Sunset in the West

Roy Rogers and Trigger (The Smartest Horse in the Movies) are at it again, helping a border Sheriff get to the bottom of some stolen rifles that are being sought. Rogers ends up in hot water, but is able to solve the crime through his normal cool determination. Gordon Jones is along as his sidekick, but he was never as solid as Gabby Hayes or Pat Brady had been ........

The music was well done by Roy, with support from Foy and the Riders of the Purple Sage. However, the script and supporting cast are not up to the earlier high standards for Roy's films. It's good entertainment for Roy's legion of fans, but compared to his other classics, this oater is only so-so ..... Fun, but not memorable.

Herbert J. Yates splurged for color in this Roy Rogers western where he and Gordon Jones, former deputy sheriffs to Will Wright, are helping out their old boss. The populace of Wright's town is up in arms at his inability to stop train hijackings. The worst part is that there seems to be no rhyme or reason for them.

As Roy investigates it'a a very sophisticated ring of gunrunners that's settled in this Pacific coast town and they have contacts in a lot of places. And Roy's not the only one investigating the gunrunning either.

Romance is provided by Penny Edwards who was one of a few women substituting for Dale Evans as Roy's leading lady while she taking care of their child. And together with Gordon Jones playing the dumber than a post Splinters is Estelita Rodriguez giving out her comic style with a Hispanic touch. She did a number of Roy Rogers westerns but she's best known for playing in Rio Bravo as Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez's wife.

Not the best of his westerns, it's a bit overplotted for a B western, but Roy's fans will be pleased.

Roy Rogers helps sheriff Will Wright figure out Pierre Watkins' gunrunning operation in this one.

It's a good story, and well-stocked with all the usual Roy Rogers songs and comedy (courtesy of Gordon Jones) and pathos -- the sheriff's bloodhound is injured capturing some bad guys and looks to having to be put down. It's in color, too, and Jack Marta's compositions are quite lovely once you get outdoors.

There are some issues, like the vagueness of when it is set, with antique rolling stock contrasted with vending machines and gas tanks. Also, the day-for-night shots are too low in contrast to be worthwhile. Still, the songs are good, including "Rollin' Wheels" sung by Roy and the Sons of the Pioneers; there are a couple of pretty girls in Estelita Rodriguez and Penny Edwards; and the usual good stuntwork. Looking back, we can see the end of the Singing Cowboy, even as Rogers' production team upgrades....but not quite yet.

I was VERY surprised when I found this copy of "Sunset in the West" on YouTube. This is because unlike most Roy Rogers films you find, this one is the original length and hasn't been pared down to television time slot length. In addition, I was impressed how nice the color was in the film, as it was filmed in TruColor....a process where you RARELY ever get true full color. Like many of the two-color film processes, it was much cheaper than standard Technicolor but also tended to look very muddy....with most colors being more orangy and greenish than anything else. This is because when the film degrades over time, these colors tend to saturate the print. But here in "Sunset in the West" the colors are nearly normal...with lots of blues, which you rarely find in anything but the most pristine TruColor prints.

When the story begins, the sheriff (Will Wright) is out trying to stop gun runners--with little success. In the next scene, Roy and his men are waiting with cattle for the train. Inexplicably, the train barrels right past and doesn't stop to pick up these cows bound for market. Roy chases the train with his horse....and when he boards, someone punches him and tosses him off!! Clearly, nice folks are NOT running this train! Could they be the gun runners?! What do you think?!?! And, how will Roy and the sheriff address this problem?

Like most of Roy Rogers' later films, he doesn't have a sidekick per se. For some of these duties, Gordon Jones is on hand...and for me, this is a huge deficit in any of these later pictures. Jones wasn't completely terrible...but he wasn't an adequate replacement for the likes of Gabby Hayes or Andy Devine. He seemed less of an asset and more of a blundering idiot! Oh, well....at least this film featured a cute Bloodhound as another one of the 'sidekicks'!

So is it any good? Yes. Despite Jones, the plot is unusual and the story rather exciting and well written. Not a great film....but a very good one. Plus, it has a cute doggy....a plus for me!



By the way, Will Wright is very good in the film. However, I was shocked when I checked and saw he was 56 when he made this movie (my age, by the way). He looked at least 70. I guess folks got older sooner back in the good old days....or, possibly, I look that bad and just don't realize it!