Bells of Rosarita

Bells of Rosarita (1945)

*** (out of 4)

A rather original Western has Roy Rogers and Republic Pictures in a small town filming a movie when he gets involved with a young woman (Dale Evans) who is about to lose her property due to a bad debt of her dead father. It turns out that the father actually paid the debt but there's just no proof so Roy comes to the rescue with a bunch of other Republic cowboys (Don Berry, Bill Elliott, Bob Livingston, Sunset Carson, Allan Lane). Say what you want about the "B" Westerns but I think even the most jaded people would have to give this film credit for at least being original and fun. The entire set-up of the movie production added a real twist to an already familiar story and it took this movie to a new level. Had the film simply told the story of a pretty girl being cheated out of her land then that's really nothing new. Added to the story of a movie studio and real actors coming to the rescue was a neat little trick and really sealed the deal. I thought there were some funny moments where the film takes shots at movies, cowboy stars and that type of thing and we even get a funny joke aimed at John Wayne. As you'd expect, Rogers fits his role just fine and comes across very charming during the more tender scenes but also a real action star during the fights. He gets to sing several tunes including the title track, the catchy "I'm Going to Build a Big Fence Around Texas," and a highly entertaining sequence when we get "When the Circus Comes to Town." Evans, as usual, makes for a good lead lady and we get some nice support from the one and only Gabby Hayes. The other Republic cowboy stars just make cameos but it's nice seeing everyone together and it certainly adds to the film. BELLS OF ROSARITA isn't a John Ford masterpiece but it's quite fun with a good story, fun songs and some nice action.

Here is a pacey work that employs standard elements to be found in Republic Pictures' contemporary Western films starring Roy Rogers, including the familiar plot artifice of shooting a movie within another, cowboys on horseback chasing motor vehicles bearing villains, musical interludes that interrupt the action at random, et alia, with an additional device utilized herein: "cameos" from cowpoke stars under contract with Republic: Wild Bill Elliott, Robert Livingston, Allan Lane, Don "Red" Barry, and Sunset Carson. Sue Farnum (Dale Evans) has been willed her father's traveling circus but his erstwhile partner Bill Ripley (Grant Withers) intends to take it from her as she cannot locate a receipt confirming that her sire had repaid a loan enabling him to gain title to the big top company, and when she and her employee and friend Gabby Whittaker (Gabby Hayes) accept aid from her dad's pal Slim Phillips (Addison Richards), the three, along with Slim's daughter and troupe entertainer Patty (Adele Mara), entrain to the southern California fictional town of Cabrillo wherein Slim believes he will locate the missing receipt, thereby ending Sue's plight. The Forces of Evil soon kidnap Slim but subsequent events are but ill-explained by a slapdash screenplay that accords space for eight musical numbers (not counting repeats) and while Rogers plainly is tasked, as is his wont, with rescuing a city-bred damsel in distress, he is equally motivated by a primal need to burst into song, a predilection shared with, among others, Evans, Mara, Janis Martin, and the baritone Bob Nolan-led Sons of the Pioneers. This lower case effort benefits from a panoply of Republic casting roster supporting players from whom, despite the film's following the accepted trend of Rogers "B" Westerns, a number of telling performances will be enjoyed from uncredited actors (including dancing girls!); Hayes reprises his wearisome shtick that he displays in each of his movies, even to the phrases, but Evans has a clamp on the acting laurels with a vivacious turn, while able editing supervised by Arthur Roberts makes for a snappily moving although somewhat goofy picture.

Dale Evans and her late father's longtime friend Gabby Hayes come to see Addison Richards at his ten-in-one. Grant Withers is claiming an unpaid debt to seize all the estate's property, but Richards remembers it being paid just before he sold his share of her father's show to him. The receipt would be in the safety deposit box the two of them kept at the bank. So they all head out to California and the family ranch, where the circus is being stored, as well as the orphaned children of circus performers. Republic Pictures is shooting a Roy Rogers western on the ranch, and it's called Bells of Rosarita. When Richards is kidnapped before he can get to the bank box, Roy sees the chance to play a cowboy hero in real life, so he calls up Republic's other western stars -- Bob Nolan being allergic to horses -- and....

The music is good, if not as good as in other Rogers vehicles, but it doesn't matter, with the reality-bending jokes and general good humor. Director Frank MacDonald may not have been Republic's best western director, but he was a pretty comedy one for handling comedy, and there's plenty of that here. With Adele Mara, the Robert Mitchell Boy's Choir, AND Bill Elliott, Alan Lane, Robert Livingston, and Sunset Carson.

In many of Roy Rogers' pictures, he plays characters named Roy or even Roy Rogers. In "Bells of Rosarita", however, he plays a fictional version of the movie cowboy star! Sounds confusing? I'll try to explain:

When the film starts, Gabby (Gabby Hayes...but he's NOT playing Gabby Hayes the actor...just a guy named Gabby) and Sue (Dale Evans) meet up and head west to Hollywood. On the way, they wander into the middle of the filming of a Roy Rogers film and they soon make friends with the gosh-darned nice actor. However, a jerk is trying to steal out the circus from underneath a nice lady. Roy responds by calling the other B-western stars from Republic Studios and they plan on putting on a charity event to help her.

It is a bit strange to see Roy playing an idealized version of the actor, Roy Rogers...and Dale and Gabby NOT playing themselves! Odd...but also interesting and fun...like most Rogers' films. And, while not among his best, it's quite good and great for his fans.

In one scene, Don "Red" Barry is called to the phone during the shooting of one of his films. This is evidently a modern day film since he is dressed in 1940's attire, not western clothes. As he leaves the movie set to answer the phone off stage, look at the actress who has been in the scene with him. Her hair is done up in a fashionable upsweep and she is wearing a long designer gown. This is Helen Talbot who appeared in some of Barry's films. Since she was a contract actress, Republic put her in films just as "set decoration." Although this film was shot about the time of THE CHICAGO KID, in which Barry co-starred with Lynne Roberts, the "movie scene" was not part of the film and was included just to give the flavor of behind-the-scenes at Republic.