Colorado Sundown

Rex Allen is the classic movie cowboy: stoic, tough, and principled, as he plays a ranch foreman with the same name. He comes along to help his friend Slim Pickens (with the cowboy-turned-actor also playing a character with the same name), who's one of those who have inherited a ranch. Unfortunately, two of the other heirs, Carrie and Dan (June Vincent and Fred Graham) are unscrupulous types who want to protect their timber interests at all costs. Rest assured that Rex will do whatever it takes to expose their plot and punish the guilty.

Directed capably by Western veteran William Witney, "Colorado Sundown" gets right to the point, packing a fair bit of entertainment value into its trim 67 minute run time. We get multiple donnybrooks, chase sequences, and action scenes, as well as the atmospheric sight of characters working hard to prevent a flood. (A large part of the plot has to do with ranchers resenting the timber barons for cutting down all the trees and leaving the land vulnerable.) We also get a couple of songs, and an appreciable healthy amount of humour. (One major running joke has people getting head-butted in the posterior by an ornery goat.) There's also a comedy relief maid named Mattie (Louise Beavers), and an endearing pooch named Manhattan. While this little movie does get serious at times, it never gets too unpleasant.

The cast is thoroughly engaging, with Slim at his upbeat best. (He also plays a secondary role in drag, leading to the biggest guffaw in the entire picture, right near the end.). Mary Ellen Kay is a pretty leading lady as fellow heir Jackie Reynolds. Vincent and Graham are appropriately odious villains, especially him; John Daheim adds to the villainy as their unsavoury relative.

Overall, this is a decent enough way to kill some time if one is a real Western aficionado.

Six out of 10.

This particular effort is not up to some of Rex Allen's best and showed some cost cutting measures. The plot is slow to get going, acting is not up to par for some of the supporting cast in particular Mary Ellen Kay. Slim Pickens is OK but not as good as some former Republic side kicks.that worked with Roy Rogers, Andy Devine and Gordon Jones spring to mind. Some good riding and fight scenes and of course some singing. Location has been used before in some Roy Rogers films such as "North Of The Great Divide" Roy of course by this time had moved to TV. Also the b western films were coming to their end and very shortly Rex would bow out with his last b western before he too turned to TV. Sad to see them go as my generation enjoyed them so much in their heyday. Rex definitely had better entries than this one.

J O'Mahony Ireland

Every time I watch this film I enjoy it! No rustlers! No land grabbers or bank robbers. Instead we saw Interesting an Bad Guy & Gal. Loved Mary Ellen Kay as always and Louise Beavers gave a fine bitter sweet performance. Her scenes with the pooch were funny and touching. But it's always fun to watch a truly great guy, Rex Allen, think his way through the clues and clobber the villains. Koko is just gorgeous enough to be the icing on the cake of this very watchable film. . more than once.

One of director William Witney's later works, the film features much of the above average action scenes Witney is noted for. Rex Allen and Slim Pickens provide their usual journeymen performances. Stuntman/heavy Fred Graham is featured in this film - giving him probably more lines than in any other film he appeared in. Rear screen special effects are used throughout - and they reflect the low budget that was given to action, westerns during the early 50s. Additionally, the script is one of the weaker ones of the Rex Allen films. The story turns on the results of what would be a "very sophisticated medical autopsy" in this day and time "performed by a country doctor in his office" in a matter of hours.

A 67 minute shortie from republic. Slim pickens plays himself... and his mother! With studio regulars louise beavers and chester clute. Lots of comedy in the script. Mary ellen kay and her maid show up just as slim thinks he's inheriting a ranch. He hires on rex allen and his guys to work the ranch. But it turns out three different families have inherited the ranch, and some of them are out to cheat the others. Poor louise beavers keeps getting knocked over. First for comedy, then for drama. It's a story. All tied up in a bow. Directed by william witney. Story by eric taylor. Died young at 55. Musical numbers by the republic rhythm players, since it was made by republic pictures. A typical western. Not bad!