The Yellow Rose of Texas

There are two broad categories of Roy Rogers westerns--those where there is a story punctuated by songs and those which are nothing but a long series of songs punctuated, occasionally, by plot. "The Yellow Rose of Texas" falls into that latter category. The film has TONS of songs and the plot itself is pretty limp--making it one of the weaker Rogers films.

The Yellow Rose from the title is actually a showboat. And, since showboats have lots of singing and dancing, that's exactly what you get a lot of during the movie. Now the Sons of the Pioneers were in better form than usual--but I am sure kids at the time squirmed in their seats when in addition, Roy, Dale and practically everyone began singing through the course of the film! As for the plot (what little there is of it), Roy is (once again) playing an undercover agent. He's insinuated himself on the boat to follow Dale. After all, her father is assumed to have been involved with a robbery and he's missing--and maybe by following her he'll locate the dad. Now here's where it gets pretty limp--when Roy finally finds the guy, he immediately assumes he's innocent...because Dale tells him! And the rest of the film is devoted to Roy the social worker to prove this and help everyone to live happily ever after. A bit typical of his plots--but pretty weak as well.

Overall, if you are a Roy Rogers fan, by all means watch it. Others, however, might be better served trying some of his other films first.

This Roy Rogers western features Dale Evans and Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers. Roy is an insurance investigator. The musical numbers are very good with some very catchy songs. Roy and Dale do several together and Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers do "Timber Trail" and "Song of the Rover" which are excellent. We love the musical ending which is almost like a musical Broadway Show. We also love the song that Dale sings "Moonlight on the River". Very pleasant and entertaining movie.

Roy Rogers (as Roy) is an insurance investigator who goes undercover to solve a robbery; among the suspects is Dale Evans (as Betty Weston)'s father Harry Shannon (as Sam Weston), who has just broken jail. Mr. Rogers gets a job singing on Ms. Evans' show boat "Yellow Rose of Texas". Later, Bob Nolan and the "Sons of the Pioneers" are hired, too. Evans doesn't think her dear father Harry Shannon is guilty. Do you?

Mr. Nolan and the Sons are in fine voice, with the first rendition of "Timber!" an obvious highlight. The plot really doesn't make much sense, by Rogers seems to figure it out (so you won't have to); it is resolved with the opening of a box on the "Show Boat". Watch as a fake horse almost knocks Dale Evans over when she enters to sing the final version of the title song!

*** The Yellow Rose of Texas (1944) Joseph Kane ~ Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Harry Shannon

This is a pretty good Roy Rogers Western, with the standard features plus a plot that is a bit less routine than usual. Roy is an investigator for an insurance company, sent to investigate the robbery of a payroll shipment five years earlier. What makes it interesting is that this time neither Roy nor the audience knows who the criminal is - there are several suspects, and Roy has to play detective and use deduction, rather than just chasing the bad guys around. It's not exactly an Agatha Christie-quality mystery, but it's not bad either. There are also the usual songs plus some action scenes. Most fans of Rogers should find this one worth watching.

Believe it or not Trigger gets his share of appearance in The Yellow Rose Of Texas even though a great deal of the film is on a showboat. Roy Rogers is a performer on the boat which I assume is working either the Red or the Sabine Rivers which do border Texas. George Cleveland is the captain and he's hired both Roy and Dale Evans for his show.

But Dale is the daughter of Harry Shannon who escaped jail after serving three years on a robbery charge. He was accused of holding up an express company shipment and he's busted out to prove his innocence. Roy is working undercover for the insurance company and his job was to stay close to Dale should Shannon try to contact her.

Of course he does and of course Roy gets his man. But Shannon convinces him of his innocence and the fact Roy's interested in Dale no doubt has a lot to do with it. Roy does start his own investigation and in due course the mystery is solved.

Unfortunately I saw an abbreviated version for television and while the plot seemed pretty intact, I'm betting some musical numbers were cut from the tape I saw. If you remember Mitch Miller's version of The Yellow Rose Of Texas from the Fifties, the melody is somewhat different, still Roy and Dale do well by the song.

The Yellow Rose Of Texas as a song will live a lot longer than this film will. Still it's not a bad B western and the Saturday afternoon kids loved it back in the day.