On the Old Spanish Trail

Roy Rogers movies tend to be pretty lightweight, at least the ones I've been able to see within memory.

But Roy Rogers himself is endearing.

I think it was while watching "Dark Command," the John Wayne movie (though Claire Trevor gets first billing, for some reason), that I first realized Roy Rogers was really an excellent actor.

It is likely that he rose to such prominence mostly because of his winning personality and good looks, rather than the movie plots, but in studying Western movie history, I learned that when he was given his chance to be the star of his own series, he set out to be good at his job. For example, he took riding lessons, and in my opinion was one of the best riders, certainly among those who hadn't been riders since childhood (such as John Wayne and Gary Cooper).

And even late in life, he was still a good singer, having been a great one earlier.

This movie gave us Rogers in really good form: He got to do just about everything he was good at, singing, riding, and acting.

I was rather bored in the beginning, but by golly this movie takes off and becomes downright exciting.

Of course, there is a great cast, with the Sons of the Pioneers getting to stand out, and stunts and action by the great Fred Graham.

Each cast member is memorable, and I highly recommend this to everyone. Those who enjoy Hollywood history especially should watch and pay attention to the individuals performing. You'll find it fun and educational.

Roy Rogers deserved his title of "King of the Cowboys." He could sing western songs better than any of the other singing cowboys with the possible exception of Tex Ritter, plus he was one of the best yodelers around, which few people realized. He also fit the image of a singing cowboy from the old west, even though he was actually from Ohio. His horse, Trigger, was called "The Smartest Horse in the Movies," because he probably was. Roy had a winning personality with a certain magnetism that drew kids to him. He had helped start the Sons of the Pioneers, one of the best vocal groups around, with a top notch songwriter from Canada, Bob Nolan. All these things combined to make a Roy Rogers western a real treat. He later found a partner on and off the screen who could be called "The Queen of the West," the talented and lovely Dale Evans.

All of these things, except Dale is not in the film, should have made "On the Old Spanish Trail" a winner. It also had a competent funny man, Andy Divine, to help out in the humor department. The villain was not Roy Barcroft this go around but rather Charles McGraw who would later star in the film noir classic "Narrow Margin." There are also two beautiful leading ladies rather than one, Jane Frazee and Estelita Rodriguez, who plays somewhat of a spitfire as the Gypsy's (Tito Guizar) jealous girlfriend. And the action sequences, especially the stagecoach chase toward the end, are marvelous. Only Republic could do such a splendid job in 1947.

But there is a problem with "On the Old Spanish Trail" and it is a big one. Republic tried to give the fans not only two leading ladies but also two leading men. Roy is purposely overshadowed in several scenes by Tito Guízar who plays sort of a Zorro type character known as the Gypsy. He is also a singer. Tito had a great voice but it was much too refined and proper for singing cowboy ballads. He possessed a fine operatic voice. Tito's acting was also at times on the hammy side. I gather from all this that Republic was apparently grooming Tito for his own Saturday matinée series. If the viewer can overlook the spotlight being thrust on Tito throughout much of the film, then this Roy Rogers outing should be pleasing for his many fans.

I've seen several dozen Roy Rogers films and while I cannot say this is among his very worst films, it sure must come pretty close. It just seldom makes any sense and the acting is occasionally pretty sad. The film begins with Roy learning that the Sons of the Pioneers owe $10,000 and he goes off to find them in some traveling show. Along the way, he meets up with a bandit named Rico (also called 'The Gypsy'--Tito Guizar) and a spunky lady who owns the show (Jane Frazee). It turns out the show hasn't made money because where the show has gone, robberies have 'coincidentally' occurred as well--so no one wants the show in their town. The crimes have been blamed on The Gypsy but there are others who have been pinning the blame on this hot-blooded guy. Can Roy get to the bottom of what's really happening?

The problems with the film are many but let's discuss just a few. The film has even more songs than usual and none of them are particularly good. There was even a moment when they captured The Gypsy and he agreed to come along peacefully IF they first sang him a song!! There also is a girl who is in love with The Gypsy and Estelita Rodriguez is nearly as stereotypically offensive as the Frito Bandito! I am sure Hispanic viewers would cringe every time she comes on the screen and Miss Rodriguez must have cringed every time she had to utter her fiery dialog. And finally, Rogers' behaviors towards The Gypsy make no sense--at some points he wants to capture him and yet, for no discernible reason, he later tells everyone he thinks Rico is innocent! Overall, this film just isn't that enjoyable. While I will be quick to admit that his films are pretty formulaic, they have a certain charm and likability about them. This one, on the other hand, just never was particularly good and the real baddies were just too obvious.

Sad to say that I saw a truncated version of On the Old Spanish Trail, one that must have been edited for television as a previous reviewer mentioned. And it was black and white.

What little I saw convinced me it was a good film with both lots of music and a good plot if you could fill in the blanks.

There was a sequence missing, but alluded to in the film I saw about Andy Devine believing he dreamed he saw the villains trying to break Tito Guizar out of jail. If so it must have been a very funny sequence as only the befuddled Mr. Devine could make it.

Because we had not only Roy Rogers, but Tito Guizar and pinch hitting for Dale, Jane Frazee there was a lot more singing in this than normal. Great for those who like singing cowboys.

I believe Dale might have been on family leave from Republic. She and Roy had only one natural child from their marriage, they adopted two others, and she and Roy both had kids from their previous marriages. (Yes they were married to others, Roy's wife died and Dale was divorced from her first husband). Jane Frazee though is a fine musical performer and fills Dale's cowgirl outfits out just fine. Roy and Dale's child would have been born around the time this and a succeeding film came out.

Best song of the picture is the title tune. Both Rogers and Gene Autry recorded extensively from their films, though Gene had far better success as a recording artist than Roy did.

If you get to see On the Old Spanish Trail, try to see a full length version.

In order to keep The Sons Of The Pioneers' equipment from being repossessed, Roy Rogers, Bob Nolan and the boys attempt to pull off a lucrative joint appearance and claim a reward on a not-very-dangerous outlaw known as The Spanish Gypsy.

A featherweight adventure, there isn't much to recommend this time around. Songs are less than memorable, even Roy's featured song, a duet of "My Adobe Hacienda". Action, suspense and (real) romance are almost non-existent until the finale.

With Dale Evans missing in action, sidekick Andy Devine not given much to do and Trigger spending most of his time grazing, this is recommended only for the most die-hard Rogers fan.