Twilight in the Sierras

Roy, Dale and their singing pals take on a gang of counterfeiters; stopping frequently along the way for a round of song. Roy's hometown looked funny as horses and cars vied for road space - and everybody wore a sixgun. This was pretty much typical Roy and Dale fare - comedy, romance, and lots of horses. I thought this was high adventure and excitement back in the 50's, but now it seems so tame and corny.

Singing Cowboy Westerns are a rather niche genre, and one that hasn't necessarily aged as well as others; along with any songs comes a distinct ham-handedness that's a far cry from what most modern viewers are accustomed to. That's not to say that all indulge that flourish equally, and some are better than others - though this particular title also bears the idiosyncrasy of blending together in its presentation technologies and fashions of both the Wild West and the 1940s, a twist that's odd and slightly off-putting in its own right. On the other hand, while this may not be the most singularly exciting of Roy Rogers' films, if one can overlook the peculiarities or inelegance of its inclusions then it's still broadly quite well made and worthwhile on its own merits. 'Twilight in the Sierras' may not be a total must-see, but in the very least it's more or less right on par with the bulk of the star's output, and reasonably enjoyable.

Most all the same consistent qualities are here. The production design, art direction, and costume design are terrific; John MacBurnie's cinematography is vivid and dynamic, and the color imagery is rich and lovely. Any stunts, action scenes, and effects are very finely executed, and special commendations surely also belong to non-human cast members including Trigger for what was obviously excellent training. Despite the kitsch of the music, I can't dispute that the tunes are modestly enjoyable in and of themselves, and performed well. And the writing is generally quite solid, though the fact that the plot development relies predominantly on dialogue, instead of simply the course of events in a scene, lends to a small feeling of insufficiency.

In fact, while in and of itself it's unremarkable, it's rather telling just how essential the dialogue is to 'Twilight in the Sierras.' With everything having been said that was going to be up to that point, the action-oriented climax and curt ending just rather trail off, providing a feeling of finality and conclusion that's limp at best. In no movie should it ever be the case that once characters stop talking there's a sense that the plot has been lost, yet to whatever small degree, that's just what we get here - with the result that it seems like we somewhat suddenly leap from "let's move the narrative along" to "okay, now the big finish!" Not least when it was maybe needed most, I think the connective integrity of Sloan Nibley's storytelling falters.

Still, this feature succeeds more than it doesn't. The singing is a little gauche, the blending of far-removed decades is curious, and above all the writing needed to be tightened. But in the wide brushstrokes this is pretty fun, and in all the fundamentals of its craft and its action it really is well done. A little more mindfulness would have gone a long way, yet the fact remains that 'Twilight in the Sierras' is still entertaining and better than not, so obviously the filmmakers did something right. Compared to other Rogers pictures specifically, or other titles in the wide world of cinema, there may be others that take higher priority, but if you have the chance to watch this, you could definitely do much worse.

"Twilight in the Sierras" is a Roy Rogers film made in TruColor, a cheap two-color process that was much less expensive than Technicolor. This meant that this film (and many other B-westerns) is in color...but a very limited range of colors. It's a bit muddy for a color film...but compared to many other TruColor films I've seen, it looks pretty good. Additionally, the film is complete...something that isn't true for many of Roy's movies which were trimmed for television time slots of the 1950s.

When the film begins, Roy is a parole officer out west. He and the Judge work together hiring ex-cons. One day, one of these parolees, Ricardo, is kidnapped by Matt Brunner (George Meeker...who always seems to play baddies in these films) and his men. Why? Because they want to force Ricardo to help them with some counterfeit gold certificates....and if he doesn't cooperate, they promise to hurt his sister, Oddly, Brunner is convinced he needs to kill Rogers....and when his plan doesn't work, he blames Rogers for the death of one of his men and insist Roger be arrested. Can Roy figure out what's really going on here?

