First, I should say that I watched the uncut version at YouTube, rather than the 56min. abbreviated for TV version.......The Axis powers during WWII were remarkably negligent in devising successful schemes to sabotage the US war effort at home. Although not stated, presumably the saboteurs in this tale are either A) sympathizers of the Axis leaders, acting independently, or B) agents working with and financed by an Axis power........At the beginning, Roy is taking part in a rodeo parade when he gets an urgent message from Texas Governor Shuville to come see him. Shuville is impressed with Roy's tenacity in pursuing and capturing the Duke Wilson bank robber gang, and would like him to try to infiltrate the perpetrators of several recent sabotage incidents in Texas, targeting war-related objects. The governor says his last such man was killed, uttering his final word: Mary or Merry, as a possible clue. On the other hand, the governor criticizes Roy's methods of dealing with the Wilson gang, saying that he(the governor) can handle enforcing the laws.?? While visiting with the governor, Roy and his sidekick, Smiley Burnette, meet Kraly, who introduces himself as the governor's secretary. Kraly soft pedals the governor's criticisms of Roy. Strangely, despite being a fairly important character in the screenplay, Kraly isn't listed as a character either at this site, nor at the TCM site, but is included at the Wikipedia site? We eventually learn that there are several key villains in the saboteur group. One is Kraly. Dave Mason, who owns the Merry Makers Carnival, is another. His employee Maurice the mental marvel, is another. Together, they operate a strangely elaborate method of communicating the next target, in which Kraly, or someone he picks, is planted in the carnival audience to ask a question, which is communicated via microphone to Mason, in the control room, who communicates it to Maurice, on stage. I don't really understand the point of this..........At one point, the gang tricks Roy into getting into a car, then takes him to the warehouse they plan to blow up. He is knocked out, tied up, and left in the warehouse after they activate a time bomb. Roy wakes up just in time, and has an idea how to get his ropes off. It involves him turning upside down, but I won't reveal what he does. Anyway, he barely survives the blast. Later, Roy attempts to defuse a bomb attached to a railroad bridge girder, while being shot at by the saboteurs. Despite being wounded in the head and arm, he somehow holds on to diffuse the bomb before a train arrives, while his friends arrive and overwhelm the saboteurs........The saboteurs also tried to kill the governor by setting up a roadblock on a narrow road curve. His car ran off the road and plunged down a steep embankment, rolling over several times. Without a seat belt, he should have been killed, but barely survived. Nonetheless, not long after, at a rodeo, he is present and declares Roy to be 'King of Cowboys'. Roy rode at the head of a procession, flanked by knockouts Peggy Moran and Dorthea Kent. They had combined to outwit the jailer, and break Roy out of jail, in a fun sequence. Roy had been charged by Maurice for the murder of Dave Mason: a murder that he himself had committed.........There are songs aplenty scattered throughout, sung by Roy, Pat Brady, or Sons of the Pioneers, or a combination of these. Included is classics, like "I'm an Old Cowhand" and "Red River Valley". Others include: "Ride 'em Cowboy", "A Gay Ranchero", "Roll Along Prairie Moon", "Ride, Ranger, Ride", "They Cut Down the Old Pine Tree", and the novelty song "Biscuit Blues". In addition, Strasse's "Roses from the South" is heard in the background sometimes when Maurice, the Mental Marvel, is on stage.
Review of King of the Cowboys
