The Sons of the Pioneers Filmography

The Legend of Lobo

Synopsis: At only 67 minutes of running time, this Disney animal adventure story by James Algar is still slow-paced. The star of the tale is Lobo (which means "wolf" in Spanish), a legendary wolf who lived in the region of New Mexico at the turn of the 20th century. The story begins with Lobo as a young Read More

Disneyland: Disneyland, the Park, and Pecos Bill

Actors: Roy Rogers, Bobby Driscoll, Luana Patten, The Sons of the Pioneers

Synopsis: The first portion of this Disneyland episode brings viewers up to date on construction of the Disneyland theme park as of the spring of 1957. Somehow or other, this segues into an illustrated history of American folklore. The episode's final segment consists of the "Pecos Bill" segment from the Read More

Fighting Coast Guard

Actors: Brian Donlevy, Forrest Tucker, John Russell, Richard Jaeckel, William Murphy

Synopsis: The Coast Guard is highlighted in this propaganda drama set during WW II. In addition to the usual blend of romance and military adventure, the film also features an interesting glimpse in to the training of the young Guards as they prepare for war. The story centers around a crew of shipyard Read More

Everybody's Dancin'

Actors: Spade Cooley, Richard Lane, Hal Derwin

Synopsis: By the standards of low-budget Lippert Productions, Everybody's Dancin' is an "A" picture. Country-western favorite Spade Cooley (who also co-produced and co-scripted) heads the enormous cast of this innocuous musical comedy. Setting the plot in motion is fast-talking Dick Lane, playing a phony Read More

Wagon Master

Crew: Songwriter

Actors: Ben Johnson, Harry Carey, Jr., Ward Bond, Joanne Dru, Charles Kemper, Alan Mowbray

Synopsis: Wagon Master, splendidly directed by John Ford, is a superlative western. The film is the outwardly simple tale of a Mormon wagon train headed for Utah. Along the way, the group, led by Elder Wiggs (Ward Bond) hook up with two horse traders Travis Blue (Ben Johnson) and Sandy Owens (Harry Carey Read More

Night Time in Nevada

Actors: Roy Rogers, Adele Mara, Andy Devine, Grant Withers, Marie Harmon

Synopsis: Roy Rogers plays Roy Rogers, as ever, in Night Time in Nevada. This time Roy is a cattle owner whose stock is stolen by Grant Withers. It is Withers' hope to sell the livestock, thereby covering funds that he's been appropriating from leading lady Adele Mara's trust fund. Roy is able to vanquish Read More

Melody Time

Actors: Roy Rogers, Dennis Day

Synopsis: Disney was known for combining his musical cartoon shorts into interesting feature-length anthologies and Melody Time is one of the best. But for the fact that all of the featured segments have musical themes, they vary widely in musical and artistic style. Included are the exciting "Bumble Read More

The Gay Ranchero

Actors: Roy Rogers, Tito Guizar, Jane Frazee, Andy Devine, Estelita Rodriguez

Synopsis: One of the better Roy Rogers films of its period, The Gay Ranchero also happens to be one of the more violent Rogers efforts. The villains want to gain control of a private airport, and aren't above sabotage and murder to get what they want. Riding to the rescue is sheriff Rogers, who is aided by Read More

Under California Stars

Actors: Roy Rogers, Jane Frazee, Andy Devine, George Lloyd, Wade Crosby

Synopsis: Opening with a brief look at Republic Pictures' back lot in Studio City, CA, this average Roy Rogers songfest settles down to weightier matters after Roy returns to the old homestead to perform a radio broadcast. Peace and quiet, however, are rudely interrupted when someone kidnaps the cowboy Read More

Eyes of Texas

Actors: Roy Rogers, Lynne Roberts, Andy Devine, Nana Bryant, Roy Barcroft

Synopsis: Few Roy Rogers westerns were as gratuitously violent as the 1948 release Eyes of Texas. This time, Rogers' principal antagonist is a woman lawyer named Hattie Waters (Nana Bryant). With a battalion of homicidal henchmen at her beck and call, Hattie attempts to grab up all the valuable ranch Read More

