Henry Cabot Beck of True West Magazine and I were emailing back and forth this morning about the color Roy Rogers pictures (Trucolor, to be precise), how wonderful they are, and how terribly they’re represented on DVD. It’s a matter that has been beaten to death on a number of newsgroups, which shows just how important this really is. With these pictures in mind, a hastily-constructed post seemed in order.
The official releases worth your time and money are:
Bells Of Coronado (1950) is the only Roy Rogers film that Lions Gate got around to putting on DVD during their handling of the Republic catalog. (Maybe this new arrangement with Olive Films will result in a few more.) Coronado is a good one, with Dale Evans, Trigger, Grant Withers and Pat Brady adding their usual support. William Witney lends his masterful direction, the songs are great and the Trucolor looks good. I think this is out of print, but it’s still listed here.
VCI’s Roy Rogers Western Double Feature Volume 1 presents Under California Stars (1948) and The Bells of San Angelo (1947) — both uncut and both looking just fine. California features Jane Frazee and Andy Devine, while San Angelo has Dale Evans, Andy Devine and Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers. Witney directed both. It’s also a deal, available through their website for just four bucks! Trailers are even included. So mosey on over and pick one up.
I wish this was a lot longer post, with lots of links so you could complete your color Rogers collection. Maybe someday. Till then, “may the good Lord take a liking to you.”
This is a subject I was very interested in a year or so ago and did some research and searching to get color version where available. Here is a list of all of Roy’s color features:
1950 The Trail of Robin Hood — 67 minutes
1950 North of the Great Divide — 67m
1950 Sunset In the West — 67m
1950 Trigger, Jr — 68m
1950 Twilight of the Sierras — 67m
1950 The Bells of Coronado — 67m
1949 The Golden Stallion — 67m
1949 Down Dakota Way — 67m
1949 Susanna Pass — 67m
1948 The Far Frontier — 67m
1948 Grand Canyon Trail — 67m
1948 Night Time In Nevada — 67m
1948 Eyes of Texas — 70m
1948 Under California Stars — 70m
1948 The Gay Ranchero — 72m
1947 On the Old Spanish Trail — 75m TruColor / 54m TV cut / 57m Westerns Channel
1947 Springtime In the Sierras — 75m
1947 The Bells of San Angelo — 78m
1947 Apache Rose — 75m
1946 Out California Way — cameo in Monte Hale film — 67m / 54m cut
I managed to find color versions available of many, but not all. I’ll get back and let you know more.
Those are all great pictures. And it’s so frustrating trying to see them they way they should be seen. I can’t sit through the cut versions. There’s just nothing left.
All those involved deserve so much better!
The other day when you posted some screen caps from Johnny Guitar, I noticed the Trucolor label and thought “Wow, that looks a lot better than the Trucolor I’ve seen in Roy Rogers movies…” In my experience, Trucolor is mostly orange, blue and tan.
I’ve had a glimpse of both the black-and-white and color uncut versions of Bells of San Angelo, and found that they both had those blips in the film where dialogue is lost – I’m a bit hazy about some plot points to this day! Have you ever seen a print without that damage?
I remember that it has a weird place, but can’t remember much about it. But from what I’ve seen, the VCI versions are the best of what’s around on those titles.
An excellent restored Trucolor print was used for the VHS release of SUNSET IN THE WEST in 1998 from Lion’s Gate/Artisan/Republic. Looks as good as the Bells of Coronado DVD. Amazon.com resellers sell it, but the the listing is wrong saying it’s a 2002 release and that it’s in black and white. (The video box itself states it’s in black and white, but it is in TRUCOLOR.) Susanna Pass,Down Dakota Way, The Golden Stallion, Twilight in the Sierras, Trigger Jr., North of the Great Divide, and Trail of Robin Hood came out in unrestored but decent looking Trucolor on VHS in 1992 from Republic Home Video.
Re: “Johnny Guitar’s” color: From 1946 to 1951 Republic’s Trucolor process used two colors, a red and a cyan (blue-green). In 1951 they satrted using three colors in their Trucolor process, red, cyan and yellow. With Johhny Guitar in 1954, they used an improved three color process and used that version of Trucolor until 1957. All the Roger’s were the two-color process.
A company called Film Chest has just released a restored version of SPRINGTIME IN THE SIERRAS and it looks pretty good. But not as good as the Bells of Coronado DVD and The Sunset in the West, VHS.
Thanks for the backstory on Trucolor. I was too lazy (and wrapped up in a conference call) to type one up.
