The Old Homestead

"The Old Homestead" is an important film because it marks the first time Roy Rogers appeared in a full-length film...after having made two previous shorts. However, his Roy Rogers persona wasn't yet established and here he's just the founder and leader of the Sons of the Pioneers, a singing group that later appeared in many of Rogers' films. Interestingly, Rogers is billed as Len Sly...his real name, though misspelled (it should have been Len Slye). Because he was such a newcomer, here he mostly sings and doesn't really show off his acting abilities one way or the other. Sadly, you barely notice him in the film.

When the story begins, a big city radio producer arrives in some rural country town after receiving a letter from Nancy Abbott (Mary Carlisle). He's there to look for talent for his program and soon is bowled over by the talented locals she mentioned in the letter....so much so, he offers some of them a radio show. In particular, he loves the Sons of the Pioneers, which in this case, oddly, are headed by Fuzzy Knight as well as Lawrence Gray. Neither were bad...but it was interesting that they chose this comedic singer and a weaker voiced 'pretty guy' instead of Rogers since Roy had a much better voice....and was much prettier! But Rogers wasn't yet known....and in 1935 Knight and Gray were.

So is the film any good? Well, some of the music is really nice. One I especially liked was one where Roy and the Sons of the Pioneers yodeled....and I usually HATE yodeling! But it was VERY catchy...much more than I expected. I think it was called "Moonlight in Heaven"...though I am not sure. As far as the plot goes, it's okay but nothing more. In fact, there really isn't a lot of plot...it's mostly a lot of singing. I'd say that it's only a fair movie overall except that it stands out as Roy's debut....which for his fans, like me, is more than reason enough to see it. But I'd only recommend it to fans..otherwise there is just too much singing and not enough Roy!

By the way, this film is from tiny Liberty Pictures...a company that later merged with six other itty-bitty studios to form Republic Pictures. Republic was the studio associated most with Roy Rogers pictures in the 1940s-50s.