Hit Parade of 1947

Actors: Eddie Albert, Chester Clute, Joan Edwards, Frank Fenton, William Frawley

Synopsis: In this musical, the fourth entry in a five-film series, three singers come together to form a nightclub act. Their songwriter falls for the female. They become a hit and are soon signed to appear in Hollywood musicals, but when the female becomes a star, the group disbands. Songs include Read More

On the Old Spanish Trail

Actors: Roy Rogers, Tito Guizar, Jane Frazee, Andy Devine, Estelita Rodriguez

Synopsis: With the defection of Gene Autry from the Republic lot, Roy Rogers was truly the King of the Singing Cowboys. In On the Old Spanish Trail, Rogers is for the first time teamed with Latin American singing favorite Tito Guizar. The plot finds Roy and Tito involved with a travelling cowboy tentshow in Read More

Springtime in the Sierras

Actors: Stephanie Bachelor, Roy Barcroft, Harry V. Cheshire, Chester Conklin

Synopsis: Republic's Springtime in the Sierras bestows upon star Roy Rogers two leading ladies. The first is his usual vis-a-vis Jane Frazee; the second is statuesque Stephanie Bachelor, playing the head of a poaching gang. Bachelor, it seems, has murdered a game warden who happens to be Rogers' closest Read More

Apache Rose

Actors: Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Olin Howland, George Meeker, John Laurenz

Synopsis: Apache Rose is a "typical" Roy Rogers-Dale Evans musical western: few surprises, but plenty of entertainment value. Rogers plays an oil man who hopes to get drilling rights to an old Spanish settlement in California. The villains plot to grab up the land from themselves, exploiting a handful of Read More

Bells of San Angelo

Actors: Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Andy Devine, John McGuire, Olaf Hytten

Synopsis: The Bells of San Angelo was the second Republic Roy Rogers western to be filmed in the "new" Trucolor process (actually the old Magnacolor process). Set in the modern west, the story involves a silver-smuggling racket headed by rotten Rex Gridley (John McGuire). In a novel scripting touch, Roy Rogers Read More

Home in Oklahoma

Actors: Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, Dale Evans, Carolyn Hughes, George Meeker

Synopsis: One of the better Roy Rogers vehicles of its period, Home in Oklahoma casts Rogers as a crusading frontier newspaper editor. Forsworn to find the murderers of a prominent cattle rancher, Roy teams up with big-city journalist Connie Edwards (Dale Evans) and grizzled ranch foreman Gabby Whittaker Read More

Home on the Range

Actors: Robert Blake, Monte Hale, Adrian Booth, Tom Chatterton, LeRoy Mason

Synopsis: Making his starring debut, Republic cowboy Monte Hale strums his guitar and sings Over the Rainbow Trail by Ken Carson, The Sons of the Pioneers and Down at the Old Hoe-Down by Gordon Foster, and Take Your Time by Glenn Spencer; on the last of these, he is accompanied by Bob Nolan. In between all Read More

Ding Dong Williams

Actors: Glenn Vernon, Marcy McGuire, Felix Bressart, Anne Jeffreys, James Warren

Synopsis: A moody but extremely talented clarinet playing band-leader is contracted to write a symphonic, bluesy soundtrack for an upcoming film. Unfortunately, he can neither read nor write music. Instead he simply plays whatever he feels. The comedy in this musical begins when two professional arrangers Read More

Under Nevada Skies

Actors: Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Douglas Dumbrille

Synopsis: Republic's Under Nevada Skies blends equal parts music and action, resulting in a treat for fans of both. Roy Rogers stars as a wandering cavalier in search of valuable pitchblende deposits. Assisting Roy in his quest is "Queen of the West" Dale Evans and grizzled, dentally challenged Gabby Hayes. Read More

