The Golden Stallion

Wild horses are used to smuggle diamonds across the border from Mexico to the United States. The jewels are hidden in horseshoes. Meanwhile, well-known horse trainer Roy Rogers (as Roy Rogers) goes to work at the "Circle B" ranch owned by singing cowgirl Dale Evans (as Stormy Billings). They make pretty music together, although Mr. Rogers prefers closer companionship with his horse "Trigger". The smartest horse in the movies gets involved with the smugglers by mating with a mare they use to transport their diamonds. The union produces "Trigger Jr." and provides Rogers and his horse with danger and adventure...

Director Quentin Tarantino elevated this "Trucolor" western by citing it for a discussion on films, which makes this an interesting watch. However, "The Golden Stallion" is more ordinary than revelatory. Most Rogers pictures are pleasant, and it's possible to elevate any one of them, at any moment. Here, you have a great scene - where Rogers "takes the rap" for a crime, to save Trigger from a death sentence. Rogers' lie is blatant, but acceptable. Unfortunately, the film leaves the potential for a good morality story right there. Neither Rogers nor Trigger committed the crime, which the script never gets around to resolving.

***** The Golden Stallion (11/15/49) William Witney ~ Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Pat Brady, Douglas Evans

I found two versions of "The Golden Stallion" on YouTube. This is because Roy Rogers' films, as well as other cowboy B-movie stars, often had their films cut down to television time slots back in the 1950 when there was a huge craze for cowboy heroes on TV. I watched the original 67 minute, not the trimmed 53 minute one. And, like many of Republic Studios' cowboy films of the late 40s and into the 50s, they filmed this using TruColor stock. It was popular with these B-westerns because it cost about the same as black & white film and Technicolor was much more expensive. But it had limitations...specifically because it was a two-color process. Two-color film tends to result in orangy-red and blue-green hues and you never really get true color despite its name. Yellows and purples, for example, just never looked yellow or purple using TruColor or its rival, Cinecolor. And, over time, both these sorts of films tend to become muddy looking and "The Golden Stallion" is no exception. This colors in this film are very intense...so much that my wife walked by as I was watching and cried out "What's wrong with the colors?!".

The plot to this story is strange. A gang of jewel thieves are apparently moving their stolen merchandise inside the hollowed out hooves of horses!! This seems incredibly unlikely and odd...and there are definitely better means for transporting stolen objects. So, I recommend you suspend disbelief as Roy Rogers and the boys work to right wrongs and capture the baddies. And, on hand are two familiar actresses in Roy Rogers film in his latter period, his wife Dale as well as the Cuban actress Estelita Rodriguez. Roy's sidekick is Pat Brady as Sparrow....not one of his more memorable sidekicks.

So is this film any good? Well, provided you suspend disbelief, yes. Not only is it tough to believe using horse hooves to smuggle, but the film takes a very weird twist when one of the baddies is killed and Trigger is accused of doing it...which, of course, he didn't. But to save Trigger from being destroyed, Roy pleads guilty to killing the man and is sentenced to hard labor!!! I like horses...but cannot imagine anyone taking a murder rap to protect a horse....nor can I imagine them putting a horse to death without some sort of trial. But it's not like Roy Rogers films are the old west but are definitely a Hollywoodization of the west...and a modern west at that. It's all enjoyable but also a bit tough to believe. If you love Roy Rogers films, you'll like it...otherwise you'll probably think it's all pretty weird. Entertaining...but weird.

Hard to believe, but this Roy Rogers vehicle is one of Quentin Tarantino's favorite movies. It was directed by prolific B-movie/serial specialist, William Witney, and co-stars Dale Evans and Trigger, "The Smartest Horse in the Movies." The storyline revolves around a diamond smuggling operation in which Trigger is enlisted to replace the stallion of the title when she goes missing. Trigger was separated from Rogers in the first place when he took the fall for his "best friend" following a (false) accusation of murder. Had he not done so, Trigger would have been killed in an instant. Along the way, Rogers and Evans pitch a little woo, the bad guys are outsmarted and Trigger and the stallion produce a foal, Trigger Jr. (star of an eponymous sequel released in 1950).

In the New York Times article, "Watching Movies With Quentin Tarantino" (9/15/00), he discusses the film in depth, finding the relationship between Rogers and Trigger particularly moving: "You know, in some movies, a cowboy might go to jail to save his best friend from being shot down dead. Well, Trigger is Roy's best friend. It's the easiest leap to have him do that here, yet it's so powerful and so unexpected. What's great is that you buy it, you absolutely buy it, and I don't know that I really would buy it from anybody else but Roy and Trigger."

It should be noted that "The Golden Stallion" is one of Rogers' more "mature" efforts, and that it's more of a drama than a musical. Although it doesn't seem to have much in common with his own work, Tarantino fanatics are sure to want to check it out to see why he holds Witney -- along with Rogers, Evans and Trigger -- in such high esteem (see also "The Eyes of Texas" from 1948).

In The Golden Stallion some diamond smugglers have discovered a really clever way to practice their trade. They use a specially constructed horseshoe and send one of their horses in with a wild herd that goes back and forth across the border from Mexico to the states. Of course you need a good leader for these horses and in this case it's a palomino mare.

But those plans go up the spout when the mare catches sight of Trigger. That little horse romance throws quite a kink into their plans. Also some humans in the person of Dale Evans and her friend Estelita Rodriguez who take over a ranch with their horse trainer Roy Rogers. They'd like to capture the wild herd and break them.

Through a combination of circumstances, Trigger gets accused of murdering one of the bad guys and since he's not Mister Ed, he can't speak up for himself. Roy sacrifices his own freedom and takes a manslaughter rap to save his beloved horse. I'm not sure he'd do the same for Dale.

Though I'm being somewhat flip in my comments The Golden Stallion is rather touching in terms of Roy's devotion to his best friend. I'm sure Roy's legion of young fans had a special place of affection for The Golden Stallion among his films.

This film might have been the first appearance of Pat Brady with his cantankerous jeep Nellybelle that had its own personality. Watching Roy's half hour television show in the fifties, I well remember Pat and Nellybelle and how that jeep always let him down at a crucial moment.

The Golden Stallion does rank as one of the better of Roy Rogers features for Republic. It's heartwarming and touching if just a tad unreal.

I can't think of two people I like more then Roy Rogers and Dale Evans and they were fantastic in The Golden Stallion. And of course, Trigger too.

The story is filled with action, drama, music (they add just the right amount of music and don't get carried away with it), and of course, Roy and Trigger. It is heart breaking at times, but the bond of horse and man that Roy and Trigger truly shared on screen and off comes through in shining colors in this movie. And of course, it's a delight to be able to see some of Roy and Trigger's work in color.

I highly recommend it.