On the Old Spanish Trail (1947)

Director:

William Witney

Writers:

Sloan Nibley (screenplay)
Gerald Geraghty (story)

Release Date:

15 October 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

With a $10,000 note Roy co-signed for the Pioneers due, Roy plans to get the money from the reward for the capture of the Gypsy...

Plot Keywords:

Reward | Singer | Gypsy Wagon | Song | Hispanic Stereotype

Cast

Roy Rogers	...	Roy Rogers
Trigger	...	Trigger, the Smartest Horse in the West
Tito Guízar	...	Rico / The Gypsy
Jane Frazee	...	Candy Martin
Andy Devine	...	Constable Cookie Bullfincher
Estelita Rodriguez	...	Lolita
Charles McGraw	...	Harry Blaisdell
Fred Graham	...	Henchman Marcos
Steve Darrell	...	Henchman
Marshall Reed	...	Henchman
Wheaton Chambers	...	Oil Co. Clerk MacIntyre
Bob Nolan	...	Bob
Sons of the Pioneers	...	Musicians

Runtime:

USA:57 min (Western Channel print) | 75 min (original version) | 54 min (edited version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (TV prints) | Color (Trucolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Corriganville, Ray Corrigan Ranch, Simi Valley, California, USA

Company:

Republic Pictures

Trivia:

The print shown on Turner Classic Movies, from Peter Rodgers Organization, is undoubtedly an old 16mm print made for the home movie market before being sold to television in the early 1950's. The tip-off is on the Republic Pictures Logo and the opening title card over which a black bar has been superimposed on the print covering what must have been the words 'In Trucolor'. In 1952 it was cut to 54 minutes for the television market and distributed by Hollywood Television Service whose logo then replaced Republic Pictures on the opening and closing of all their prints; if this were a print made for television it would have those earmarks. The commercially available VHS tapes are also B&W and possibly from the same source, if complete, or else from the television print source, if incomplete. Television prints were all both edited and in black and white. The version shown on the Western Channel is the shorter, television version.

Quotes:

[Roy reads from the paper he has picked up]
Roy Rogers: "Your eyes are like deep desert wells, with sparks from silver stars above. / Your voice is sweet as mission bells, your skin is like a marble dove." Don't ever fall in love, Trigger; that's what it does to you.

Filling in the Blanks

Sad to say that I saw a truncated version of On the Old Spanish Trail, one that must have been edited for television as a previous reviewer mentioned. And it was black and white.

What little I saw convinced me it was a good film with both lots of music and a good plot if you could fill in the blanks.

There was a sequence missing, but alluded to in the film I saw about Andy Devine believing he dreamed he saw the villains trying to break Tito Guizar out of jail. If so it must have been a very funny sequence as only the befuddled Mr. Devine could make it.

Because we had not only Roy Rogers, but Tito Guizar and pinch hitting for Dale, Jane Frazee there was a lot more singing in this than normal. Great for those who like singing cowboys.

I believe Dale might have been on family leave from Republic. She and Roy had only one natural child from their marriage, they adopted two others, and she and Roy both had kids from their previous marriages. (Yes they were married to others, Roy's wife died and Dale was divorced from her first husband). Jane Frazee though is a fine musical performer and fills Dale's cowgirl outfits out just fine. Roy and Dale's child would have been born around the time this and a succeeding film came out.

Best song of the picture is the title tune. Both Rogers and Gene Autry recorded extensively from their films, though Gene had far better success as a recording artist than Roy did.

If you get to see On the Old Spanish Trail, try to see a full length version.