The Carson City Kid

The Carson City Kid (1940)

*** (out of 4)

Roy Rogers plays a man disguising himself as The Carson City Kid who is seeking vengeance on the man responsible for his younger brother's death. He thinks the guilty person is a bar owner (Bob Steele) but along the way he falls for a young woman (Pauline Moore) and tries to help a young man (Noah Beery, Jr.) from the same fate as his own brother. This is yet another good Western from Rogers and company, although no one should confuse this for the work of John Ford. Your tolerance of the "B" Western will certainly factor into how much you enjoy this film but if you're one who can put up with their low-budget charm then this here is a good one. The best thing the film has going for it are the performances of the cast. As you'd expect, Rogers has no problem playing the good guy as that laid back style really comes across and it's just really impossible not to like the guy. I'm really not sure what it is but Rogers is just so calm and collective that you can fall for his charm and get behind his cause. Moore makes for a very good love interest as she's certainly cute enough for the part but her performance is also good enough to make you care for her. The same is true for Beery, Jr. whose character really comes across thanks to his fun performance. Steele always makes for an enjoyable bad guy and that's the case here as well as you really want to hiss at him each time he's in the frame. George 'Gabby' Hayes is also on hand doing his typical great support. The story itself isn't the strongest in the world but it's good enough to keep you interested for a hour. The action is fast, the characters enjoyable and overall this is pleasant enough for a time killer.

The masked Carson City Kid and henchman Laramie keep holding up stages, but take nothing except the mail. So what the heck is going on.

Good to see so many matinée stalwarts in the same movie—Rogers, Steele, Hayes, and Beery Jr. It's a pretty good screenplay too. At first, I didn't know whether Jessup (Steele) and the Kid (Rogers) were good guys or bad. But eventually it sorts out. And was there ever a better jovial character than the underrated Beery Jr. Then too, Hayes gets to do his usual toothless grouch. And now I see why Rogers soon went to Technicolor—how much better to show off that magnificent blond palomino Trigger. Even in lowly b&w, he cuts a striking figure. No Dale Evans here, instead it's the comely Pauline Moore as the eye candy. No, the movie never gets out of familiar San Fernando Valley locations, but is still a better-than-average little programmer with a few mild twists.

Old Roy Rogers western. Only entertaining when you have nothing better to do. The story is simple and the situations are standard. Done a hundred times before. A few good action scenes and a good supporting cast are the only things that make this movie at least a bit watchable. George "Gabby" Hayes and Noah Beery are the only highlights in this B-Movie.

Only for Roy Rogers fans I think.

The Carson City Kid is a "B" western to be sure, however, this one is a cut above the average.

Rogers had not yet evolved into the the yodeling/singing hero of the range. At this stage of his career, the studio was not casting him as himself but as "good" bad guys. In fact in this picture he sings only one song and that is a duet with the heroine.

What sets this picture apart is the excellent supporting cast. First, we have Gabby Hayes playing the Marshal and Noah Beery Jr. as Arizona who is befriended by Roy along the way. Heading up the villains are Bob Steele and the venerable Hal Taliaferro. Even Yakima Canutt turns up in an unbilled bit as the bartender. Steele always made a better villain than hero and in my humble opinion, takes the picture away from Rogers.

To be fair, Roy was just getting started and didn't do that bad of a job. The Carson City Kid remains one of Roy's better early westerns.

Roy Rogers is The Carson City Kid, a notorious outlaw. Actually, no, it's largely he just has the reputation. He's been trailing the man who killed his brother, and has concluded it's saloon owner Bob Steele, who has just hired him as a guard. Marshall Gabby Hayes deputizes him, in case he needs to kill anyone. Meanwhile, Steele has just cheated miner out of the gold he has mined, and has proposed to saloon singer Pauline Moore, who turns him down. So Steele fires Miss and Rogers, leading to the conclusion.

The ending is a bit rushed. That might be the way it was originally released, or perhaps the four minutes cut off the original for the version I saw helped make sense. Miss Moore and Roy each sing one song, Trigger gets only a couple of minutes of screen time, and there's a well-timed horseback chase towards the end, sure to please oater fans. The story is certain more nuanced than usual for B westerns, because Roy Rogers was a rising singing cowboy star, and he and Steele get to do a little more acting than they would have down in Gower Gulch. Director Joe Kane directs this just a mite leetle too fast, as Gabby would say, but it's a decent way to spend just under an hour.