Song of Arizona

Actors: Johnny Calkins, Michael Chapin, Edmund Cobb, Tommy Cook

Synopsis: Roy Rogers could do no wrong at the box office in 1946, so it's safe to assume that Song of Arizona would have been a hit even if it hadn't been as good as it is. The plot is slightly reminiscent of Boys Town, with Gabby Whittaker (Gabby Hayes) running an Arizona ranch for homeless boys. One of Read More

Roll on Texas Moon

Synopsis: Roll on Texas Moon was the first of 26 Roy Rogers vehicles directed by fast-action specialist William Witney. The plot concerns a deadly feud between cattle ranchers and sheepherders, with the villains playing both ends down the middle. Working on behalf of the cattlemen, Rogers tries to avoid an Read More

Helldorado

Actors: Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, Dale Evans, Paul Harvey, Barry Mitchell

Synopsis: In the tradition of several of the Gene Autry vehicles of the 1930s, Roy Rogers' Helldorado is built around a real-life frontier celebration. In this instance, the story is set against the backdrop of Las Vegas' annual "Heldorado Week", at which time the Old West came to life in the form of Read More

Rainbow Over Texas

Actors: Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, Dale Evans, Sheldon Leonard, Robert Emmett Keane

Synopsis: Rainbow over Texas is set in a western never-never land, with vintage six-shooters and stagecoaches sharing screen time with modern limousines and radio studios. Roy Rogers (cast as "himself," as usual), plays a cowboy singing star who agrees to participate in a re-creation of the first Pony Read More

My Pal Trigger

Actors: Roy Barcroft, Roy Rogers, Al Bridge, Dale Evans, George "Gabby" Hayes, Harlan Briggs, Paul E. Burns, Jack Holt, LeRoy Mason, Kenne Duncan

Synopsis: This gentle, tuneful western is one of cowboy crooner Roy Rogers' best and most successful films; it is also his personal favorite. The fanciful tale tells how Rogers obtained his magnificent horse Trigger and begins with horse trader Rogers as he prepares to breed his best mare with his best Read More

Don't Fence Me in

Actors: Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, George "Gabby" Hayes, Robert Livingston, Moroni Olsen

Synopsis: Having previously introduced Cole Porter's hit song "Don't Fence Me In" in Hollywood Canteen, Roy Rogers performs the song once again in this same-named Republic "special." When he's not singing, Rogers is dealing with nosy female journalist Toni Ames (Dale Evans), who hopes to learn the truth Read More

Sunset in El Dorado

Actors: Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, Dale Evans, Hardie Albright, Margaret Dumont

Synopsis: In this western, a dreamy young woman, tired of her boring life and job travels to an abandoned town where her grandmother had been a notorious dancehall queen. There she imagines scenes from her illustrious grandma's life. The dream takes up most of the picture and during it, the gal meets many Read More

Along the Navajo Trail

Actors: Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, Dale Evans, Estelita Rodriguez, Douglas Fowley

Synopsis: A tuneful Roy Rogers Western, Along the Navajo Trail finds Dale Evans' Lazy A Ranch under siege from nasty J. Richard Bentley (Douglas Fowley), who is in cahoots with a greedy oil company aiming to erect a pipeline through the property come what may. Drifter Rogers, who is really a U.S. Marshal in Read More

Bells of Rosarita

Actors: Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, Dale Evans, Adele Mara, Grant Withers

Synopsis: The standard Roy Rogers musical western Bells of Rosarita is enlivened by a cute last-reel gimmick. Rogers is appropriately cast as a cowboy star who invariably rescues the heroine from the villain in his movie vehicles. But when Sue Farnum (Dale Evans) is cheated out of her inheritance by the Read More

Utah

Actors: Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, Peggy Stewart

Synopsis: Most cowboy leading men have only a single leading lady: in Utah, Roy Rogers is literally surrounded by delectable females, including his perennial movie (and real-life) sweetheart Dale Evans. The plot concerntrates on actress Dorothy Bryant (Evans), who inherits a ranch in (where else?) Utah. Read More

