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It deals with two prospecting and cowmen, Randolph Scott, Bill Williams, head into Canadian mountains seeking their fortune in British Columbia, via the Cariboo trail, the golden west of Canada in the 1890s, as they intent to raise cattle and dig for gold . But the two Montanans find themselves opposed by claim-jumpers, ranchers and a ruthless land baron from a prosperous city , who is owner of the general store , trading post , Cariboo Hotel, and mining company called Walsh : Victor Jory, and his henchmen : Douglas Kennedy, Jim Davies . Meanwhile, Scott falls in love for the beautiful owner of the Gold Palace Saloon, Karin Booth.

Passable western with good cast in in which two gold diggers protagonists, Scott and Williams, fight in hopes a better life and stifle conflicts, but encounter problems instead. It is a medium budget movie with thrills, noisy action, shootouts, stampedes as well as fine players, nice production design and pleasing results. It is still a run-of-the-mill entry in Western genre, set when Gold Fever expanded in Canada in which Scott and his colleague Bill Williams go British Columbia leading their cattle hoping in achieving fortune. Actually shot in Colorado with adequate interpretations and solid sets . Made the same year that the Gaby Hayes show was aired. The picture is well starred by Randolph Scott . He was a prolific actor in Western, his career is divided in films directed by Budd Boetticher in Seven men from now, The tall T, Decision at sundown, Buchanan rides alone, Comanche station, Westbound. Henry Hathaway as : Heritage of the desert, Wild horse, Sunset Pass, Man of the Forest. Ray Enright directed him in : The spoilers, Trail street, Alburquerque, Coroner creek, Return of the bad men. Andre De Toth directed him in Men in the saddle, Carson city, The stranger wore a gun, Riding shotgun, The bounty hunter. Finally, his main testament, Ride the high country along with Joel MacCrea directed by Sam Peckinpah .Support cast is pretty good with notorious secondaries as the always sympathetic George Gaby Hayes, Victor Jory, Jim Davies, James Griffith, Douglas Jackson, Mary Stuart and Dale Robertson.

Atmospheric cinematography in a fading Cinecolor by Fred Jackson, though there are prints in black and white. Evocative and thrilling musical score by Paul Sawtell. Well produced by Nat Holt, the motion picture was professionally directed by Edwin L Marin. He directed in sure visual style and he made all kinds of genres, especially Westerns. As he shot various Westerns as Tall in the saddle with John Wayne and Ella Raines, Canadian Pacific, Fighting man of the Plains, Colt 45, Raton pass, The Younger Brothers . Randolph Scott starred his last Westerns until his early death at 53, such as The Cariboo trail, Sugarfoot, and Fort Worth.

There is no such thing as an average Randolph Scott Western; they are all better than average. Gabby Hayes adds the humor, and Victor JOry is the bad guy you love to hate. He must have been killed 100 times in Westerns as a bad guy. One of the greatest bad guys of all time. Bill Williams is very good in this film as well. He went on to be a hero in television roles. He was good enough to ride horses in this one with one arm tied behind his back; literally. Good fun.

This film marked the end of George "Gabby" Hayes screen career.He is shown as having made 190 screen appearances in Westerns between 1929 and 1950.Although in the quotes section he is quoted as saying that he hated westerns.He has always been my favourite western sidekick.He was just so good at it.He looks quite old in this film though in actual fact he is only about 68.One supposes that with the advent of TV he foresaw the end of his type of Westerns.I have to say that I consider that he is the best sidekick of all.He has a very good role in this his final film.Otherwise it is just run of the mill.As has been mentioned elsewhere the cinecolor is truly awful and was clearly used for the sake of economy.

Not without interest. You can see why "Cinecolor" was a Miserable Flop, You can see Gabby Hayes in His Last Movie (actually pretty good), and this Western does have some other Ingredients worth Noting.

It is Set in Canada (but does use some awful Studio Stuff for some outdoor Scenes), the Body Count is High, there's a Bitter One-Armed Gunslinger (Bill Williams), a Greasy, Slimy, Bespectacled Villain (Victory Jory), a couple of Tasty Women (Karen Booth, Mary Stuart), and a Mule Named Hannibal.

