BELLS OF CORONADO

(director: William Witney; screenwriter: Sloan Nibley; cinematographer: John MacBurnie; editor: Tony Martinelli; music: Dale Butts; cast: Roy Rogers (Roy Rogers), Dale Evans (Pam Reynolds), Pat Brady (Sparrow Biffle), Grant Withers (Craig Bennett), Leo Cleary (Dr. Frank Harding), Clifton Young (Ross), Robert Bice (Jim Russell), John Hamilton (Mr. Linden, Insurance Company Official), Stuart Randall (Sheriff); Runtime: 67; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: Edward J. White; Cascadia Entertainment; 1950)

“It has a good plot, good production values, much action and a few good songs by Roy and Foy Willing and his Riders of the Purple Sage.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

Roy Rogers, “King of the Cowboys,” knocks off a snappy contemporary B Western for Republic; it has a good plot, good production values, much action and a few good songs by Roy and Foy Willing and his Riders of the Purple Sage. William Witney (“Trail of Robin Hood”/”Home in Oklahoma”/”Night Time in Nevada”), the best director of the Rogers series, keeps things lively. It’s effectively scripted by Sloan Nibley.

Rancher Roy Rogers is asked by an insurance company official to go undercover to investigate a claim of missing uranium ore and the death of a miner. Roy gets a job as a lineman on a nearby power company and discovers there’s a gang of uranium smugglers selling the valuable mineral to foreign agents. It leads to a well-staged climax at the contact point, as the villains smuggle the uranium aboard a plane but Roy with help from another agent (Robert Bice) and the sheriff’s posse round up the unpatriotic gang.

Dale Evans is around as Roy’s love interest; Pat Brady for comic relief; Grant Withers as the blustery mine owner; Leo Cleary as the suspicious doctor; and Clifton Young (former Our Gang kid) as the underling villain. There’s no surprises, but it’s entertaining and easy to handle.

REVIEWED ON 6/21/2007 GRADE: B-