Susanna Pass

I do have to wonder whether in these days of terrorism and the fluctuating oil market, a film like Susanna Pass could be made today and just who the villain is.

Roy Rogers is a fish and game warden for the state of California and he weighs in with his good offices in a fight between two brothers, Robert Emmett Keane and Lucien Littlefield, one bad and one good.

Bad brother is newspaper editor Keane who's a rich guy looking to get richer. And that would be at the expense of good brother Lucien Littlefield who's got a piece of land on which he's created an artificial lake and uses it as a fish hatchery. He's assisted in this worthy endeavor by Dale Evans who is an ichthyologist.

But there's oil under that lake, black gold, Texas tea as that old TV theme used to say. Keane is in cahoots with escaped convict Douglas Fowley to get that land by fair means or foul, mostly foul.

Later on a different view of the oil situation and drilling underwater would be voiced in the Anthony Mann/James Stewart film, Thunder Bay.

I'm willing to bet that former president Herbert Hoover who was a serious fresh water fisherman would have endorsed this film. I'll bet he saw it when out and loved it. Especially with that valedictory that Roy gives about the youth of America getting out in the fresh air and enjoying fishing as our forefathers did. Hoover was also a founder and spokesperson for the Boys Clubs of America as well.

Hopefully that oil is still under that lake in Susanna Pass so we can get it out when needed in a pinch.

If there is such a thing as a ROY ROGERS 'Noir Western' then SUSANNA PASS (1949) is it. Not because it was literally in a dark style because it is a brightly shot in TRUCOLOR, but that its themes were the darkess of any ROGERS film I have ever seen.

The plot features very modern concepts. The exploitation of the Earths natural resources versus their preservation and use for future generations. This time it is OIL against a natural habitat used to raise FISH and provide a experimental research center. Two (2) Brothers are on opposite sides on this matter. MARTIN MASTERS (Robert Emit Keane) wants that 'Black Gold', RUSSELL MASTERS (Lucien Littlefield) aided by KAY 'Doc' PARKER (Dale Evans) nature and research. MARTIN is assisted by escaped convict ROBERTS (Douglas Fowley) with 'Henchmen' VINCE (David Sharpe). Nothing is going to stop these Men including murder. Enter ROY ROGERS and his sidekicks who eventually bring to justice the guilty and preserve the wild. There is more too it then that, so watch the movie.

The film has several interesting features. It is filmed in TRUCOLOR a development of a early two (2) strip color process in competition with TECHNICOLOR. So GREEN is the dominant color. This was used almost exclusively by REPUBLIC PICTURES. The 'Comedy Relief' and singing are kept to a minimum compared to the typical 'Oater' of the time. Dale Evans when not in her work clothes looks very 'chic' is some 'New Look' Dior Fashions. At the end of the picture ROY rides off and 'Doc' PARKER (Dale) goes back to her research. What NO romance, yes, their relationship in this film is strictly platonic, BUMMER!

The later Roy Rogers movies tended to have a conservation and education message. In the case of Susanna Pass the plot is built around a feud between two brothers with differing ideas on how a piece of land should be used. One brother wants to use the land for a fish hatchery while the other wants to drain the lake and drill for oil. Roy's movies were strong in their message to carefully manage wildlife for hunting and fishing, and some of what is said in Susanna Pass would easily fit into a short film on raising fish for recreational and commercial fishing.

Russell Masters (Lucien Littlefield) who seeks to make life better for everyone with a fish hatchery. He is joined by Doc Parker (Dale Evans) in his venture. Dale Evans was always feisty toward any villain and usually kept Roy in check whenever he became mischievous. This time around she pulls no punches, literally speaking, because she plays the part of a marine! As far fetched as it may sound for tiny Dale, she is dead serious and no-nonsense in her role.

Newspaperman Martin Masters (Robert Emmett Keane) has to find a way to ruin the fish hatchery and eliminate his brother so that he may take the oil from underneath the lake. He and his hired thugs nearly succeed, but when facing Roy Rogers and a marine the task becomes difficult.

Foy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage were doing their own western adventures on their radio program, so they certainly were no strangers to acting. While they do get to partake of the action in Susanna Pass, they just do not have the flair of the Sons of the Pioneers. Perhaps it is because they were not as comfortable on screen, or it may be a nostalgia for seeing Roy with his original group.

There is a different feel to the polished production of Roy's last years of B westerns. In some ways it takes away from the "shoot 'em up" aspect that was so much fun, but it establishes a strong sense of right and wrong. Roy was no longer the cowboy who did good deeds; he had a purpose that was made clear to everyone.

I can't say that I'm especially familiar with the films of Roy Rogers, but this strikes me as an especially briskly paced, busy movie. There's a lot of plot here, and many little details rounding out scenes and characters, and it's thrown at us unexpectedly fast. Bad guys! Fishing! Dynamite! Murder! Etcetera! Hand in hand with the abundance of content and speed, it seems to me like there's more emphasis on action thrills here than is true of other westerns, not least from a star known for singing in his pictures. Such sequences and stunts likewise swiftly fly in our face, fostering a sense of vigor that's bolstered by the boisterous score. For all this, 'Susanna Pass' readily impresses a little for how soundly crafted it is, and entertaining, despite the tenor that in many other instances has served to reduce such value.

Stuffed to its one-hour gills with plot, excitement, and dashes of humor, this is unquestionably light on its feet. Maybe too much so for its own good, in fact, as there are times when the connective threads between scenes are story beats are a little lacking; this is a western built for minor thrills, not storytelling judiciousness. That spirit also extends to the ending that's dreadfully ham-handed, and weirdly out of sorts with the tone the feature has otherwise maintained. While 'Susanna Pass' does a fine job already with maintaining a vigorous spirit and keeping viewers engaged, it may have benefited from slightly more mindful writing, direction, and editing, and more specifically from being more drawn out so as to let each moment manifest, breathe, and resolve more naturally.

Such matters don't severely detract from the viewing experience, however, and far more so than not this is a good bit of fun. In addition to the stunts and action scenes, any effects are done well, and the sets and costume design are solid as per contemporary westerns. If marginally troubled as it presents, the plot is written well such as it is, if kind of generic. (Excise the western details and the story and characters could be adapted to basically any TV show ever made.) When all is said and done this is pretty well made, if imperfect, and enjoyable. Anyone who doesn't already appreciate westerns won't find anything here to change their minds, but for a quick, no-frills slice of cinema, 'Susanna Pass' is a good way to occupy one's time.

Forest ranger Roy Rogers finds the wagon the two escaped prisoners used, but not the pirsoners. Little does he know that Douglas Fowley has knifed Robert Bice, and left him for dead. Fowley also goes into partnership with Bice's uncle, Robert Emmet Keane, who had framed Bice. It seems that Keane's brother, Lucien Littlefield owns a lake that he is using as a trout hatchery for the state, with Dale Evans, ex-marine and ichthyologist, working for him Fowley and Keane confirm there is at least $2,000,000 worth of oil beneath the lake. And Keane is his brother's heir.

It's a pretty good story that pauses occasionally to offer a lecture on what goes on in a fish hatchery, Roy nursing Bullet or chatting with Jimmy the Crow, or a song. They're pretty good this time around, with Estelita Rodriguez singing and being the comic this time around. Roy arrests Dale twice, and Trigger demonstrates that he's not only the smartest horse in the movies, he's smarter than Roy.