On the Old Spanish Trail

I've seen several dozen Roy Rogers films and while I cannot say this is among his very worst films, it sure must come pretty close. It just seldom makes any sense and the acting is occasionally pretty sad. The film begins with Roy learning that the Sons of the Pioneers owe $10,000 and he goes off to find them in some traveling show. Along the way, he meets up with a bandit named Rico (also called 'The Gypsy'--Tito Guizar) and a spunky lady who owns the show (Jane Frazee). It turns out the show hasn't made money because where the show has gone, robberies have 'coincidentally' occurred as well--so no one wants the show in their town. The crimes have been blamed on The Gypsy but there are others who have been pinning the blame on this hot-blooded guy. Can Roy get to the bottom of what's really happening?

The problems with the film are many but let's discuss just a few. The film has even more songs than usual and none of them are particularly good. There was even a moment when they captured The Gypsy and he agreed to come along peacefully IF they first sang him a song!! There also is a girl who is in love with The Gypsy and Estelita Rodriguez is nearly as stereotypically offensive as the Frito Bandito! I am sure Hispanic viewers would cringe every time she comes on the screen and Miss Rodriguez must have cringed every time she had to utter her fiery dialog. And finally, Rogers' behaviors towards The Gypsy make no sense--at some points he wants to capture him and yet, for no discernible reason, he later tells everyone he thinks Rico is innocent! Overall, this film just isn't that enjoyable. While I will be quick to admit that his films are pretty formulaic, they have a certain charm and likability about them. This one, on the other hand, just never was particularly good and the real baddies were just too obvious.