Bells of Coronado

There is so much absurdity to this movie it is pointless to describe it. You can read some of the reviews by others to get a sense of it. That said, it does have plenty of action scenes, hard riding and hard fighting. But the logic of having a dam and power company out in without even a truck or a paved road stretches your credibility. And how about a uranium mine using mule-drawn buckboard wagons to haul out their ore? In the early scenes, Dale Evans' character is downright obnoxious, but she straightens out later. Watch this to see Roy Rogers in his prime but don't expect much from the plot.

The Cold War and the quest for uranium ore comes into the plot of this Roy Rogers western, The Bells Of Coronado. Roy plays an insurance investigator who is assigned by John Hamilton to investigate the theft of unrefined uranium ore and incidentally the death of the owner of a mine from where it was stolen.

Dale Evans co-stars and it would surprise many to learn that Dale was only the leading lady in about a quarter of Roy's films. The films that she did co-star with Roy are elevated an extra notch because of the obvious chemistry between the two.

Roy is undercover in this one working at the power company that operates nearby the uranium mine. The mine is owned by Grant Withers who is also Dale's uncle in this film. The usual kittenish banter between Roy and Dale is present which always makes their films interesting.

Clifton Young who died much too young plays his usual murderous villain. Film fans will remember him best from the Humphrey Bogart - Lauren Bacall feature Dark Passage. Young is always good in any film he does.

Why Republic was so shy in not coming out and mentioning the Russians is beyond me. They are referred to only as 'the other side'. And the chief villain is not one you would suspect, especially coming from a B western.

The Bells Of Coronado will have enough singing, riding, and gunplay to satisfy any aged front row kid from the time this was in theaters and younger fans as well.

"Bells of Coronado" is a rarity--a full-color Roy Rogers film. This is probably the case because it's one of Roy's later movies--and his popularity was at its peak and color film a little less costly than it had been in the 1940s. However, aside from the use of color and an absence of the usual sidekicks like Gabby Hayes, Andy Devine or Smiley Burnett (in this case, it's a lesser-known and less goofy Pat Brady), the film is very much like a typical Roy Rogers 'western'. In other words, aside from Roy and the rest riding about on horses out west, the film really is NOT a western but a modern ersatz cowboy film. Think about it--how many westerns have plots about stolen uranium and feature bad guys trying to escape by airplane?!

So is everything exactly like his other films? Well, close, but not exactly. Dale appears as usual but she sports brown hair and isn't annoying or stupid (a role they usually had her play). Also, unlike most Rogers films in the public domain, this version has not been trimmed down for a one-hour TV slot and its running time is about 67 minutes.

Overall, the film is very ordinary for a Rogers film, though with a little less music and a feeling that you've really seen this sort of thing several times before--which is true if you've seen many Roy Rogers films. It's entertaining but certainly won't tax your brain or leave a lasting impression. Thoroughly adequate with little to distinguish it one way or the other.

I watched BELLS OF CORONADO (1950) on Friday, November 5 in commemoration of what would have been Roy Rogers' 99th birthday. I have it in a legit edition on DVD (released in 2004 by LionsGate Home Entertainment and Republic Pictures). It's a beautiful print and the transfer is far superior to most of the VHS copies I have of Roy's Trucolor westerns. The film was beautifully photographed by John MacBurnie and shot mostly on location. I've now seen eight of Roy's Trucolor westerns and have reviewed four on IMDb, the others being TRAIL OF ROBIN HOOD, NORTH OF THE GREAT DIVIDE, and UNDER California STARS. Trucolor was a two-color film process developed exclusively for Republic Pictures and was used from 1946-1957.

BELLS has got an odd plot about a power company and a uranium mine in the remote town of Coronado. When a shipment of uranium ore has gone missing and the mine owner found unconscious, only to subsequently die in the doctor's office, the insurance company sends Roy Rogers to investigate by going undercover. Given how these films usually cast local businessmen as the villains, we can't be blamed for quickly assuming that gruff power company owner Bennett (Grant Withers) has got to be the culprit. However, in a big twist, the identity of the actual mastermind, who plans to sell the ore to a foreign power, comes as quite a shock. Can no one be trusted in Republic Pictures' baroque alternate western universe?

Dale Evans plays Bennett's ditzy secretary, quite a far cry from her proactive roles in other Roy westerns (see SUSANNA PASS, for instance). At one point, she shows an irrational fear of nice, gentle Roy and provokes a senseless fistfight between him and three company men. It's so completely out of character for Dale's usual screen persona. Other Roy Rogers regulars in the cast are Pat Brady and the singing group, Foy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage, who play linemen for the power company. Despite their presence, there are far fewer songs than usual here. Clifton Young, the chief thug in Roy's TRAIL OF ROBIN HOOD the same year, where he stole Christmas trees of all things, plays Coronado's General Store proprietor, who works after hours carrying out the thefts of uranium ore for the traitor selling it to the enemy. Which is quite baffling given the high odds of someone recognizing him.

As usual in these later Roy westerns, the setting is contemporary, but everyone wears cowboy clothes, rides horses and carries a gun belt, even when working on the electric towers. At one point, Roy and his new ally, an undercover federal agent, ride out on horseback, armed only with six-guns, to try and stop a plane which has landed to pick up the ore from the gang. They shoot at the gang from the rocks while waiting for Dale, Pat and the "posse" on horseback to show up when what's really needed is a full team of FBI agents with fast sedans, automatic weapons, and helicopters.

There are plenty of great bits of action and stunt work and the location shooting is as good as anything I've seen in these films. I just wish the plot weren't so far-fetched. I also wish Republic had made some color westerns with Roy in a traditional western period setting. Why couldn't he have done something along the lines of what Randolph Scott was doing at the time over at Warner Bros. or Audie Murphy at Universal? Heck, even Republic was making some fine period westerns in Trucolor at the time, but they usually put 2nd-tier stars like Bill Elliott (HELLFIRE, BRIMSTONE) or Forrest Tucker (ROCK ISLAND TRAIL, JUBILEE TRAIL) in them. Would it have hurt to try out Roy in one of them?

Solid Rogers film, speedy and fun. The advent of television eliminated these formulaic, but competent, oaters. A shame they can't be seen on the big screen today. Vivid Trucolor helps greatly.