Utah

"Utah" is a light Roy Rogers Western with the whole gang - Dale Evans, Gabby Hayes, and of course Trigger. Except for some nice scenery, it is undistinguished, but it is a good way to pass a pleasant hour.

The picture begins with Dale as a member of a singing and dancing troupe in Chicago, whose act might have to disband because of lack of backing. Dale remembers that her grandfather left her a ranch in Utah - she has never seen the ranch, but decides that selling it might be a good way of raising money to keep the show afloat. So she heads west, taking the women in her show along for the ride. It turns out that the Bar-X Ranch is run by Roy and Gabby, who do not want to see it sold, since they know a big land speculator who has been just waiting to grab the Bar-X and replace the cattle with sheep.

From there, events get pretty far-fetched, but entertaining. There are of course some cowboy songs, and there is a lot of cornball humor centering on the incongruity of a group of women from the city having to associate with a group of cowboys. Some of the humor is lame and dated, but the good-natured feel of the movie keeps it from becoming too annoying.

One less routine aspect of "Utah" is the scenery - there are a lot of good background shots (for example, during the horse chase scenes) that remind us of Utah's rugged grandeur.

"Utah" is good light entertainment for any fan of old Westerns.

In 1945, Roy Rogers had become Republic's King of the Cowboys. His films were shown not only across the country, but in allied countries which were depending on US films for entertainment. In major cities, like New York, Roy's films got booking dates in first run theaters. Studio president Herbert Yates was in New York City when he saw the Broadway production of "Oklahoma." Taking note of the musical western elements, he decided that the Rogers' pictures would all feature a musical production number at the end. This is why the entire cast, including Gabby Hayes and a flock of sheep, perform on stage before a group of townspeople. This would be the agenda until 1946 when William Witney, Republic's serial director, took over the helm. It was his idea to "toughen up" the King of the Cowboys and add some realistic and bruising fight scenes.

It's hard for me to do an accurate appraisal of this film, as the version I downloaded from archive.org was missing 24 minutes--that's about a third of the movie! Why? Because back in the 1950s, some overzealous knuckle-heads decided to cram the Roy Rogers films into a TV time slot--trimming them all down to about 53 minutes. In a few cases, where the original film was about an hour long, the difference between the two versions is minimal but here the film is simply hacked apart. So keep this in mind when you read this. However, I can assume that the film was not all that great based on what I saw.

The film begins with Dale Evans being told that her show in Chicago is being shut down, as the financial backers have pulled out of the show. However, she owns a ranch out west and takes her friends with her to inspect and possibly sell it. Now here something VERY uncharacteristic occurs--Roy Rogers decides to lie! Instead of taking them to the beautiful ranch, he pretends that Gabby's rundown place is hers. She naturally is disappointed. However, the joke ends up on both of them when she sells the ranch--not realizing it's much bigger and more valuable. The buyer sure knows and enjoys cheating her. But Roy isn't going to let this be the end of it and he goes about trying to right a wrong.

How is the film overall? Well, it suffers not only from having Roy play a bit of a jerk but once again the usual female cliché is present--the leading lady HATES Roy with no provocation and seems grouchy. Now later in the film, Dale's character had lots of reason to hate him but why did the writers almost always do this with Dale and Roy? The only saving grace is Gabby Hayes--who is even grouchier and funnier than usual. This misogynist says such wonderful lines about women as "....next to sheep, they're the dumbest critters on Earth!". Overall, I'd give this film a 3--perhaps more in the extended version. But it does suffer because Roy, who always played a sweet person, is a bit of a jerk in this one--and spends much of the film trying to undo all the harm he caused.

By the way, although the film is called "Utah", it sure doesn't look like it! Like other Rogers films, it was made in California.

It all begins on a stage in Chicago, where Dale Evans is rehearsing a song for a forthcoming musical. Unfortunately, the show's backers have pulled out, so the production is shut down. Miss Evans, however, owns a ranch in Utah she has never seen, so she packs up the chorines and takes them out there. She intends to sell the ranch for enough money to produce the show, and if she can't, she figures they can eat until the next season begins. Her foreman, Roy Rogers, doesn't want her to sell the well maintained and profitable ranch. After some ill-natured sparring, he hits on the idea of taking her to Gabby Hayes' run-down spread. Unfortunately for his plans, she sells her ranch to some bad guys for a fraction of of its value.

This one doesn't rate as high as most of the Roy Rogers-Dale Evans movies, and I can see why. The musical numbers run the gamut from the usual western numbers by the Sons of the Pioneers -- who play Miss Evans' cow hands -- to southern numbers, to blues. I thought it was a well-produced movie, with some nice twists in the plot, and lots of good humor. See if you can spot Richard Farnsworth among the stunt men.

Another Roy Rogers movie when Republic Studios had his movies loaded with songs and music which I love.You must get the uncut version of this movie to really appreciate it. Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers sing some very good songs along with Roy. Gabby Hayes has some good lines when fighting with the women who he wishes would leave the west and go back to Chicago. There is an excellent musical stage ending where they all sing the title song and several others. The one scene where Roy, Dale and the Pioneers sing Utah against a backdrop of scenes from that beautiful state is a highlight of this movie. Again watch the uncut version.