Typically well made Roy Rogers (and Trigger!) Western, one of a handful with Jane Frazee in for Dale Evans as romantic interest*, with regular director William Witney smoothly shifting gears between light-hearted banter; some darn good songs; process-free horseback thrill rides; and unusually dark dramatic corners. In this one, Roy’s got a murder to solve after a gang of poachers shoot the operator of a wildlife rescue preserve who was about to arrest them. Stephanie Bachelor is scary & strikingly attractive as a cold-blooded gang leader who takes sick pleasure in killing. It gives her flirtatious behavior with Roy a perverse edge rarely seen in formulaic, kid-friendly pics. Generally, these Republic Westerns were hacked down by a couple of reels to fit television time slots; worse, printed in subfusc b&w prints with the original negatives left to rot. A few made later in TruColor’s improved full-range process are now out on Kino-Lorber and a treat to look at. Whereas this one, made in the earlier 2-color bi-pack system (heavy on orange & turquoise) is lucky to survive even in compromised fashioned via a 16mm archival print. The picture’s not as sharp as it should be, but color values look about right, and all the dropped footage (mostly songs?) now back in place.
DOUBLE-BILL: *By the time Roy did TWILIGHT IN THE SIERRAS/’50, Dale Evans was back in her usual spot and TruColor had switched to a 3-color system. (Not that it looks much better than old TruColor in copies currently available!) To see some properly restored TruColor, again in the later 3-color system, Kino Lorber’s out with SUNSET IN THE WEST and TRIGGER JR./’50.
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