Ridin' Down the Canyon

If you've seen many Roy Rogers films, you probably noticed that many of them involve kids. This was an image Republic Pictures cultivated--and over the years, his films became more and more kids-oriented. For me, this is a problem. His earlier films seemed less schmaltzy and I really didn't like the cute kids and schmaltzy plots (such as one where he stops bad guys from stealing Christmas trees!). However, "Ridin' Down the Canyon" managed to have a very kids-oriented plot but it still worked very well. I think one of the big reason was that the music was much better than usual--with Roy's Sons of the Pioneers at their very best.

The plot involves a boy, Bobby, and his sister. Their horses keep getting rustled (a VERY common plot in the Rogers films) and the boy sneaks off to find Roy because he KNOWS Roy can help him. However, in an odd case where art and real life converge, in this one Roy is a movie and radio star and because it's NOT the old west, he's not sure what he and his band can do. Will Roy just give up on the kid or will he somehow find a way to restore the child's faith in the wonderfulness of the Rogers mystique? So, the film has great music, great support from Gabby Hayes and it's fun. So, even with the cutesy kid, it's still among the better films of the genre.

When one of his young fans, Bobby Blake and his sister Alice's horses are stolen, (Buzz Henry and Linda Hayes) Roy and the Son's of the Pioneers become entangled in a horse rustling operation. While on his way to a singing engagement at the area dude ranch, The Lariat Lodge, Roy encounters young Blake and self-proclaimed "rustler catcher" Gabby Whitaker (Gabby Hayes) tussling with horse thieves. Roy becomes suspicious when later that evening he finds local rancher Burt Wooster (James Seay) at the scene of the rustling. Roy then sets out to find if Wooster might be involved and how this ties to the Lariat Lodge and it's owner Gus Jordan and his hostess Barbara Joyce (Addison Richards and Lorna Gray).

This one is a treat for any Roy Roger's fan, there's action to keep the story moving along with thoughtfully placed songs including the title track "Ridin' Down the Canyon" and "Blue Prairie" from Roy and the Son's of the Pioneers. Comedic relief is furnished via Pat Brady and Gabby Hayes with a running gag where each is told the other one is deaf. It's as much what this movie doesn't have as what it does have. No lavish costumed musical sets with orchestras and no action stopping slapstick comedy. If you want to know why Gabby Hayes is considered the iconic western sidekick watch this movie. A lot of the credit has to go to the dialog and screenplay by Republic Studios veteran Albert DeMond and Norman Houston. The script seems like it could have been custom written for Gabby who is almost a second lead in this one giving Roy the opportunity to what he does best, just be Roy.

After watching "Ridin Down the Canyon" it's hard to figure out why Republic Studios decided to tamper with such a successful format. After this movie and for the next several years Roy's simple, straight-forward westerns ever increasingly became theatrical musicals that bore less and less resemblance to his earlier releases. This movie is a perfect example of if ain't broke don't fix it.

Top flight Roy Rogers B-western 9 out of 10 *

Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers are performing a one-night stand a dude ranch. While there, they get involved with tracking down some rustlers who are stealing horses intended for restoring the herds of mustangs, Linda Hayes, and her kid brother, Buzz Henry, all under the direction of Joseph Kane.

It's a smooth and standard movie for the King of the Cowboys, with frequent pauses for songs, and some fine location shooting around Kernville by cinematographer Jack Marta. Marta is very adept at the group shots, managing to make Gabby Hayes look dignified in the background. Marta never got out of the Bs, and spent much of his later career shooting television, ending with a spate of credits on Hawaii 5-0. He died in 1991 at the age of 88.

Ridin' Down The Canyon strikes a proper balance in a Roy Rogers western with singing as well as action. In this film Roy and the Sons of the Pioneers are entertainers as well as cowboys and have signed for a gig at the Lariat Lodge owned by Addison Richards and hosted by Lorna Gray. But that's only a blind because Richards makes his real money in horse rustling. Which puts him in opposition to Forrest Taylor who is leading a reclamation project to save the wild horses and preserve them in their natural habitat. If you remember The Misfits you know what some view the wild horse as good for.

Young Buzz Henry is a big fan of Roy on the radio and after his own horse named Trigger Jr. is rustled by these varmints and he runs into Roy he asks for help. Roy if nothing else is obliging to his fans.

Music for Ridin' Down The Canyon is culled from several sources. Roy sings My Little Buckaroo which was introduced by Dick Foran over at Warner Brothers and Herbert J. Yates must have plunked down some big cash to get it for this film. The old Twenties classic In A Little Spanish Town is sung nicely by Roy. And the title song is also sung well and also was a nice record for Bing Crosby.

Gabby Hayes who says he's a professional rustler catcher has some nice moments with future Rogers sidekick Pat Brady who is starting to work his way up from The Sons Of The Pioneers as Roy himself had. Brady was a very funny fellow both in film and in the Roy Rogers television show.

Nothing like having a child shown that his hero is all he thinks he is. Those are the happiest endings of all for the front row Saturday matinée kids yesterday and today. Which is another reason why Ridin' Down The Canyon still holds up well.