Man From Oklahoma

Actors: Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, Dale Evans, Roger Pryor, Arthur Loft

Synopsis: The Man From Oklahoma is set during a 20th century renactment of the 19th century Oklahoma land rush, but if patrons wanted to assume that the film had something to do with the Broadway musical hit Oklahoma!, that was certainly their privilege. Roy Rogers is on hand to help Peggy Lane (Dale Evans) Read More

The Yellow Rose of Texas

Actors: Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Grant Withers, Harry Shannon, George Cleveland

Synopsis: The Yellow Rose of Texas is, at least in the case of this Roy Rogers vehicle, both the title of a song and the name of a fancy showboat. Rogers plays a frontier insurance investigator who is assigned to locate a company payroll stolen several years earlier. Working undercover, Roy poses as a Read More

San Fernando Valley

Actors: Dale Evans, Jean Porter, Andrew Tombes, Charles Smith

Synopsis: Roy Rogers and Dale Evans still weren't man and wife when they costarred in Republic's San Fernando Valley. As always, Rogers is cast as a cowboy who happens to be named Roy Rogers; Evans, on the other hand, plays feisty femme ranchowner Dale Kenyon. At the behest of Dale's grandfather (Andrew Tombes Read More

Hollywood Canteen

Actors: The Andrews Sisters, Robert Hutton, Jack Benny, Joan Leslie, Bette Davis, Julie Bishop, John Garfield, Betty Brodel, Barbara Brown, Sydney Greenstreet

Synopsis: The West Coast's answer to Broadway's Stage Door Canteen, the Hollywood Canteen was created as a GI morale-booster by film stars Bette Davis and John Garfield. The Canteen was established so that Our Boys on leave in Tinseltown could have a good time with good food and good dancing -- and, as a Read More

The Lights of Old Santa Fe

Actors: Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, Dale Evans, Lloyd Corrigan

Synopsis: Roy Rogers saves Dale Evans from being hoodwinked by a rodeo competitor in this pleasant, and pleasantly tuneful, B-Western from Republic Pictures. Due to the mismanagement of old-timer Gabby Whittaker (George "Gabby" Hayes), The Brooks Rodeo is about to be gobbled up by competitor Frank Madden Read More

Song of Nevada

Actors: Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Mary Lee, Lloyd Corrigan, Thurston Hall

Synopsis: Roy Rogers and Dale Evans weren't yet husband and wife when they co-starred in Song of Nevada, but the rapport and chemistry is already very much in evidence. Roy befriends millionaire Thurston Hall, who was believed to have been killed in a plane crash. Hall hires Rogers to "tame" his snooty Read More

The Cowboy and the Senorita

Actors: Roy Rogers, Mary Lee, Dale Evans, John Hubbard, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams

Synopsis: Yet another tuneful Roy Rogers Western named after a song, The Cowboy and the Senorita features Roy and sidekick Teddy Bear (Guinn "Big Boy" Williams) as a couple of would-be prospectors fired from a small town café when the latter gets in trouble with an irate customer (rotund Ferdinand Munier). Read More

King of the Cowboys

Actors: Roy Rogers, Smiley Burnette, Peggy Moran, Gerald Mohr

Synopsis: The budget for this fine Roy Rogers Western was doubled and the title changed from Starlight on the Trail to the more descriptive King of the Cowboys, mainly due to Rogers' great reception on a personal appearance tour in the fall of 1942. Republic had lost Gene Autry to the war effort and this Read More

Hands Across the Border

Actors: Roy Rogers, Ruth Terry, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams

Synopsis: There's practically no western action in Hands Across the Border, but there's music aplenty. Roy Rogers stars as a wandering cavalier (named "Roy Rogers", naturally), who comes to the aid of entertainer Kim Adams (Ruth Terry). The daughter of a rancher, Kim does her patriotic bit by raising prize Read More

