COWBOY AND THE SENORITA, THE(director: Joseph Kane; screenwriters: Gordon Kahn/from a story by Bradford Ropes; cinematographer: Reggie Lanning; editor: Tony Martinelli; music: George A. Norton/Phil Ohman/Walter Scharf; cast: Roy Rogers (Roy Rogers), Mary Lee (Chip Williams), Dale Evans (Ysobel Martinez), John Hubbard (Craig Allen), Guinn ‘Big Boy’ Williams (‘Teddy’ Bear), Fuzzy Knight (Fuzzy), Dorothy Christy (Lulubelle), Lucien Littlefield (Judge Loomis), Hal Taliaferro (Matt Ferguson), Spanky McFarland (Child who trips Guinn, of Our Gang fame), Ferdinand Munier (Irate cafe patron); Runtime: 77; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: Harry Grey; Republic; 1944)
“Noted only because it was the first of 27 films Dale Evans made with Rogers.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Routine Roy Rogers B-Western that’s noted only because it was the first of 27 films singer Dale Evans made with Rogers, who married her in 1947 and they remained married for fifty years until Roy’s death. All told, the busy Rogers made 102 films. Joseph Kane (“The Yellow Rose of Texas”/”Romance on the Range”/”Song of Texas”) has his hands filled keeping this lame plot going with some action. Adding to the tedium are the unusual large number of bad songs belted out by Roy, Dale and the Sons of the Pioneers.
Roy Rogers and his comic sidekick “Teddy Bear” (Guinn “Big Boy” Williams) are unlucky prospectors who hit the trail seeking a job after losing one in a restaurant when a kid trips his waiter, Teddy Bear, and his tray splatters gravy over the jacket of an irate patron. In the town of Bonanza, the two drifters get charged with kidnapping the teenage Chip (Mary Lee), after the townies find a charm on them that they found in the woods belonging to the missing child. But when the two escape from the sheriff and head for the woods, the runaway comes to their campfire and when the posse shows–all is forgiven. The orphan, whose mine owning dad died recently, is under the care of her rancher stepsister Ysobel Martinez (Dale Evans). Chip tells Rogers her secret reason for running away is because her dad buried a treasure box in the mine, which she believes is a treasure. It turns out to be a letter addressed to her to be opened when she’s 16, which is at midnight. Craig Allen, the evil local wealthy businessman, will have the papers signed tomorrow to finalize the sale of the mine to him by Ysobel. But Roy stops the sale when he realizes there’s gold in the mine and Craig is trying to pull a fast one; Craig is arrested for fraud. The film was as bad as the story line sounded.
REVIEWED ON 9/4/2007 GRADE: C+
Dennis Schwartz: “Ozus’ World Movie Reviews”
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