Not one of the Best Randolph Scott Westerns, but it Contains Enough Oddities to make it Worth a Watch for Western Fans. Sometimes Clunky and Awkward but Appealing in an Off-Handed kind of Way.

Randolph Scott is leaving the USA for the greener pastures of Canada's British Columbia. He wants to start a cattle ranch there with partner Bill Williams and cook Lee Tung Foo. They stampede their small herd over a toll bridge erected by Victor Jory. Later Jory rustles their cattle and Williams loses his left arm during the fracas.

From 1945 until 1962 when he retired, Randolph Scott made a series of good adult themed westerns, some of them considered real classics. Unfortunately the Cariboo Trail will never be listed among his best westerns.

It's more like the material that Roy Rogers or Gene Autry might use. The story is downright silly at times. Williams who was along for the ride with Scott, he wanted to go prospect for gold as there was a big strike at the time. He doesn't blame the rustlers, he blames Scott for convincing him to make the trip for the loss of his arm.

Also there's a scene in the film when Scott, Lee Tung Foo, and Gabby Hayes are captured by Indians. They escape because Gabby's mule has been taught to kick on command and he kicks away at the Indians allowing our heroes to escape. I'm not sure that would have played in a Rogers film.

Furthermore the story actually wants you to believe that tyro prospector Randolph Scott accidentally stumbles on a gold strike after just a few lessons from prospector Gabby Hayes on how to find gold.

This was Gabby Hayes's farewell feature film part. It would have been better had he gone out in a good western and in fact he had done a couple of better ones with Randolph Scott before this.

I will say this, though no Caribou made any appearance in the film, this is one of the few Canadian locale films from the past that did NOT have any Mounties.

But if I were you unless you are a big fan of Randolph Scott or Gabby Hayes, take the next detour off The Cariboo Trail.

Randolph Scott heads up a wonderful cast of well know western actors. Gabby Hayes ended his movie career on a high note with a most appropriate moniker of Grizzly. Dale Robertson and soap opera star Mary Stuart have a nice romantic sub plot and Bill Williams plays a powerful role as the partner gone bad. Leading lady Karin Booth was superb as the woman caught in a love triangle with Scott and the villain we love to hate Victor Jory. As for the great action, no one plays better henchmen than Douglas Kennedy and Jim Davis. I loved the cinecolor production but I would love to see the original release version which was black and white. Other noteworthy performances were by Mary Kent, Lee Tong Foo and James Griffith. An exciting story line of cattle driving and gold prospecting combined with a great cast of stars makes The Cariboo Trail an excellent film.

Randolph Scott delivers the goods once again in "The Cariboo Trail". It's another well made western by Scott and company. The story is well told. The supporting cast is good. "The Cariboo Trail" is a satisfying watch. Honorable mention: Lee Tong Foo.

I won't bother to summarize the plot, as all of the previous reviewers have done so and there's nothing new I can add. As others have noted, this is not one of Scott's best films, or even one of his better ones. Director Edwin L. Marin has done some good westerns in the past--John Wayne's "Tall in the Saddle" comes to mind--but he doesn't seem to have had his heart in this one. Direction is perfunctory, performances are nothing special--although Bill Wiliams as a bitter one-armed cowboy has some good moments--and the action scenes are routine and not particularly well done. The worst thing about the film, however, is the photography. For some reason producer Nat Holt, who had done many of Scott's previous westerns, saw fit to use the cheap, crappy Cinecolor process for this film instead of the much superior Technicolor or Deluxe or even the chintzy Eastman Color, which would still have come out better than Cinecolor. The colors are muddy, everything is way too dark--even the day shots--actors' faces seem to fade into the background, and the major action setpiece takes place at night and the colors are so dark and muddy that, while the battle is certainly noisy, you can barely see anything.

All in all this is a decidedly below-average Scott western. The lousy photography definitely detracts from the film, but it didn't really have anything going for it in the first place.

