Under Nevada Skies

Love that opening where a snooty Dale's car splashes poor Roy. But race driver Evans will be sorry when she looks for her new hat. It's a fun Rogers entry for this now Front Row geezer, more plot heavy than most. Seems two outfits are looking for a valuable crest stolen from Dale's murdered dad. But it's not just the crest that's valuable, there's something more. But what. And who's that second, mysterious party looking for it, plus why do those dead bodies keep turning up. Roy and Sheriff Gabby sure got their work cut out.

Some good hard riding and fast shooting, especially when Roy's Indian allies circle a big house while shooting inside at the bad guys. No overturned stagecoach or surrounded cavalry unit here. I guess someone in production got a big chuckle out of that switcheroo. However the one flying-fist scene is lamely done even for a matinée. Then too, don't look for scenic shots. Instead, it's familiar greater LA locations. But really, what's with that musical number done up with costumed pirates. After all, it's Sons Of The Pioneers, not Sons Of Blackbeard. Anyway, kick back and enjoy. Dale was never lovelier, Gabby never more engaging, and Roy never more King of the Cowboys. Now where is that dog-gone crest and why's it so valuable. The answer may surprise you.

Roy plays along as usual as the stupid dupe of the real crooks and gabby as usual falls into the hands of the enemy and discloses all he knows at the drop of a hat ... sound familiar ? ... of course it does. its a gaffe they often play ... roy gets it right without dale but its gabby's clockwork that stumbles onto the answer

An above-average Roy Rogers oater, with plenty of songs, intrigue and a more cohesive plot than many. It's a satisfying and fast-moving piece of fluff. Roy is, as usual, likable, and Dale is far sexier than I remember her in the 1950s tv show. If you like B-grade westerns, you can do far worse than taking the time to watch this.

An almost enlightened view toward Native Americans is a large part of the fun. The pow-wow that the local tribe is holding is treated sympathetically, and Roy's relationship with the Native Americans is treated in a matter-of-fact, friendly manner. The Native Americans themselves are never treated in a stereotypical, demeaning manner; when Roy gets the local tribe together to chase the villains, it's such a warped parody of the usual cowboys-n-Injuns scene that I had to laugh!

Under Nevada Skies has radio country singer Roy Rogers helping out acting sheriff Gabby Hayes sort out the reason for the murder of Leland Hodgson after Dale Evans comes to town and gets a job singing at his club. The film plays like a murder mystery in fact several people wind up quite dead because this particular group of villains has a bunch of people all working their own agenda.

The mystery in Under Nevada Skies is not who's doing the killing, but what is the significance of an old family heirloom that Dale Evans among many others is searching for. That only becomes clear in the last couple of minutes of the film. But some Indians led by chief George J. Lewis have a big role here, in fact they aid Roy in a shootout with Douglass Dumbrille and his henchmen. Dumbrille might have gotten away with the heirloom and its secret if he had more trustworthy help.

Roy and Dale are once again really good together and the fact they were soon to be man and wife is the reason. Roy did a whole lot of films with women other than Dale Evans, but it's always special when the two of them are together.

Definitely one of Roy's better Republic westerns.

When an important business leader is targeted and killed by previously unknown gangsters, looking for a mystery item of apparently great importance, Roy Rogers and sheriff Gabby Hayes set about finding the killers and discovering their motives.

Another okay murder-mystery, this has a few good twists and some pretty good action scenes staged by the legendary Yakima Cannut. The atomic-age twist at the end was pretty neat too.

The chemistry between Roy and Dale Evans is on full display here, with Evans looking especially pretty this time around, playing a sophisticated, glamorous singer from back east.

The music by Roy, Dale, Bob Nolan, and The Sons Of The Pioneers is plentiful, with the highlights being the whole gang around the campfire of the local Indian pow-wow, singing the title tune and The Sons Of The Pioneers' big stage number "Ne-Ha-Nee", in full pirate costume.