This July we celebrate a forgotten star of the 40s whose work we enjoyed at the Picture Show 2024: Jane Frazee.
RODNEY BOWCOCK: Roy has just finished up his latest picture and heads back to his ranch for a brief vacation and a radio broadcast celebrating his tenth year in films. As Roy arrives back at the ol’ Double-R, he learns that Cookie (Andy Devine) has hired a bunch of his relatives, which sets us up for some sort of comic relief, and surprisingly one of these relatives is Caroline, who rightfully so resembles cute Jane Frazee way more than she resembles Andy (although she does try to convince us that she has a similar laugh to Andy; I’m unconvinced).
Meanwhile, Pop Jordan (George Lloyd) has a crew headed up by Lige McFarland (Wade Crosby) to hunt wild horses on the range, which concerns Roy because they are suspected to be hunting the horses on his land. Pop decides that kidnapping Trigger is a better proposition than capturing wild horses and puts this plan into action. Little Ted Carver, Lige’s stepson, has run away from home and is working at Roy’s ranch and knows who kidnapped Trigger. Ted attempts to recover Trigger himself, but gets deeper in trouble as Roy and Cookie set a trap for the kidnappers themselves.
SAMANTHA GLASSER: The acting seems dumbed down for a juvenile audience. We are introduced to Frazee as a beautiful and ditzy stable hand shrieking exaggeratedly at a mouse; it is completely unbelievable and prolonged. The behavior is excused when she is introduced as a relative of Devine, as if that explains it.
Some realism exists, like in the scene when the boy is threatened with a gun and future retaliation if he reveals the identity of the horse nappers.
RB: I expect a certain pedigree from a film directed by William Witney. To me his name is synonymous with breakneck action and wildly choreographed fights galore. Unfortunately, there’s very little here and it’s obvious that the film was crafted with an audience of kids hopped up on sugar at a Saturday matinee in mind. It would be super easy to keep up with the proceedings here while hurling jujubes and Milk Duds at your pals.
SG: The animals are beautiful and the best part of this movie. Trigger is an expressive horse, and the dog Tramp is a scruffy loveable mutt who pulls at our heartstrings when ill befalls her. Showmen's Trade Review reported that Trigger, "acts all over the place." FilmIndia announced that during the making of this film, Rogers adopted a German Shepherd named Spur and began training him for films. Although I could find no confirmation that his name was changed, in 1948, Roger's German Shepherd dog Bullet first appeared on film. He became a staple of his films and television show and was stuffed like Trigger and put on display in the Roy Rogers Museum. Tramp was retired after this one film.
RB: Under California Stars marks the last time that Frazee would be held to a contract and it’s sad that she really isn’t given much to do here, although she does sing a pretty good version of the title song with the Sons of the Pioneers. I suspect that she was signed to her single year contract with Republic (during which time she filmed 5 Rogers pictures), specifically as a substitute for Dale Evans who was with child at the time. Others have supposed that Republic felt that the primary childhood audience for these films would blanche at the thought of Roy co-starring in films with his real-life wife. This latter theory doesn’t completely track with me, considering that none of these women were ever really love interests in these films.
SG: The songs are tuneful enough, and evoke a strong sense of the bond between the characters. This is an assembled family who works together as a unit.
RB: You don’t have to reach too far back in film fandom to remember a time when B-Westerns were the king of genres when it came to vintage flickers, even spawning more than a few film festivals of their own where the ONLY films screened were Westerns and serials. The last of these limped to a close a decade or so ago as the fanbase for such things sadly dried up, a hazard of an aging audience and those either forced to be, or content to, stay home and watch their movies via DVD (a trend that is not lost on the Picture Show staff; and that we’re happy to buck).
SG: Photoplay's reviewer was not impressed, saying, "Just when things get going, however, Roy and his pals make with the music. And when he beats up a guy within an inch of his worthless life, he’s so downright amiable it’s embarrassing."
Charles Franke wrote in Motion Picture Daily that the film, "...does not rank with the better Rogers productions in terms of story, direction, acting or photography." He also said Frazee was, "decorative in an unchallenging role."
RB: Local exhibitors knew what to expect from the film and while Rogers was a top box-office draw and a major moneymaker for Republic, didn’t pay a ton of attention to it. “Just another Roy Rogers. They always do good business,” is typical of the response to this film.
SG: The story is predictable and offers very little to engage a seasoned movie watcher. Even the auxiliary players I can usually rely on to brighten up a dull movie don't come through. I suffered through this movie. One star.
RB: While watching the film, I found myself trying to put myself in the place of a kid, say 10-12 years old to try to understand what was so appealing about the film. Then, I found myself trying to put myself in the place of someone 40-50 years later in a hotel banquet room (not unlike our own) gorging on a weekend slate of dozens of films just like this one, relishing in the nostalgia and wonder of discovery, seeing movies that you had maybe seen at your neighborhood theater way back when…or as one fan specified to me once, titles that you had managed to miss because you had chores to do that week and had not been able to go. While considering this mindset, I was able to get what I think is a glimpse into what the B-western meant to a generation of movie goers, but THIS particular one? While I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for Roy’s fast food chain (they’re back!), I’m not sure that Roy Rogers oaters are for me. Two stars.
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