'Gabby" Hayes can always be relied upon to liven things up, and here he comes very much to the rescue of this otherwise rather hum-drum pioneer western adventure. Top billing goes to the rather sterile Randolph Scott ("Redfern") who, with his pals "Evans" (Bill Williams) & "Ling" (Lee Tung Foo) encounter old-timer "Grizzly" as they head into British Colombia with some farming and gold-panning on their minds. They are not there for long, though, before local cattle baron "Walsh" (Victor Jory) and his men stampede their cattle causing "Evans" an injury that costs him his arm - and costs the operating "Redfern" their friendship. Now facing hostility from just about every side, his only hope is to find some gold in them thar hills. Karin Booth provides the occasional, and lively, love interest - a shrinking violet she isn't, and the rest of the narrative follows a well trammelled storyline peppered with the odd gunfight, before quite an exciting head-to-head. Aside from the rather wooden Scott, this features quite a characterful cast with enough action and a minimum of romance and wordy dialogue to pass eighty minutes amongst some fine cinematography (Colorado not BC) enjoyably enough.

I am certain that if I had seen "The Cariboo Trail" in the black and white version I would not have enjoyed it as much as I did. Luckily, I saw the restored color version and it is grand and beautiful to be sure. Some prints of the Cinecolor original are out there, too, and I took a look to compare and, well, with the color dull and and the image a little fuzzy, there isn't really any comparison! Unless one sees the restored version you may be shortchanging yourself with a considerably less pleasing viewing event.

Beyond that, although the picture is no epic, even though the incessant overwrought music seems to signal that it wants to be, it has plenty of action, beautiful scenic locales, distinctive Canadian town sets, and the always in-control personage of Randolph Scott. The supporting cast is fine, especially Victor Jory who nicely underplays his irritating and dastardly villainous character. George Hayes aka Gabby does his usual thing for the last time in a feature film. The makeup team should be given a nod because throughout the film those characters facing the hardships of outdoor work and travel look appropriate grimy and sunbaked.

Some of the roles may be a little predictably too by-the-book, but at least the romance doesn't get in the way of the story, including no ubiquitous vying for the lady's fair hand. And that may be why the picture comes in at an economical running time of around 80 minutes, not bad for a front-line western picture.

Recommended for Randolph Scott followers, Gabby Hayes completists, and for armchair enjoyers of scenic movies, but the latter only if you have the restored and enhanced color print.

Randolph Scott and Bill Williams star as cowboys leading a small herd of cattle from Montana to the Northwest Territories, one looking for rangeland the other for gold. While driving their cattle along The Caribou Trail, the two men encounter a toll bridge run by the local cattle king (Victor Jory) and his henchmen. But when the men refuse to pay the toll, their cattle is stampeded and all hell breaks loose!

I agree with one reviewer here, Randolph Scott never made an average western - they are always above that and spell quality. There are one or two I don't like, but most of them are great or good. The Caribou Trail, featuring Gabby Hayes in his last film, is the latter. It has plenty of things going on to keep you watching. Actually filmed in Colorado with excellent cinematography and good performances, especially from Bill Williams as Randolph Scott's brother and Victor Jory who plays, you guessed it, a manipulative and scheming villain.

It has some some fine drama, conflict, especially between a crippled Bill Williams and Randolph Scott, adventure and action, all these things join up to make a fairly enjoyable western fare. It does drag on a little towards the end, though.

An accomplished assembly-line Randolph Scott western shot in feverish Cinecolor hues and enhanced by second unit work by Arthur Rosson and a large and interesting supporting cast including a youthful Dale Robertson and Mary Stuart (both of whom went on to long careers on TV).

RANDOLPH SCOTT and BILL WILLIAMS share the co-starring credits in this rather weak western, nicely photographed in Cinecolor against some gorgeous western backgrounds in Canada. Unfortunately, the story of ranchers vs. gold prospectors has been done before with better results and it's not one of Scott's more memorable western roles.