Those Republic VHS tapes were quite nice. They’re some of the few tapes I’ve hung on to.
Thanks to some here already who said what I was going to about Sunset In West, VHS version looks excellent and in color and uncut on Amazon. Was not able to find color versions of the following 6:
Appache Rose
On Old Spanish Trail
Eyes of TX
Night Time In NV
Grand Canyon Trail
Far Frontier
I sure hope that somewhere these still exist in color. Unfortunately, Roy did not bother to take ownership of his movies and instead spent more time meeting the public and staying “out there” with his museum. Unlike Gene Autrey & Hopalong Cassidy who bought the ownership rights to their own films and consequently their films are all available in excellent versions. It’s the great Roy Rogers films that are mostly available in unrestored public domain versions. There are exceptions to this, of course, but it seems most of them are not official stuido versions, but public domain. I’ve been watching the Roy films now for more than a year, still have more to go, but I can tell you they are all entertaining and fun, even if some are not in pristine condition. They are worth seeking out and enjoying. I started with a list of Roy films and literally went down it finding as many as I could. Got an excellent color version of Sprintime in the Sierras too along with Sunset In West, also very nice versions of Tail of Robin Hood (a Christmas annual with me) are available.
And even though the Happy Trails Theater versions of Roy’s movies are all edited, I still find them very enjoyable with the invaluable live introductions done by Roy, Dale, and a whole slew of great Western stars of yesteryear, Penny Edwards, Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, Chief Iron Eyes Cody, Roy Jr. and more. Those introductions on those Happy Trails Theater DVDs of Roy’s movies are worth it alone.
Four restored Roy Rogers films were screened at the TCM Classic Film Festival in 2011 — Under Western Stars, The Cowboy and the Señorita, My Pal Trigger, Trigger, Jr. I missed The Cowboy and the Señorita, but I saw the other three (Herb Jeffries attended two of the screenings I was at).
Trigger Jr. looked unbelievably gorgeous in glowing blue and gold Trucolor. There was nothing “realistic” about the palette but it was so exquisite I didn’t care. If only they could put this restoration of Trigger Jr. onto Blu-ray (plus the other three black and white restored films). I don’t think you’ve seen a Roy Rogers film till you’ve seen these restored versions — unless you’re old enough to have seen them when they originally arrived in theaters!
I spoke at length with Barry Allan, who had made these four restorations before departing Paramount. He told me that complete prints of varying quality were available in foreign archives and the movies were restored from elements in the U.S. and from these foreign archives. He also said that Paramount had complete separations for Trigger Jr. and he had made a new 35mm element, and what we saw at the festival was the only Rogers Trucolor print that is currently on safety stock.
By the way, I recently rewatched Dark Command which I hadn’t seen in a while, and I think if Roy Rogers hadn’t become “Roy Rogers,” he could have had a well-regarded career as a regular, non-”Roy Rogers” actor who played different characters.
I wonder, do those complete foreign prints include Roy’s early ’40s films? A lot of my favorites from 1941 – 43 are only available in the short TV versions, the uncut prints considered “lost.” (Apologies for departing from the ’50s here.
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There are nice, complete pints of most of the older Rogers films in the hands of collectors (including some of Roy’s personal prints). They’re 16mm, but could be used to put together some nice restorations — if someone felt such a project was worthwhile.
I would love to see the complete version of “Silver Spurs” with John Carradine.
off topic:
Can anyone here speak to the DVD quality of the Spanish releases of SANTA FE PASSAGE (aka SENDEROS DE VIOLENCIA), DEVIL’S CANYON (aka NOCHE SALVAJE), BUGLES IN THE AFTERNOON (aka EL ULTIMO BALUARTE), or REVOLT AT FORT LARAMIE (aka REBELION EN FORT LARAMIE)?
A good looking full length Trucolor print of Trigger Jr. recently shown on U.K. TCM. The only downside is the permanent TCM channel logo in top right of picture. I think the USA TCM still has the come and go logo at bottom right, which is much better.
Bells Of Coronado from Lion’s Gate-Republic DVD looks fantastic, why they never continued releasing the other excellent color Republic video tapes onto DVD I just don’t understand. For that reason I still have on my shelf the Republic color tapes of The Golden Stallion, North Of The Great Divide and Trail Of Robin Hood.
Those are the same ones I have on tape!
The one-sheet postcards inside were a nice touch, weren’t they?
Yes Toby, the film poster cards were a nice bonus, but I must admit it was well over 6 months before I realised they were in the video box, a friend had to tell me!
