Cavaleiro do Colorado

A quickie with an early concern for the conservation of trees dashed of by Tararantino's idol William Witney long ago when Slim Pickens (whose actual first name according to this film was 'Joshua') was still actually slim; this particular outing benefits from a coolly murderous villainess in the statuesque form of June Vincent with becoming grey streaks in her hair.

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.

Siblings Carrie and Daniel Hurley are trying to start up their timber mill by trying to have all the trees in the valley chopped despite the fact the forest rangers saying it will hurt the ranchers by exposing the land to erosion and flash floods. They also inherit a ranch with timber that can be cut down, but find themselves coheirs with Jacqueline Reynolds, arriving from the east, and Slim Pickens, coming from Texas with his ranch foreman Rex Allen. The Hurleys try to buy out Jacqueline and Slim's portions of the ranch claiming that the trees are infected with a blight and must be cut down, which will ruin the property, but Rex and Mattie, Jacqueline's maid, go stop them from signing the document. The Hurley's next plan is to have their younger brother, Dusty (a black sheep even for this family) impersonate a forestry official (using the documents of an official poisoned by the Hurleys) to order the trees cut down. Rex writes the forestry department for advice on the matter, and his letter is stolen by Dusty, who takes it back to Carrie, who poisons him to prevent him from telling Rex of their scheme. The Hurleys accuse Rex of Dusty's murder, but he is called to prevent rains from flooding the valley. Excellent entry in the Rex Allen series with plenty of action and great direction from director Witney. The script could have used some work in the beginning since the Hurley's motives at the beginning (before they inherit the ranch) aren't clearly explained. The film has a bunch of great fights including Rex vs. Graham (Daniel Hurley) started by Rex throwing a punch while riding past him on Koko. Pickens and Beavers (Mattie) both give good comic relief performances here. An all around winner. Rating, based on B westerns, 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.

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.