Bells of San Angelo (1947)

Director:

William Witney

Writers:

Paul Gangelin (story)
Sloan Nibley (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 April 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Music | Mystery | Western

Tagline:

Swinging From His Toes And Shooting From His Hips...Roy Battles His Foes With A Song On His Lips! (original poster)

Plot:

Gridley is mining silver from an old Mexican mine and bringing it into the USA thru a passage into his worthless mine...

Plot Keywords:

Mexican | Song | Silver | Silver Mine | Mining

Cast

Roy Rogers	...	Roy Rogers
Trigger	...	Trigger, Roy's Horse
Dale Evans	...	Lee Madison
Andy Devine	...	Cookie Bullfincher
John McGuire	...	Rex Gridley
Olaf Hytten	...	Lionel Bates
David Sharpe	...	Henchman Ulrich
Fritz Leiber	...	Padre
Hank Patterson	...	Deaf Bus Passenger
Fred 'Snowflake' Toones	...	The Cook (as Fred S. Toones)
Eddie Acuff	...	Bus Driver
Bob Nolan	...	Bob
Sons of the Pioneers	...	Musicians (as The Sons of the Pioneers)

Runtime:

78 min (original version) | 54 min (edited version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Trucolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #12259) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

Valley of Fire State Park - Route 169, Overton, Nevada, USA

Company:

Republic Pictures

Quotes:

[first lines]
Padre: It's always good when you come here and we join our voices together in song. I'm only sorry that trouble brings you here.
Roy Rogers: I'm sorry too, Padre, but I think with the help of my friends over the border here, we'll be able to get this thing straightened out.

Soundtrack:

I Love the West

Roy Working The Border

Bells Of San Angelo finds Roy Rogers working as a border 'investigator' on the USA/Mexico border. Assisting him is sheriff Andy Devine of the county. There have been some murders of some Mexican nationals on the American side in and around a mine that John McGuire and David Sharpe run.

This is far from the Mexican border today where we are preoccupied with illegal immigration. At this time in the Hollywood modern west, people just seem to be coming back and forth across the border at will with no one really asking questions. Roy's very good friends with Catholic Padre on the other side, Fritz Lieber. In fact it is Lieber who comes to Roy asking him and Devine to look into the murders.

We've got two more complicating factors in the plot. A western writer is coming to town with the highly androgynous name of Lee Madison and Roy and the Sons of the Pioneers think its some tenderfoot who just wants to stick his nose in for material. They don't need no tenderfeet tagging along on a serious investigation and resolve to do something about it.

Of course Lee Madison is the pen name for Helen Clifford who is played by Dale Evans and she keeps her identity a secret to play along with the gags Roy and the boys are cooking up. I said in another review of one of their films that Roy and Dale play like a pair of red state Tracy and Hepburn. The dialog ain't classic, but all in all it's not too bad either. It was part of their appeal on the screen.

The other complication is Olaf Hytten arriving from Great Britain looking to locate some missing person who turns out to be Andy Devine. Not knowing exactly what he wants, Devine is scared about revealing himself, but Roy guesses right away something's afoot.

All this plot is packaged rather nicely into a 78 minute running time for Bells Of San Angelo. Of course Roy finds out exactly what the story is and the culprits are brought to justice. But as for what the racket was and what happens with Dale and Andy you have to see Bells Of San Angelo.

You'll love the fox hunt the gang arranges for Hytten.