Grand Canyon Trail

Is there silver in sintown or not? Half the folks think its a swindle and the other half thinks there's still treasure down there. Carol (jane frazee) is willing to take a chance and get investors in on the deal. She gets off on the wrong foot with roy rogers (and his horse trigger)... she fires him, not realizing he's not even an employee. Regular sidekick andy devine is in here as cookie. Turns out regan, one of the hired hands, wants to keep the silver for himself. This has all the usual fistfights, the horse chases. The mining schemes from republic pictures. Throw in a haunted house too! It's silly, but it's roy rogers in his prime. Directed by bill witney. Story by gerald geraghty. He worked on 19 films with roy rogers! Then died young at age 47.

Grand Canyon Trail is another of the Trucolor Roy Rogers films that has shown up on DVD from a black and white print. That does not take away from the movie since black and white was so common at the time anyway.

Roy appeared kind of dumb in this one, and so did everyone else. It was customary for the lead cowboy to be able to figure out the crooks' plan and identify the leader. Roy took forever to suspect Regan, and it was only after other characters helped him that he ever learned anything. Instead of standing on guard duty and being prodded by Cookie, Foy, and the Riders of the Purple Sage, he should have already scouted around looking for clues. As much interaction as there was between the cowboys and Regan's crew someone should have suspected something sooner. There was no battle of wits. Carol Martin never figured out who wanted to hurt her and who wanted to save her until almost the end of the movie despite how obvious it was.

Roy got in a lot of fist fights in this one. More than once he got clobbered over the head and knocked out. Andy Devine bounced people around with his stomach. The sound effect of a kettle drum would have been perfect if not for the fact that the movie was not a vehicle for slapstick comedy.

The Hangman Hotel was an abandoned old building that provided an opportunity for plenty of haunted house stick comedy. There were scenes of characters chasing from one room to the other with fights throughout the building and crossed paths between the good guys and bad guys. Seeing Andy Devine scream once is funny, but there can be too much of a good thing. The hotel was critical to the story as it was the site where a murder victim was discovered, but the hotel was over-used.

Seeing Robert Livingston go from the leader of the Three Mesquiteers to playing a villain is disheartening. Above all he was an actor who played the part of Regan perfectly. Watching past heroes playing villains or small roles always comes across as sad because few of them ever went back to the glory of their previous films.

Overall the story was good, but it I think the characters could have been developed a little better. Not a bad movie, Grand Canyon Trail is a lull in the Roy Rogers series despite having a great cast and, for some, Trucolor.

I saw the complete black & white version of "Grand Canyon Trail". I say complete because many Roy Rogers films were trimmed in the 1950s to fit television time slots but the one I found on YouTube was complete.

The story is pretty simple. An old silver mine was thought to be depleted but recently there's been some indication that much more could be extracted using modern mining techniques. Cookie (Andy Devine) is so sure this will pan out (get it?) that he invests all of his and Roy's money in this mine. Soon after, the scene switches to the mine owner and his secretary....and he's just received word that the mine is NOT going to be productive and all the investors will be screwed.

Roy goes to investigate and meets one of the worst tropes in these old B-westerns...the know-it-all woman who instantly takes a dislike to him even though Roy is a hero and a swell guy. Much of the movie is spent with her yelling at Roy or sicking the sheriff (James Finlayson...a most unusual casting choice) on him. But there's more to the mine than the stories the mine owner has gotten...and the fact that the workers try so hard to prevent Roy and this super-annoying woman from getting close to it tips him off about their scheme to defraud everyone! What's next? See the film.

This is a pleasant film aside from the woman you want to violently shame and tell to shut up!! That is why although Rogers was fine here, I cannot give the film a score any higher...the trope has been so overused and is so annoying. Plus, it doesn't age well and seems pretty sexist. Still, the movie is worth seeing...just try to ignore her antics.

"Grand Canyon Trail" is another in the series of Trucolor musical westerns turned out by Republic Pictures in the late 40's starring Roy Rogers. This one is one of the better series entries.

The plot concerns the efforts by Roy and the boys to find a lost silver mine. The musical content is kept to a minimum and Director William Witney keeps the action flowing.

What makes this film interesting is its supporting cast. Robert Livingston, who only a few short years before had been Republic's up and coming star, plays the chief villain. He is probably best remembered for his role as Stoney Brooke in the Three Mesquiteer series. In the best Witney tradition, Livingston murders a helpless old prospector. Roy Barcroft is along as Livingston's chief henchman.

Old time movie fans will recognize Laurel & Hardy's old foil Jimmy Finlayson as the sheriff. Foy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage replace The Sons of the Pioneers in this one. Jane Frazee in the Dale Evans role and Andy Devine as "Cookie" round out the cast.

Not a bad way to spend an hour or so.

Plot-- Roy stumbles into business dealings surrounding a lost silver mine. In the process, he meets up with a spunky girl and some sneaky crooks. Good thing Andy's around to help.

This Front Row Geezer really enjoyed the 67-minutes. Especially a spirited Jane Frazee who all but steals the show with her assertive Carol Vanderpool or is it Martin. Oh well, either way she's a scene stealer. Roy gets to do a lot of well choreographed flying fists, and I hope they paid him double for his extra trouble. And, of course, Andy Devine is Andy Devine, but with less clowning than usual. Catch that early scene with Roy and Frazee on the stagecoach—it's a little gem of battling attraction between guy and gal. Frazee was a really good foil for Rogers, as, I guess, both Roy and Dale knew.

There's some canyon scenery, but not much. Most of the action settles into familiar greater LA locations. And what about that hurricane Katrina slammed place called Sin Town and a hotel called Hangman's that shows all the litter and crud that the studio could muster. They're like nothing I've seen in an oater. Not much hard riding or fast shooting, but likely enough for matinée fans, including myself. All in all, it's a good action-filled Republic production. My only complaint is the bland b&w instead of Technicolor. But Trigger still looks good, even if upstaged by a sombrero-wearing mule.

A "7" on the Matinée Scale