
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.

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
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-
ROY ROGERS IN SUNSET IN THE WEST (1950)
Reviewed by David Andrews
on
September 03, 2014
Rating:
