Colorado

G-man Roy Rodgers is sent to Colorado at the height of the Civil War, in order to ferret out a gang of Confederate sympathizers who are robbing Army payrolls, among other nefarious deeds, only to discover that his own wayward brother is a rebel spy in a blue coat, out to destroy the Union's plans for a Texas campaign. After being exposed, he joins up with the local Indians to cause trouble.

Roy hasn't quite hit his stride yet in this early vehicle, but it's a decent enough hour of entertainment for fans of Saturday matinée potboilers, with George "Gabby" Hayes along for the ride, making the most out of his comic-relief character.

Music and romance are a half-hearted afterthought here, with Roy singing only one brief song near the end and Roy's semi-villainous brother getting the most attention from the opposite sex this time around.

Roy Rogers deserved his title "King of the Cowboys." He was a singing cowboy who could really sing and act. Having started his career with the legendary Sons of the Pioneers, Roy (or Leonard Slye back when) could warble with the best of them and could yodel better than anyone around at the time, since the blue yodeler, Jimmie Rodgers, had passed on. The only rivals he had among the singing cowboys were Tex Ritter and, later, Eddie Dean. Roy has time for just one song in this Civil War horse opera, but he makes the most of it by adding a little romance - beautiful Pauline Moore, a former model, plays the woman who loves two brothers, one of them Roy. The other brother is played by the highly underrated, Milburn Stone, now known to all oater fans as Doc from "Gunsmoke." The conflict of good brother vs. bad brother is well handled by the two lead actors and by the script writers.

One of the highlights of "Colorado" is the appearance of Gabby Hayes, who was always at his best when playing the comical sidekick of Roy Rogers. Unlike so many of the cowboy sidekicks in the low-budget westerns who generally appealed to the kids, Gabby's humor could make adults laugh as well. Roy & Dale (Dale had not yet entered the scene when this film was made in 1940) had a TV show on the Nashville Network during 1980's where they would show one of their old movies and then reminisce about it and life in Hollywood in general. On one show Roy told a story about Gabby which may have been apocryphal, but is still funny. Gabby was visiting with Roy and Dale when he looked out the window and saw a small boy sitting on the porch steps crying. Gabby went out to comfort the little tyke. "What's the matter, Buckaroo?" Gabby inquired. The boy looked up at Gabby. "I can't do what the big boys do," he sobbed. When Gabby heard this, he sat down beside the boy and began to cry too.

The plot is an effective one with Roy, a federal agent, attempting to clean up parts of Colorado of secessionists posing as Union defenders. The Confederate sympathizers are led by Roy's own brother. When most of the Hollywood movies of the period, such as "Gone With the Wind," were promoting Southern interests (many of the early directors & producers had Southern roots), it's refreshing to see a Union slant for a change.

Roy Rogers and Saturday matinée cowboy fans should enjoy "Colorado," one of Roy's early films that isn't shown as much on TV as some of his others, but should be. I saw it recently on the Encore Westerns Channel.

Back when I was a lad there was a shortlived television series called The Americans which starred Darryl Hickman and Dick Davalos as the Canfield brothers who went their separate ways when the Civil War broke out. The episodes alternated back and forth with Darryl serving in the Union Army and Dick doing his bit for the Confederacy. Too bad it didn't last longer.

In fact in real life a whole lot of families were torn that way. Kentucky statesman John Crittenden had two sons both of whom became generals in the opposing armies. So the premise of Roy Rogers and Milburn Stone on opposite sides is quite real.

Rogers is on detached duty from the Union Army as a Pinkerton man out in Colorado trying to locate who's behind stirring up a whole variety of trouble that's tying down needed troops in the west. Of course it's his brother Milburn Stone and the pursuit plus Roy's agony about hunting one of his kin is the heart of Colorado.

Rogers only gets one song, sung while he's recuperating from a gunshot wound to leading lady Pauline Moore. He's called on to do a bit more acting than would normally be the case and he handles it well.

Colorado deserved a bigger budget and an A cast for the film. It was as another reviewer pointed out, badly butchered in the editing. Yet it's still worthwhile viewing.

It's Roy before pairing up with Dale, while Trigger is there but without his starring name. Still, we've got the one-and-only Gabby doing his toothless ornery bit, so the legendary crew is almost all present and accounted for. The movie's a good strong story about brothers on opposite sides during the Civil War, which gives Roy a rare chance to show his acting chops. Catch his nicely modulated reaction in the climactic escape scene. At the same time, you may need to overlook the fact that the mountains of Colorado look a lot like the scrublands of greater LA. But who cares—good old Republic Studio was never big on budgets. It's easy to forget that before Milburn Stone merged with Doc Adams of Gunsmoke fame, he had a lengthy B-movie career. Here, he and Roy make believable (and somewhat poignant) brothers. Okay, the movie's little more than a matinée Western that used to entertain us Front Row kids. But it's got a good story, good acting, some scenic action, and a pretty girl. So, what more can a Front Row geezer ask for.

A group of Confederates are posing as Northern loyalists in Colorado where they are sabotaging the help the Union needs in the war. General Grant sends Lt. Jerry Burke to investigate the trouble, but when he arrives he discovers his brother Don, using the alias of Cap. Donald Mason, is one of the ringleaders of this wave of sabotage. The head of the secessionists is Jim Macklin, who is the Indian Agent of the area, who has also been providing the Indians with rifles in hopes of further spoiling the arrival of army troops. Jerry tries to set a trap for Macklin, but is shot by one of the renegade Indians and is nursed back to health by Don, who has grown tired of following Macklin's orders and shoots him in an argument. Fully healthy, Jerry learns of his brothers' actions and goes after him putting his duty above his heart in a battle that only one can leave alive. The film has plenty of action, drama, and suspense, plus a great climax to the film, but the film really weakens by trying to draw out the relationship b/w the brothers and the fact that Macklin is really that great a villain, where the script really could have had him use the brother situation to a better advantage. Moore is given a better role than her other films w/ Rogers really torn between her fiancé (Don) and a blooming love for Jerry. Rating, based on B westerns, 6.