Colorado Sundown

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.

After receiving a letter stating that he has inherited a ranch in Colorado a cowboy named "Joshua 'Slim' Pickens" (Slim Pickens) rides up from Texas with his good friend "Rex Allen" (Rex Allen) to claim it. When he gets there, however, he discovers that he has only been bequeathed one-third of the ranch and that two other people have also received an equal share. The first is an attractive young woman by the name of "Jackie Reynolds" (Mary Ellen Kay) who has a nice personality and is easy to get along with. The second person "Carrie Hurley" (June Vincent) is an extremely conniving woman who will do anything necessary to gain possession of the other two portions of the estate to further her financial interests-and she has two brothers who are equally vicious. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a solid, old-fashioned Western which featured singing cowboys and a little humor along the way as well. Admittedly, it was clearly a product of its time and viewers may not understand or appreciate a grade-B film of this sort. Be that as it may, I liked it for the most part and for that reason have rated it accordingly. Average.

The last and certainly one of the better singing cowboys, Rex Allen, stars here in this fast-moving Republic "B" western, accompanying his pal Slim Pickens, in their initial matchup, to be on hand at Slim's home in Colorado where he expects to benefit from the bequest of the estate of a deceased relative, Zeke Reynolds, consisting of substantial timber holdings. To Slim's surprise, there are other claimants who think they will be heirs to the estate: Jacqueline Reynolds (Mary Ellen Kay), a distant cousin, and a brother/sister duo, Dan and Carrie Hurley (Fred Graham/June Vincent), owners of the Hurley Lumber Mill, whose business practices include overharvesting of trees, bringing about flash flooding while destroying cattle grazing land in Pine Valley. The Hurleys are guilty of crimes more serious than unsavoury commercial methods, and Rex and his employees, including Slim and the vocalising "Republic Rhythm Riders", find themselves in a range war between timbermen and ranchers who are avidly seeking to catch the Hurleys in the midst of committing their misdeeds. Typical of Republic productions in this genre, COLORADO SUNDOWN provides a great deal of furious fight footage, a runaway stagecoach corralled by trick riding and several musical numbers which appear at incongruous moments, including the traditional folk song "Down by the Riverside" (during a flood!) with performances from Allen, Kay, Pickens and the "Rhythm Boys". Director William Witney downcranks his camera during fight scenes, as is his wont, for by marginally slowing filming speed, action appears to be extraordinarily violent, and with the physically capable Allen and veteran stunt coordinator Graham on hand, these passages leave an indelible impression during the course of this interesting low-budget work.

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.

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.