Although not Trucolor films, we must not forget that The Roan Group was one of the very first companies to produce good quality full length prints of Roy’s films on DVD, and some are still available to buy today.
As a Roan, those were an honor to work on. I’m not sure if those are still available or not.
Does anyone know which of the scarce Roy Rogers movies were shot at the Iverson Movie Ranch? Most, but not all, of Roy’s movies include scenes shot there. I’m curious in particular about that Trucolor VHS version of Sunset in the West. Another one I’m wondering about is Jeepers Creepers (Republic, 1939). Has anyone seen that? Any Iverson? A couple of others are The Old Homestead (Liberty, 1935) and Pals of the Golden West (Republic, 1951).
If you’re not sure what Iverson looks like in the movies, check out my blog. The Roy Rogers link in the index brings up a number of shots of Roy at the movie ranch.
iversonmovieranch.blogspot.com
I am not familiar with movies of Roy Rogers and would be most obliged if someone could recommend some which have great songs in particular. Best regards.
I prefer the later ones (directed by William Witney), so I’d recommend:
My Pal Trigger (1946)
The Golden Stallion (1949)
Trigger, Jr. (1950)
Trail Of Robin Hood (1950)
Spoilers Of The Plains (1951)
Song-wise, you can’t go wrong with any of them, though Don’t Fence Me In (1945) does stand out. Hope this helps.
You’ve got some good movies ahead of you!
I just watched a goodie this past Saturday. I would recommend (in addition to the excellent color VHS tape “Sunset In The West”) an early one from 1942, “Sunset Serenade”. I watched this over the weekend and it was loaded with great songs, uncut, it was originally 58 min., has Gabby Hayes, Bob Nolan & Pat Brady all singing great songs. A very pretty Helen Parrish as the lead girl in peril. Pat sings a funny song “No Good Son of A Gun”. I’ll borrow this description I got from Amazon, as I think it sums the movie excellently:
“Six good songs by Roy Rogers, Gabby Hayes, and the Sons of the Pioneers with Pat Brady. One of Roy Rogers best because of some priceless songs.
The song, “Mavoureen O’Shea”, with, surprise, Gabby Hayes in the lead with a great Irish accent; a song of subtle humor. (I bet this song took more than one take, because Gabby’s Irish accent is so convincing, it must have made the other guys laugh.)(A rare glimpse of Roy at the start of this song, breaking character, having a good time).
“Mary Smith is my Irish rose, how much I love her? there’s nobody knows. She’s happy I know cause she told me today; she’ll be changing her name to Mavoureen O’Shea. Ohhhhhh Mavoureen O’Shea, her name sounds better that way. McCarthy is fine and Smith is Ok, but none half so fine as… Mavoureen O’Shea!”
The song, “No Good Son of Gun” is made great by Pat Brady (Take a look at one of the band to Pat’s right, breaking character, enjoying Pat’s humor). These guys were all great friends in real life. This unique script and these unique songs allow their off-screen, friendship to shine through. They are having a lot of fun. They can’t make them like this anymore.
“The Sandman Lullaby” is very relaxing with a little yodeling, a true lullaby.
You are better off purchasing the “Happy Trails Theatre” version at Roy Rogers Dott Comm, which has an added opening and closing, hosted by Roy and Dale years later; they show a home-movie.
The bad guys try to swindle a ranch from the heir. Plenty of action and a little humor. The story is fine and lively. This film is exceptional because of the exceptional songs and some unique opportunities for Roy and the boys’ real life fun to shine. (1942). “
IDAHO and THE BELLS OF ROSARITA both feature the Robert Mitchell Boys Choir singing the title tunes and other tunes along with Roy. (See if you can spot John Smith of the Laramie TV series in the choir.)
Idaho is available uncut from Sinister Cinema and Alpha. VCI has the the best looking Bells of Rosarita.
In Bells of Rosarita look for Bob Nolan jitter-bugging with Adele Mara,(Mrs Roy Huggins). Plus Republic cowboys, Bob Livingston, Rocky Lane, Sunset Carson, Don Barry, and Wild Bill Elliott as guest stars.
SONG OF NEVADA is one that really shows the Roy and Dale chemistry plus there is a great comic music performance from Mary Lee with the the Pioneers. Sinister Cinema has a 72 minute version of this one. This one was tons of fun.
Thanks for that. Maybe the thing to do is compile this stuff into some kinda list with the running time and best source.
Or has someone out there already done this?
