ROY ROGERS IN SUNSET IN THE WEST (1950)

Back in the day there was no cussing, no bad manners, and no horse play either. Heck, the only thing you were allowed to do was watch a 67 minute movie made in 1950. It was this one, you f*cking idiot. So go on. Watch it. It was Directed by William Witney, and Starred Roy Rogers, Trigger, Will Wright, with Penny Edwards.


Sunset in the West

THE STORY:

Can you hear them outside calling your name, Sheriff Osborne (Will Wright)? Can you hear how the locals are moaning about you for not being able to catch whoever's robbing their trains? Well, trust me, old timer. I'm here to lend you a hand. Me. You're former deputy, Roy Rogers (Roy Rogers). And with me by your side I'm certain we'll get these damn varmints sooner or later.

To start off with I think it would be a good idea if I visited the local salon, and questioned those two bad-guys to see if they know anything about this crime. And if either of them try to get away from me, hey, don't worry, I'll just jump on my horse Trigger and throw them both in the slammer before they can even think about pistol whipping your dog.

THUNK! WOOOFFFF!

OK. So maybe not that last part.

Still. With at least one of them in jail I bet my bottom dollar we'll be able to figure out who's behind this rash of robberies someday soon. But then again, that's most probably why what next transpires all kicks off when I get kidnapped by a crook. As my gal Dixie (Penny Edwards) is peachy keen - an FBI agent gets stabbed in the spleen - a gang of outlaws run for a speeding train - and at the end of the day, look out robbers, for I am your bane.

THE REVIEW:

Over the last couple of months I've been trying to figure out what made Roy Rogers such a popular star by sporadically reviewing some of his movies. And now, after sitting down and watching 'Sunset in the West', I think I've finally cracked the case.

Well, to put it in laymen's terms, folks, back in the day I believe Roy was such a big hit because his adventures did a pretty nifty job of juggling four key components. Now one of these components was a fairly straight-forward 'black and white' story-line -- basically just something which would be easy for people to follow and understand on any level. Another of these components was how these tales amalgamated humor into the mix -- and this was occasionally epitomized with a few throw away gags at Roy's crony's expense. The next component has to be the female-factor -- you know; someone nice and pretty for Roy and the cast to play off of. And last but not least there were the songs -- those beautiful yet harmonic songs -- which, like the humor component, broke up the conceptual narrative by adding a nice warming feel to the overall premise.  

OK. I can understand for a more modern day audience this type of thing may seem rather pedestrian on the surface, and hardly worth the time or effort for such a simple yet naive piece. Having said that, though, in the same breath I'd go so far as to say it was this simplistic naivety which makes Roy's films defiantly worth a watch. 

For example, there is a scene in this flick where Roy asks his 'comedy-sidekick' to shave a 'grizzled villain', so he can then better identify him to a number of 'wanted posters' he has in his possession. Yet to make this scene more comedic and gripping for the viewer, Roy's sidekick has the hic-cups, and whilst he his shaving him, well, accidents may occur. Hint-Hint!

Also, something else about this movie I best mention is how I got a right kick out of Roy and the gang leapfrogging onto their horses in a somewhat dynamic and thrilling fashion.  Honestly, dear reader. There were a few times throughout this film I couldn't help but imagine someone like Jackie Chan doing a similar thing. Jumping and throwing themselves straight into the action without a single care in the world.

As for actual story-line presented, well, what can I say? In essence it was your a-typical 'catch the bad guy as soon as possible' type tale. Although in this case there was a nice little addition where Roy also helped out an elderly sheriff save face from the town local's.

Anyway. By now I'm sure you know what I think about this fairly fine film. So I tell you what. Why don't you now sit back, relax, and check out the following filmic-facts. (1) 'Republic Pictures' first released this production in America on the exact same day New York and Chicago first broadcast using a joint tele-visual microwave relay system. It was on the 25th of September, 1950. (2) Loosely translated, this project was entitled 'Commotion on the Border' in Brazil; 'Stolen Gun's' in Chile; and 'Asejuna Disappears' in Finland. (3) The majority of this movie was shot on location within the Californian state of Santa Clarita. (4) In 2004 Quentin Tarantino publicly acknowledged the director of this western, William Witney, by printing his name during the screen credits of 'Kill Bill: Volume 2'. (5) One of the taglines used to promote this picture, was, 'Six-Gun Trouble! The border blazes with bullet-fast action as Roy and the gang track down a band of international gun-runners!' (6) Gerald Geraghty, who wrote the original screenplay for this flick, has also written a few episodes of such popular television shows as 'Stories of the Century', 'The Cisco Kid', and 'Annie Oakley'. (7) According to legend Roy Rogers had more than one horse playing Trigger in his films. Still. We can always hope it was the same one, eh? (8) After this shindig sang for the judges, Penny Edwards and Roy Rogers starred in their next film, 'North of the Great Divide'; whilst Estelita Rodriguez starred in the musical, 'Hit Parade of 1951'.

Overall I'd say 'Sunset in the West' was a pretty nifty Roy Rogers film to watch. The story was an easy one to purview. The comedy and the songs were fairly nice as well. And all in all, yeah, I can't wait to see which RR movie I get to clap my eyes on next.

Nuff said.

THE RATING: B-