The part of the film about Roy being arrested doesn't make any sense, as the dead man was clearly mauled by a mountain lion, Roy's gun had been tampered with and he easily could have shown everyone this AND then Roy runs away....which makes no sense for a respected parole officer! Certainly not the most logical of Roy Rogers films....and it also seemed odd when the sheriff uses tear gas...something you really shouldn't see in such a setting. Overall, watchable but not especially logical.....which seems to be more likely true with his later films. And, oddly, a strange film that really seems to HATE Mountain Lions...as folks seem bent on killing them....and vice-versa.

By the way, I noticed that one reviewer says the film features the Sons of the Pioneers (a musical group created by Rogers in the 1930s). However, the group in the film is the Riders of the Purple Sage....a similar sounding group but not the Sons of the Pioneers.

Though the story isn't much,about a reformed outlaw who is kidnapped along with his sister from Cuba by a gang of counterfeiters of gold certificates no good in the United States but worth face value in Europe, this Roy Rogers outing has all the ingredients his fans loved. The King's Queen Dale Evans puts on a good show as the daughter of the local lawman. There's Pat Brady of the Sons of the Pioneers for comedy, though his jeep Nellie Belle that made his act so funny on early television is not there to add to the laughs. Many times that piece of machinery actually upstaged Pat which tells you something of his brand of humor. Trigger is featured in an escapade with a mountain lion and with the outlaws. At one point Trigger is wounded and has to be nursed back to health by Pat, who is somewhat of a doctor for both animals and humans. The Sons of the Pioneers are not around but a similar group called the Riders of the Purple Sage do a fair job filling in for them. And Roy gets to sing a song or two. So "Twilight in the Sierras" should delight Roy and Dale's many fans.

This film was released toward the end of Roy and Dale's long trail on the big screen. They went over to the new medium of television with a popular show and continued to perform off and on the rest of their lives. Toward the end, Dale with Roy's assistance devoted much time and energy to religious causes, appearing often on evangelical television shows. Roy and Dale also did an excellent show on The Nashville Network (TNN) where they would sit together and discuss their movie career sometimes with special guests. With the discussions many of their old films were shown, some for the first time on television.

Dale was a noted songwriter--actually better than Roy at writing and as good as Roy when it came to singing. Dale began her career as a singer of jazz and pop before she met Roy. Dale even wrote their television theme "Happy Trails." Unfortunately in "Twilight in the Sierras" as in the other westerns she made with Roy she serves as a mere appendage to him. The producers never really let her strut her stuff. There were other cowgirls around at the time such as television's Annie Oakley (Gail Davis) and Jennifer Holt (Tim Holt's sister) who took the lead and were as tough and ornery as their male counterparts. Not so Dale. At times she so bungled the situation that instead of hitting the bad guy she would accidentally hit Roy and knock him out. I remember hearing comments from other kids in the theater when I was about ten years old watching Roy and Dale, "Ain't that just like a woman. Always getting in the way." Unintentionally Dale did a lot to promote the sexism that existed in Hollywood during Roy's heyday, which is sad since she was such a talented and gifted woman and didn't have to be in Roy's shadow, but that's the way she wanted it as a devoted wife and mother.

Roy Rogers has his hands full in this western. Dale's inherited the job as sheriff and she needs lots of help. We've got a rogue mountain lion on the trail and a gang of counterfeiters who've hit upon the ingenious scheme of counterfeiting old style gold notes which went out of circulation in 1933, but are still honored abroad.

A little history is in order. One of the New Deal measures from the beginning of the Roosevelt administration called for America to be taken off the gold standard. Previous to that, our money could be redeemable in gold bullion. Presumably that's what the ultimate object of the counterfeiters.

Anyway, they've captured a ex-convict counterfeiter who's working on the Double R Bar ranch of Roy's in a work release program. In fact in this film, most of Roy's hands are ex-convicts.

The dirty villains actually shoot Trigger in this one, but of course they only wound him. Which sets the stage for Pat Brady's finest hour. He was a lovable, but terribly useless sidekick for Roy and Dale, especially on their television show. But in this one, he's a veterinarian and when called upon, saves Trigger by removing the bullet.

Nothing terribly new here, but fans of the King of the Cowboys and the Queen of the west will like it.