I have done a little bit of that at a thread at the HomeTheaterForum.com called “Roy Rogers in Trucolor and Uncut”, in the DVD forum, but it’s not organized.
I have been rebuying some “uncut” Roy Rogers titles from Alpha and Comet Western just to check the runtimes vs the Sinister Cinema versions and other tapes I have, but have not received my orders yet.
I even ordered the Alpha version of Springtime in the Sierras since they say it was restored, maybe they are working with Film Chest, they used the same cover art. Alpha’s version has been out since Feb. 2012. It’s only $3.99 this month at the oldies.com site.
Normally the Alpha Video versions of the color Roy movies are in b/w. I’ve been fooled by them before. BUT, this new listing of the Alpha release of a color version of “Springtime In Sierras” may actually be in color, it does say color in the official description. I have a complete color version of “Springtime…” that I bought about a year ago from a collector who sells on the web. The newly available version from Film Chest that Toby mentions (this was not available when I was buying it) in his more recent Roy post is in color, but whether it comes from the same source as mine I don’t know. It’d be interesting to compare all 3 versions and see if they are all in the same shape or if one is much better than the others.
I’m one who lives by lists, here’s a list of all of Roy Rogers movies. Currently I have 72 of them, still looking to get the missing ones. Hardest to find is “Jeepers Creepers”.
ROY ROGERS MOVIES
“The Old Homestead” (Liberty, 1935)
“Slightly Static” (MGM, short subject, 1935)
“Way Up Thar” (educational short subject, 1935)
“Gallant Defender” (Columbia, 1935)
“The Mysterious Avenger” (Columbia, 1936)
“Rhythm on the Range” (Paramount, 1936)
“The Big Show” (Republic, 1936)
“The Old Corral” (Republic, 1936)
“The Old Wyoming Trail” (Columbia, 1937)
“Wild Horse Rodeo” (Republic, 1937)
“The Old Barn Dance” (Republic, 1938)
(The above films did not feature Roy in a starring role.
Under Western Stars” below, was his first starring role.)
“Under Western Stars” (Republic, 1938)
“Billy the Kid Returns” (Republic, 1938)
“Come On, Rangers” (Republic, 1938)
“Shine On, Harvest Moon” (Republic, 1938)
“The Arizona Kid” (Republic, 1939)
“Rough Riders’ Roundup” (Republic, 1939)
“Frontier Pony Express” (Republic, 1939)
“Southward Ho” (Republic, 1939)
“In Old Caliente” (Republic, 1939)
“Wall Street Cowboy” (Republic, 1939)
“Jeepers Creepers” (Republic, 1939)
“Saga of Death Valley” (Republic, 1939)
“Days of Jesse James” (Republic, 1939)
“Young Buffalo Bill” (Republic, 1940)
“The Dark Command” (Republic, 1940)
“The Carson City Kid” (Republic, 1940)
“The Ranger and the Lady” (Republic, 1940)
“Colorado” (Republic, 1940)
“Young Bill Hickok” (Republic, 1940)
“The Border Legion” aka “West of the Badlands” (Republic, 1940)
“Robin Hood of the Pecos” (Republic, 1941)
“Arkansas Judge” (Republic, 1941) (NON-WESTERN)
“In Old Cheyenne” (Republic, 1941)
“Sheriff of Tombstone” (Republic, 1941)
“Nevada City” (Republic, 1941)
“Bad Man of Deadwood” (Republic, 1941)
“Jesse James at Bay” (Republic, 1941)
“Red River Valley” (Republic, 1941)
“Man from Cheyenne” (Republic, 1942)
“South of Santa Fe” (Republic, 1942)
“Sunset on the Desert” (Republic, 1942)
“Romance on the Range” (Republic, 1942)
“Sons of the Pioneers” (Republic, 1942)
“Sunset Serenade” (Republic, 1942)
“Heart of the Golden West” (Republic, 1942)
“Ridin’ Down the Canyon” (Republic, 1942)
“Idaho” (Republic, 1943)
“King of the Cowboys” (Republic, 1943)
“Song of Texas” (Republic, 1943)
“Silver Spurs” (Republic, 1943)
“Man from Music Mountain” aka “Texas Legionnaires” (Republic, 1943)
“Hands Across the Border” (Republic, 1943)
“The Cowboy and the Senorita” (Republic, 1944)
“The Yellow Rose of Texas” (Republic, 1944)
“Song of Nevada” (Republic, 1944)
“San Fernando Valley” (Republic, 1944)
“Lights of Old Santa Fe” (Republic, 1944)
“Brazil” (Republic, 1944)