Silver Spurs

Actors: Roy Rogers, Smiley Burnette, John Carradine, Phyllis Brooks

Synopsis: This Roy Rogers musical western gets off to a grim start when rancher Jerry Johnson (Jerome Cowan) is murdered by resort-hotel operator Lucky Miller (John Carradine). It's all part of Lucky's scheme to take financial advantage of a railroad right-of-way construction project. Conspiring with the Read More

Song of Texas

Actors: Sheila Ryan, Barton MacLane, Harry Shannon, Arline Judge

Synopsis: Roy Rogers heads the cast of Song of Texas as a rodeo star named Roy Rogers. Quitting the rodeo operated by larcenous Jim Calvert (Barton MacLane), Roy goes into the ranching business. As a favor to his old pal, washed-up bronco buster Sam Bennett (Harry Shannon), Roy convinces Bennett's daughter Read More

Texas Legionnaires

Actors: Roy Rogers, Ruth Terry, Paul Kelly

Synopsis: Though it bears the same title as an earlier Gene Autry western, Roy Rogers' The Man from Music Mountain isn't a remake. Rogers is appropriately cast as a cowboy who's hit it big as a radio singing star. Returning to his hometown for a special remote broadcast, Roy finds himself in the middle of a Read More

Idaho

Actors: Roy Rogers, Smiley Burnette, Virginia Grey, Harry Shannon

Synopsis: At 70 minutes, the Roy Rogers musical western Idaho was packaged and promoted as a "special", rather than just another B-flick. The story concerns the efforts by kindly judge Grey (Harry Shannon) to establish a "Boy's Town"-style establishment for wayward youngsters. The judge is opposed by Read More

Call of the Canyon

Actors: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, The Sons of the Pioneers, Ruth Terry, Thurston Hall

Synopsis: Cattleman Gene Autry is put out-to say the least-when he finds out that he's been slickered by crooked purchasing agent Thomas McCoy (Edmund MacDonald). It turns out that McCoy is in debt to bookies, and has been skimming his customers to pay off his gambling losses. Autry hopes to put a stop to Read More

Man from Cheyenne

Actors: Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, Sally Payne, Lynne Carver, William Haade

Synopsis: The Man from Cheyenne is Roy Rogers, who does his best to squash a gang of cattle rustlers. What Roy doesn't know is that the mastermind behind the gang is a beautiful woman, East Coast socialite Marian (Lynn Carver). Making Marian's job easier is the fact that all the local cattlemen are crazy Read More

Romance on the Range

Actors: Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, Sally Payne, Linda Hayes, Edward Pawley

Synopsis: It's hard to dislike the Roy Rogers musical western Romance on the Range, but it's equally hard to get too enthusiastic about it. Rogers plays the owner of a western ranch who suspects that something is amiss with his highly secretive foreman Banning (Edward Pawley). Assuming a phony name, Roy Read More

Ridin' Down the Canyon

Actors: Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, Linda Hayes

Synopsis: Roy Rogers takes on crooked wartime profiteeers in the musical western Ridin' Down the Canyon. Posing as solid citizens, the crooks spend their evening hours stealing horses from local ranchers, then selling the steeds to the government at exorbitant prices. The head of the bad guys runs a dude Read More

Sunset on the Desert

Actors: Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, Lynne Carver, Frank M. Thomas, Beryl Wallace

Synopsis: In this western, Roy plays both the villain and the hero. As the bad-guy, he heads a ring of rustlers. The trouble begins when the gang runs across good-Roy and mistake him for their wicked leader. Good-Roy plays along so he can bring the gang to justice. Unfortunately, bad-Roy shows up and mayhem Read More

Sons of the Pioneers

Actors: Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, Maris Wrixon, Forrest Taylor

Synopsis: Sons of the Pioneers is a showcase for?the Sons of the Pioneers, who are reteamed with ex-"Son" Roy Rogers in this budget western. The plot is contingent upon a deposit of rare minerals, vital to the American war effort. The villains want to get their hands on these minerals, and to do so organize Read More

Sunset Serenade

Actors: Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, Helen Parrish, Onslow Stevens

