The Ranger and the Lady

Sam Houston is in Washington D. C., negotiating for admission to the Union. Meanwhile, acting president Henry Brandon is busy building up his own private empire. He orders Rangers captain Roy Rogers to start collecting a toll on the Santa Fe Trail, even those parts in Mexico. When Julie Bishop cuts a deal with Brandon for a monopoly on the Trail, Rogers and Gabby Hayes quit.

It's a well told tale of non-history, with Joseph Kane and his writers still figuring outhow best to present Rogers; the great variety of stories they would tell with him is one of the major strength of his movies. Kane was also quite willing to let small players shine, as here, with Si Jenks out-codgering Gabby at every encounter. The two songs Roy sings are ok. With Noble Johnson, Yakima Canutt, and Spade Cooley on the banjo.

In the days of the Texas Republic, Rangers Roy Rogers and Gabby Hayes are sent by a renegade General to collect a toll from travelers just outside Texas' border. In order to prevent bloodshed, the reluctant duo try to collect the money from a female wagon master, using more tactful methods than their replacements would have, causing even more problems.

A fairly lethargic production, the story just doesn't give off much sparks this time around as I would have liked. The action scenes aren't very hot either.

Roy and Gabby are still likable though and leading lady Julie Bishop is very attractive. However, there isn't much chemistry between her and Rogers. George Hayes and old-timer Si Jenks fair much better in that department!

Still, it's not Roy's worst, but he's definitely done a lot better.

Roy Rogers (as Roy Colt) is the Texas Ranger sent to collect, and Jacqueline Wells (as Jane Tabor) is the Lady who won't pay tolls as they disagree on Texan/Mexican territory status. Mr. Rogers is assisted by his trusty sidekick George "Gabby" Hayes (as Gabby) and Ms. Wells (later more commonly known as Julie Bishop) is assisted by her trusty sidekick Si "Purdy" Jenks (as Purdy).

Though Rogers is said to be smitten with the Lady Bishop, few sparks fly between them. The more entertaining twosome are the sidekicks - Gabby and Purdy, who get to share a bed! - but, relax, Gabby is just in Purdy's bed to hide-out. The old codgers might have could have elevated the film, if their material was better. Gabby does get to call Bishop a "She-male"; later, she shoots two men, then bows demurely when Rogers gets one. "The Ranger and the Lady" doesn't meet expectations.

*** The Ranger and the Lady (1940) Joseph Kane ~ Roy Rogers, George 'Gabby' Hayes, Julie Bishop

I think if it hadn't been for the characters of Gabby (Gabby Hayes) and Purdy (Si Jenks), this film wouldn't have been very watchable. After all, the plot didn't always make sense. Another thing that didn't make sense was how the old Roy Rogers films were hacked to pieces to shorten them for TV slots. In this particular case, it was worse than usual in this regard, as Roy Rogers and the lady (Julie Bishop) begin hating each other for no reason--because their first meeting was cut out of the film! Seeing her suddenly treating him like dirt made her seem insane to say the least.

The story is set in the Republic of Texas in the 1830s. The President, Sam Houston, is away in Washington. In his place, an crooked despot is ignoring the law and exploiting the masses. And, this jerk hopes to kill Houston when he's returning and make himself the leader of Texas. So, it's up to Roy to defeat him and restore justice.

Does all this sound very familiar? Well, it should. It's the plot to Robin Hood and Ivanhoe re-worked (just a tiny bit) along with an irrelevant and difficult to believer plot involving Biship. It's all quite silly but the film has one thing going for it--the repartee between Gabby and Purdy. I am not trying to be a jerk for saying it, but they seemed just like a couple the way they bickered. And, in the end, when Gabby saw that Roy got the girl, he responds "...better off dead!"--convincing me once and for all that Purdy and Gabby, indeed, had a STRONG gay subtext. I find it hard to believe this was unintentional. But this alone isn't enough reason to seek out this film--it's just not all that good.

By the way, accuracy was never a strong point in Roy Rogers films. In this case, the cowboys all use guns circa 1870 (give or take)--firing bullet after bullet after bullet. For the most part, guns were all single-shot back then. A few RARE revolvers did exist but had to be hand-loaded--a very slow process--especially since a percussion cap needed to be affixed to each chamber as well. So, such gun fights simply weren't possible at that time--not that that ever stopped a B-western! guns were NOT period

I love that opening 'whisker-off' between Gabby and Si. So who's chin is hairiest: it's like two fuzzy bushes chomping away at each other. So where else can a former front row kid see such dated nonsense.

The oater's an early entry in the Roger's playbook, and is notable for being more plot-heavy than most. So will freight wagons have to pay a fee to use a part of the Santa Fe Trail that leads through the Texas Republic, 1836. Seems unscupulous General LaRue has seized Texas authority while President Sam Houston's conferring in Washington about possible Texas statehood. Now LaRue's set to get rich. Meanwhile, Roy serves as an officer in the Texas Rangers and smells a rat from above. Nonetheless, he's bound by authority to collect the fees, even as this causes hardship among the freight haulers. So what's he to do, follow conscience or authority.

There's one other distinguishing feature, and that's pretty girl Bishop who serves as more than usual eye-relief for us guys. Instead she's heavily threaded into the plot and thus shows her acting chops in a variety of moods, even dominant ones. (No wonder she was an oater favorite).

Anyway, Roy shares main screen time with other cast members. So don't look for a central focus on him. Also, hard-riding and fast-shooting come mainly at the end, but with few flying-fists anywhere. Nonetheless, it's a nifty Rogers entry, with something of a history lesson to boot. So enjoy.