“Lake Placid Serenade” (Republic, 1944)
“Hollywood Canteen” (Warner Brothers, 1944)
“Utah” (Republic, 1945)
“Bells of Rosarita” (Republic, 1945)
“The Man from Oklahoma” (Republic, 1945)
“Sunset in El Dorado” (Republic, 1945)
“Don’t Fence Me In” (Republic, 1945)
“Along the Navajo Trail” (Republic, 1945)
“Song of Arizona” (Republic, 1946)
“Rainbow Over Texas” (Republic, 1946)
“My Pal Trigger” (Republic, 1946)
“Under Nevada Skies” (Republic, 1946)
“Roll On Texas Moon” (Republic, 1946)
“Home in Oklahoma” (Republic, 1946)
“Out California Way” (Republic, 1946)
“Heldorado” (Republic, 1946)
“Apache Rose” (Republic, 1947)
“Hit Parade of 1947″ (Republic, 1947)
“Bells of San Angelo” (Republic, 1947)
Springtime in the Sierras” (Republic, 1947)
“On the Old Spanish Trail” (Republic, 1947)
“The Gay Ranchero” (Republic, 1948)
“Under California Stars” (Republic, 1948)
“Eyes of Texas” (Republic, 1948)
“Melody Time” (RKO Radio Pictures, 1948)
“Night Time in Nevada” (Republic, 1948)
“Grand Canyon Trail” (Republic, 1948)
“The Far Frontier” (Republic, 1948)
“Susanna Pass” (Republic, 1949)
“Down Dakota Way” (Republic, 1949)
“The Golden Stallion” (Republic, 1949)
“Bells of Coronado” (Republic, 1950)
“Twilight in the Sierras” (Republic, 1950)
“Trigger, Jr.” (Republic, 1950)
“Sunset in the West” (Republic, 1950)
“North of the Great Divide” (Republic, 1950)
“Trail of Robin Hood” (Republic, 1950)
“Spoilers of the Plains” (Republic, 1951)
“Heart of the Rockies” (Republic, 1951)
“In Old Amarillo” (Republic, 1951)
“South of Caliente” (Republic, 1951)
“Pals of the Golden West” (Republic, 1951)
“Son of Paleface” (Paramount, 1952)
“Alias Jesse James” (United Artists, 1959)
“MacKintosh and T. J.” (Penland Productions, 1975)
I’ve watched some good quality Trucolor films on Netflix streaming, including several Roy Rogers titles. You might want to check out that resource.
I just ordered “Springtime In Sierras” from Alpha video, I’ll be interested to see any differences between the one I got a year ago from a collector and this one. Has anyone ever seen the color versions of these Rogers movies?:
Apache Rose
On Old Spanish Trail
Eyes of Texas
Night Time In Nevada
Grand Canyon Trail
Far Frontier
I think you will be pleased with the Alpha “Springtime” vs your bootleg, Johnny. I think it’s pretty much the same restoration as the Film Chest, but the Film Chest went a tad further with tightening transition scenes resulting in a slightly shorter run-time, but I don’t think any story or music content is missing. I’ll post more on the “Springtime” thread later, and be interested in your take once you have compared your two versions.
I am not surprised there are nice Trucolors on Netflix. Based on the quality of the DVD of Bells of Coronado, the VHS of Sunset in the West, and VHS of The Bold Caballero, and TV broadcasts of Brimstone, The Plunderers, and The Outcast, I think Republic/NTA/Spelling started restoring the Trucolors in the ’90s. How far they got,who knows.
I am not a Netflixer, Bob, what Trucolor titles have you seen on there?
The only three I can recall off the top of my head were OUT CALIFORNIA WAY, JUBILEE TRAIL and HELLFIRE. All of them looked quite good and JUBILEE was an open matte transfer that zoomed in nicely to the intended widescreen ratio. I watched several Roy Rogers titles but don’t recall the names.
I want to correct an error I made earlier about the IDAHO DVD, from Alpha. I bought it recently and viewed it yesterday and it’s missing the Republic Independence Hall logo, at the begining and end of the picture along with some of the IDAHO theme song that plays at those times.
Both the Sinister Cinema and the VCI DVDs of IDAHO have the logos and music, at the beginning and end of the movie.
Both SC and VCI are on DVD-R and both look pretty nice, with the VCI looking better to me. Both have Roy Rogers trailers. Sinister has the trailer for IDAHO and VCI has that color Roy Rogers Riders Club prayer clip.