The Gay Ranchero

Opinions differ on this one, perhaps due, in part, to different versions being made available.

The film was originally shot in Trucolor with a running time of 72 minutes and, for those watching the shorter (54 minutes) black and white version, opinions of the movie overall might be influenced by what was actually edited out. I say this having just watched the full length movie - albeit not in colour - as part of Passport Video's Ultimate Roy Rogers Collection: a very nice print it is too! I found this to be a superior series entry. All of the B western boxes are ticked in such a way that the Republic quality again shines through. They were simply the best in the action stakes and The Gay Ranchero is well up to their usual high standard.

There are fist fights, shoot outs, chases and stunts a-plenty and Trigger gets to kick a door down in helping Roy to round up the bad guys. Andy Devine provides the anticipated level of cornball humour, Rodriguez dances and there are songs a plenty. Roy sings with and without Jane Frazee, Guizar and Rodriguez warble in both English and Spanish and the ever reliable Sons of the Pioneers chip in with a couple of ditties of their own. I appreciate that this lot might be a bit much for some tastes but have to say I loved it! The plot, as some other users have said, is "loose" but it is unusual and somewhat dark and, therefore, more interesting than it otherwise would be.

One slightly sour note: attitudes to bullfighting were a whole lot different in 1948 and pretty Estelita's obvious delight in talking about bulls being killed makes somewhat uncomfortable listening in 2015. Having said that, I suppose that nearly everything in B Western Land reflects a wholly different way of life and, generally speaking, we fans wouldn't have it any other way.

This 1948 cowboy flick finds the King of the Cowboys helping to foil a plot to sabotage airline equipment and plunder the contents. Roy is a lawman that gets to the bottom of the hooligans shenanigans .

The great Andy Devine is back in this one as "Cookie" and so are the Sons of the Pioneers. The plot, casting and action here are good and the songs are adequate. Gabby Hayes & Dale Evans are sorely missed.

This was a pretty good Rogers film. The story moves at a good pace and the airplane angle was nicely incorporated. Jane Frazee was not the best choice for a female lead, but is pleasant nonetheless.

An enjoyable, but standard singin' cowboy flick.

Bandits find a way to force airplanes down in uninhabited areas, in order to steal their cargo. Sheriff Roy Rogers rides out to the landing sites to investigate and runs afoul of the villains.

Tito Guizar is good as the title character, an ex-bullfighter who comes to the United States to wrangle his beautiful runaway fiancé, but almost everything else about this loosely-plotted Roy Rogers vehicle is pretty pedestrian, with a few confusing moments and not nearly enough action until near the end.

However, Bob Nolan and The Sons Of The Pioneers sing a few decent songs, Roy's still likable, and Estelita Rodriguez, as Guizar's fiancé is awfully attractive.

George Meeker wants to take over the small resort where Roy Rogers is the sheriff. Good luck on that. His techniques include robbing the gold shipments that are flown out from Jane Frazee's airport. Meanwhile, bullfighter Tito Guízar wants to marry Estelita Rodriguez, but she insists he give up the ring before she accepts her. Andy Devine wants to become a toreador, but has trouble with a monkey. Or maybe it's the other way around.

It's a winning combination of thrills, comedy, and songs, with Guízar getting a couple of songs, Miss Frazee also, and the Sons of the Pioneers doing their usual competent backing work. Rogers' series continues its easy acceptance of Mexicans, who can be quite handy in a pinch, and even Miss Frazee gets to shoot the gun out of a bad guy's hand, while the monkey is handy with a stick of dynamite.

This is an odd Roy Rogers film, but he did do a lot of strange films that were an odd amalgam of the old and the new. In this case, our cowboy hero is involved with an airport and hijacked airplanes--a very, very odd venue for a western hero. And, yes, it's true, there were no airplanes in the old west. However, Roy Rogers and Gene Autry BOTH made a ton of anachronistic films--with cowboys AND telephones AND pickup trucks and the like. It's odd. So why are the planes being sabotaged? Tune in and see in this rather ordinary (aside from the locale) Rogers film. About the only standout thing is the nice non-stereotypical Hispanic leading man--something unusual for the time.