Synopsis: Roy Rogers champions the cause of Easterner Sylvia Clark (Helen Parrish), who is in danger of losing her father's ranch to crooked land speculators. Roy tries to deal with the villains through legal channel, but they spoil things by resorting to strong-arm tactics. Making our hero's task all the Read More

South of Santa Fe

Actors: Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, Linda Hayes, Paul Fix, Judy Clark

Synopsis: In this western, brave Roy Rogers and his pals take on high-tech big city gangsters who fight their battles with airplanes and tommy guns. The trouble begins as Rogers is taking three important investors to see some land. At the same time, a crime lord endeavors to kidnap the investors and leave Read More

Heart of the Golden West

Actors: Roy Rogers, Smiley Burnette, George "Gabby" Hayes, Ruth Terry

Synopsis: Roy Rogers saves the day for the ranchers of Cherokee City in this fast-paced comedy-Western directed and produced by Joseph Kane. Roy and no less than three sidekicks -- Smiley Burnette, George "Gabby" Hayes and Bob Nolan of the music group The Sons of the Pioneers -- attempt to persuade Read More

The Pinto Kid

Actors: Charles Starrett, Louise Currie, Bob Nolan, Paul Sutton, Hank Bell

Synopsis: Pinto Kid was one of Charles Starrett's last "formula" westerns before he permanently assumed the screen guise of the Durango Kid. The story takes places just after the Civil War, with hostilities between Yanks and Rebels still in effect between Kansas and Texas. The villain, cattle rustler Vic Read More

Outlaws of the Panhandle

Actors: Charles Starrett, Frances Robinson, Stanley Brown, Norman Willis, Ray Teal

Synopsis: Outlaws of the Pandhandle was the last of Charles Starrett's "formula" westerns for Columbia: hereafter, Starrett would be seen only in the guise of frontier medico Steven Monroe or masked do-gooder The Durango Kid. For the moment, however, the star is cast as Jim Endicott, bound and determined to Read More

Red River Valley

Actors: Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, Sally Payne, Gale Storm

Synopsis: In this entertaining western, Roy Rogers rides to the rescue of ranchers threatened by a drought. With his rousing songs, he rallies the reluctant fellows together to donate a large sum of money to build a new reservoir. Things go well until a gambler gets involved and winds up stealing the Read More

Thundering Frontier

Actors: Charles Starrett, Iris Meredith, Raphael Bennett, Alex Callam, Carl Stockdale

Synopsis: After a handful of non-formula westerns, Charles Starrett returned to the mixture as before in Thundering Frontier. Starrett plays Jim Fillmore, kind to old ladies, small animals and heroine Norma Belknap (Iris Meredith). In contrast, the villains are kind to no one, least of all struggling Read More

Two-Fisted Rangers

Actors: Charles Starrett, Iris Meredith, Bob Nolan, Kenneth MacDonald, Dick Curtis

Synopsis: Two-Fisted Rangers was the first of a handful of Charles Starrett westerns to be lifted from the routine by the camera pyrotechnics of director Joseph H. Lewis. The story is usual one about hero Thad Lawson (Starrett) avenging the death of his brother at the hands of villainous Jack Rand (Kenneth Read More

Texas Stagecoach

Actors: Charles Starrett, Iris Meredith, Bob Nolan, Dick Curtis

Synopsis: Texas Stagecoach was one of a group of 1940 Charles Starrett westerns directed by cult favorite Joseph H. Lewis. Outside of this, there's very little new herein. Starrett once more plays a frontier do-gooder who champions the cause of heroine Iris Meredith-but only after he and Miss Meredith spend Read More

The Stranger from Texas

Actors: Charles Starrett, Bob Nolan, Richard Fiske, Dick Curtis

Synopsis: Charles Starrett plays the title role in Stranger from Texas, but he's no stranger to the cliches inherent in the film's plotline. Things get under way when US marshal Tom (Starrett) finds himself in the midst of a range war. The villains are a band of rustlers who play both sides of the Read More