Nighttime in Nevada

Twenty years ago, James Nolan and Grant Withers were partners in a gold mine. Grant killed Nolan, and tried his hand at a few other crimes. Currently he's rustling cattle, with lawyer George M. Carlton to act as a front. Before his death, Nolan had set up a trust fund for his daughter, Adele Mara, and left Carlton as the trustee. She's on her way to collect it, and the latest bunch of stolen cattle will just about cover the sum. Withers, however, decides that if she has an accident, it will be all to the good. Good thing sheriff Andy Devine and his deputy, Roy Rogers are on the case.

The copy of the movie I saw had been trimmed by eleven minutes, and peculiarly, it was all the musical numbers. I would have liked to hear Rogers sing "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" and the other three songs with the Sons of the Pioneers, but looking at this movie without them revealed what I had long suspected: they're fine movies without the musical interludes, well written and acted, and stuntman Joe Yrigoyen does a fine leap from a running horse to a moving truck. Sometimes we forget that these Republic westerns, budgeted for the Saturday morning matinee that they were, were actually put together very well, particularly when you had William Witney directing and Jack Marta handling the camera.

One of the nastiest villains that Roy Rogers ever tangled with was played by Grant Withers in Night Time In Nevada. He kills three of his partners during the course of this film.

The first one was his partner in a mine played by Jim Nolan and told to another partner in flashback. George M. Carleton is your basic shyster attorney and they plot to do Nolan's now grown daughter Adele Mara out of a trust fund that Nolan set up for her and which lawyer Carleton has been bilking over the years.

Another murder, that of beloved train engineer Joseph Crehan, brings Roy Rogers, Andy Devine and the Sons Of The Pioneers into the mix. With Mara and girlfriend Elaine Edwards now arrived the bad guys are of course brought to justice.

Other than the classic Big Rock Candy Mountain there are no really good songs in this Roy Rogers film. But that's made up for in the action which comes fast and furious. The climax is well staged with Roy holding off the bad guys on a moving train.

Roy's Saturday matinée kid crowd definitely loved this one.

Roy, Trigger & Andy Devine are featured in this 1940's shoot-em-up that involves mining company rip-offs, double-dealing and the obligatory cowboy crooning. The plot and action are pretty standard, and the music is noteworthy -- especially "Rock Candy Mountain".

The King of the Cowboys was in fine form in this one, with Andy Devine as one of his better sidekicks (but not as good as Gabby !).The stunts in this film were well done and superior to most in other stars films. I enjoyed this one and felt that the pacing and casting were fairly good. Most of Roger's films from this period seem interchangeable , but fans of the genre should enjoy this ride down the Happy Trails..........

Predictable but competent western from the usual suspects. I purchased this one on sale from TCM.Com. IMDb has it listed as "color", but the DVD version is quite black & white, so i'll add that. When Joan Andrews inherits a chunk of money from her prospector father, she goes out west to claim it, and runs into roadblocks and crooks along the way. The police (Andy Devine and Roy Rogers) set out to help her and get the crooks behind bars. Not a bad story. Adele Mara and Marie Harmon play the city slickers who go west, and play the helpless gals out of their element. A couple songs by the "Pioneers", of course. Did you also catch Hank Patterson as one of the tramps down by the tracks, with a speaking part? This was about 20 years before Petticoat Junction and Green Acres, where he played Mr. Ziffel. Directed by William Whitney, king of the westerns. Good way to spend 66 minutes.

A ruthless gold miner blows his partner, only to discover that the mine he killed for is useless. He then squanders the trust-fund meant for the dead man's daughter and attempts to replace the funds by stealing Roy Roger's cattle.

Coming near the end of Roy's career as a Saturday matinée star (and TV re-launch), Night Time In Nevada is more violent and a bit more hard-boiled than previous films. The opening scene is a first-person murder confession, the subsequent killing of the train conductor pretty cold-blooded, and the climax full of people getting shot!

Villain Grant Withers is one really mean hombre! Walking and talking like a B-movie Broderick Crawford, he gives a great, nasty performance.

Comedic elements are down-played and Dale Evans nowhere to be found. In the edited version, Roy nor Bob Nolan and The Sons Of The Pioneers get a chance to sing! All of this, along with the edited version being black and white instead of color, contribute to the somewhat darker tone of the film.

Recommended.