Among the bad guys, it's interesting to note a young JIM DAVIS who would later make it big on "Dallas" TV. GEORGE 'GABBY' HAYES plays his usual rustic character, usually a sidekick for Gene Autrey or Roy Rogers. He has the sort of role as a grizzly old-timer usually played by Walter Brennan, calling all the other men "young fellas".

All of the ingredients usually found in a western of this kind--including shootouts and cattle stampedes--are here, but the results are pretty ordinary.

Summing up: Not recommended unless you're a die-hard western fan with time on your hands.

Truly a classic shot in dynamic color showing the unspoiled great outdoors. Don't pay any mind to the few power lines in the background of a few scenes or the few Indians that without a shirt maybe had been hitting the American Hostess Twinkee a little hard. Enjoy the scenery. The beautiful First Ladies and amazing colors shot on location. The Canadian mountains/ north of Montana is the feeling I get when watching this Randolph Scott classic. I can't help from getting the feeling the writers and producers where thinking this could spin off and be the next prime time Bonanza continuing saga for generations to come.

Scott can be described, if nothing else, as reliable. However in this movie he fails to reach that mark, with a character that's not really someone you want to root for.

There is one point in the movie where he destroys a bar in a fight, after which he is speaking to the owner (his girlfriend) and not only does he not offer to pay for (or apologise) for the damages he then charges her for some goods. What an arsehole.

The real problem with the movie is Scott is one of the more likeable characters, most of them are despicable. Now I understand that you have characters in a movie you aren't supposed to like but not ALL of them. They all come across as so entitled.

Its an average story with no redeeming elements.

Don't bother.

Unlike some of the other reviewers, I liked this Western and thought it quite good. I watched it tonight, in a blu-ray print from Kino Lorber, in which that fine company did an excellent job of restoring the Cinecolor process in which the film was made back in 1950. Cinecolor has its own distinctive look. It is not nearly as lush as Technicolor, but in some ways that is a plus, because with Technicolor, the colors are often so vibrant that its's something of a distraction. Cinecolor is more subtle. The Kino Lorber restored version dates from 2016, so some reviewers may have seen the earlier, unrestored version.

As to the story: I found it well paced, with a good balance between action and character development. Randolph Scott's kindliness and humanity show here, as he stays patient with his bitter partner, Bill Williams. As is always the case, the biggest asset any Randolph Scott movie has, is that he is the star! Scott is a tremendously appealing person, and, in my opinion, he makes any movie he is starring in worth one's time.

It is true, that this movie does not have a larger-than-life, dynamic villain type; Victor Jory as the head villain is shown to be rather cowardly and sneaky, and I have a feeling that Jory had a lot of fun playing him that way.

The scenery is often breathtaking, and a real pleasure to see (the movie was filmed in Colorado). The mountain vistas are truly impressive, with a sense of the big outdoors. That is an aspect one is always glad to see in a Western. I would say, the visuals alone lift this movie well above the average. It is much better than just "a routine Western." Routine Westerns do not have the striking cinematography of the outdoors that we see here.

The supporting cast are all good. Karin Booth is beautiful. She paid her dues with a lot of very small parts in earlier years, and I enjoyed seeing her in a starring role here.

The screenwriter, Frank Gruber, was the author of many short stories and novels about the Old West, and he knew his stuff.

When other reviewers talk about a Western being "routine," I'm not sure what they mean. What is a "non-routine" Western of this period, the 1950's? The Searchers? Rio Bravo? A movie can be a very good Western without having John Wayne starring, or John Ford directing. Randolph Scott is as good a Western hero as John Wayne, any day.

Nothing surprising here, in this predictable but efficient little western which uses the perfect recipe for success. The scheme is as old as the movie film industry. And in Warner Bros productions, the villain is always, Raymond Massey, Victor Jory, Zachary Scott, David Brian and the leads Randolph Scott, Dennis Morgan or Madonald Carey. The "recipe" works very well here, it is fast paced, powerful of simplicity in terms of story telling. And the sub characters such as George Gabby Hayes are delightful because of the touch they all bring to this charming western. Edwin Marin the director provided many good of this kind during his last years of career. Most of them starring Randolph Scott.