuits and struggles against the silver sluggers.

This B movie displays sensational adventures , intrigue, marvelous scenarios , lots of fun and is pretty enjoyable . This average-budget Western blends action , hokey fun ,suspense and emotional happenings . Our heroes incarnated by a throughly believable casting of the usual characters undergo numerous adventures and suffering innumerable perils . Surprise-filled entertainment and plenty of action on middle scale . The exterior scenes , gun-play , fights , brawls, explosions , all of them are spectacular and the film is another ordinary Hollywood product but of B-series. Memorable and great cast as Roy Rogers stars the famous singer cowboy , he played in various musical groups ,in 1934 he formed a group called ¨Sons of Pioneers¨ , they appeared in numerous Westerns (Rhythm on the range, Son of the pioneers , On the Spanish trail , among others). Roy was married three times . Arlene Wilkins , his second wife, died a few day after giving birth to their son ,¨Roy Rogers Jr or Dusty¨ and Dale Evans his third spouse , became his four children's mom . Inducted along with his wife Evans into the Hall of great Western performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum and also as member of the Sons of Pioneers . Their nicknames were ,Roy as ¨King of cowboys¨ , Dale Evans ¨Queen of the West¨ and Trigger ¨ Smartest horse in the movies¨ . Roy got his horse ¨Trigger¨in 1938 and rode him in every one of his film and TV shows after that. He had appeared in one early movie , being ridden by Olivia De Havilland in ¨¨ The adventures of Robin Hood¨. Trigged died in 1965,aged 33 years.

¨Bells of San Angelo¨ includes several songs titled "Hot Lead," and "I Like to Get Up Early in the Morning¨ and many others , played by ¨Son of Pioneers¨ and the actors as Rogers , Evans and Devine . Colorful cinematography in Trucolor , though photography is washed-out , reflecting wonderfully landscapes from Valley of Fire State Park , Overton, Nevada, USA . This ancient movie is professionally directed by William Witney , a craftsman who directed 140 titles from the 30s . The film is produced by Republic picture, usual in serials of low budget . The director , William Witney ,was a prolific director of short budget and TV episodes ( Daniel Boone , Bonanza ,Virginian ) , his best film was ¨The master of world¨ with Vincent Price . The motion picture will appeal to Western buffs and it's a marvelous popcorn story .

The usual, routine, singing cowboy stuff from Roy Rogers as he is sent to investigate some shenanigans at a ranch on the US/Mexican border. The film really belongs to Andy Devine as "Sheriff Cookie"; the enthusiastic, if not desperately competent local sheriff who alongside trashy-journalist "Lee Madison" (Dale Evans) has to help Rogers get to the bottom of it all. Fritz Lieber adds a wee bit of weight to the proceedings, and if you like songs with your westerns then this is no better or worse than the norm. The story is far, far too thin for 80 minutes though, an hour would have easily sufficed.

This is one of the last good Roy Rogers films, before they started recycling stories and churning them out a mile a minute. The plot is interesting and keeps you interested. The film isn't too long (about 1h20) and doesn't drag at all. The songs aren't too bad, and the absolutely *adorable* Dale Evans has lots of screen time;) Andy Devine was amusing as the sheriff, much more amusing than many of the later comic relief sidekicks, and Roy Rogers was at his best, in voice and in character.

Overall: One of the few colour Rogers films worth seeing; not the best of them, but most certainly nowhere near the worst (though I'm not much of a fan of the genre;). Entertaining, and worth seeing at least once. And, of course, Andy might be Devine , but Dale Evans is *divine*!!;) 7/10.