Customer Reviews

Utah

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Dale Evans is the singer of an all girl band. She goes to Utah to sell her grandfather's ranch, that way her band will have money to put on their show. Only Roy isn't pleased with this, so he lies to her about its location. Add Gabby Hayes, romance, and some bad guys and this is an enjoyable Roy Rogers movie. Dale is very cute in this movie and she has a few solo numbers. The only thing that doesn't seem quite right with this movie is the change of her hair from brunette to blonde with no explanation.

This item as sold on Amazon as DVD and it is actually DVD-R. The disc would not play in my machine without skipping. The picture has been "matted" with black bars at the top and bottom to force the original 1.33:1 ratio to the modern 1.85:1 widescreen. Beware of Reel Classic Films products! I was forced to give this piece of junk one star. It does not deserve that high of a rating!

The source material Alpha Video used to make this DVD is the same as the VHS tape that was circulated a few years back. The picture is a little grainy and the original film to video transfer was poorly executed. The transfer camera was not properly aligned and the tops of people's heads are cut off in medium and close-up scenes. I have purchased a couple of beautiful DVDs from Alpha and I was expecting more. The only reason to buy this one is to have a full length version of the film.

Republic Pictures present "UTAH" (21 March 1945) (80 mins/B&W) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) --- Roy Rogers (born Leonard Slye) moved to California in 1930, at the age of 18 --- played in such musical groups as The Hollywood Hillbillies, Rocky Mountaineers, Texas Outlaws and his own group, the International Cowboys --- In 1934 he formed a group with Bob Nolan and Tim Spencer called "Sons of the Pioneers" --- While in that group he was known as Leonard Slye, then Dick Weston and finally Roy Rogers --- Their songs included "Cool Water" and "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" --- They first appeared in the western "Rhythm on the Range" (1936), starring Bing Crosby --- In 1937 Roy went solo and made his first starring film in 1938, "Under Western Stars" (1938) --- He made almost 100 films --- then came television, "The Roy Rogers Show" (1951) ran on CBS from October 1951 through September 1964.

Under Jon English (Director), Donald H. Brown (Producer), Betty Burbridge (Short Story Author), John K. Butler (Screenwriter), Jack Townley (Screenwriter), Gilbert Wright (Short Story Author), William Bradford (Cinematographer), Ken Carson (Songwriter), Dave Franklin (Songwriter), Charles Henderson (Songwriter), Bob Nolan (Songwriter), Bob Palmer (Songwriter), Morton Scott (Musical Direction/Supervision), Glen Spencer (Songwriter), Tim Spencer (Songwriter), Harry Keller (Editor), Gano Chittenden (Art Director), Otto Siegel (Set Designer), Adele Palmer (Costume Designer), Larry Ceballos (Choreography) - - - - Our story line and plot, Roy and Gabby try to persuade Dale Evans, an absentee ranch owner, from selling her property to finance a show in which she is starring --- Gabby, a cattleman does not want the place to become a sheep ranch --- Gabby's comedy is superb --- Appearing as Dorothy's (Dale Evans) entourage are such appealing Republic starlets as Peggy Stewart, Jill Browning and Beverly Loyd --- some wonderful tunes, UTAH -- THANK DIXIE FOR ME -- UTAH TRAIL -- BENEATH A UTAH SKY -- WILD AND WOOLLY GALS FROM OUT CHICAGO WAY -- FIVE LITTLE MILES -- WELCOME HOME MISS BRYANT -- LONESOME COWBOY BLUES.

the cast includes
Roy Rogers ... Roy Rogers
Trigger ... "Smartest Horse in the Movies"
George 'Gabby' Hayes ... Gabby Whittaker
Dale Evans ... Dorothy Bryant
Peggy Stewart ... Jackie (Dorothy's friend)
Beverly Lloyd ... Wanda
Jill Browning ... Babe (Dorothy's showgirl friend)
Vivien Oakland ... Stella Mason
Grant Withers ... Ben Bowman
Wally Wales ... Steve Lacy (as Hal Taliaferro)
Jack Rutherford ... Sheriff McBride
Emmett Vogan ... Chicago Police Chief
Bob Nolan ... Bob
Sons of the Pioneers ... Cowhands / Musicians
Horace B. Carpenter ... Station agent
Ken Carson ... Ken (member, Sons of the Pioneers)
Ed Cassidy ... Curry (Chicago cattle buyer)
Geraldine Farnum ... Dancer
Hugh Farr ... Hugh (Sons of the Pioneers Fiddle Player)
Karl Farr ... Karl Farr (member, Sons of the Pioneers)
Shug Fisher ... Bass player (uncredited)
Hal Price ... Townsman
Tim Spencer ... Tim (member, Sons of the Pioneers)

BIOS:
1. Roy Rogers (aka: Leonard Franklin Slye)
Date of Birth: 5 November 1911 - Cincinnati, Ohio
Date of Death: 6 July 1998 - Apple Valley, California

2. Dale Evans (aka: Frances Octavia Smith)
Date of Birth: 31 October 1912, Uvalde, Texas
Date of Death: 7 February 2001, Apple Valley, California

3. George 'Gabby' Hayes (aka: George Francis Hayes)
Date of Birth: 7 May 1885 - Wellsville, New York
Date of Death: 9 February 1969 - Burbank, California

Check out a new book from Empire Publishing - "THE ROY ROGERS BOOK: A REFERENCE TRIVIA SCRAPBOOK" (Paperback) --- reference trivia scrapbook of Roy Rogers written by Western film historian David Rothel whose accounts of thrilling adventures of B-Western heroes during the Saturday matinees of yesteryear takes us back to our childhood, family and friends --- this is a wish come true, reliving those wonderful years from the past through the pen of David Rothel --- Roy was a top box office draw for Republic Pictures when you went to see him on the big screen, you got exactly what the marquee said --- plenty of thrills, action and hard riding with a song or two thrown in for good measure --- Elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1980 as a member of the "Sons of the Pioneers" and elected again in 1988 as Roy Rogers "King of the Cowboys" --- Roy got his horse "Trigger" in 1938 and rode him in every one of his films and TV shows after that --- "Trigger" died in 1965 age of thirty-three --- Roy's dog's name was "Bullet" and appeared in almost as many of his films as "Trigger" did --- Roy's theme song, "Happy Trails", was written by Queen of the West and his wife Dale Evans --- inducted (with his wife Dale Evans) into the "Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum" in 1976 --- inducted as a member of the "Sons of the Pioneers into the "Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum" in 1995 just three years before his death --- Don't miss this one --- now appearing on Amazon and Empire Publishing --- Don't hesitate - rush out and pick up your copy today --- Great reading in the days and weeks to come --- I guarantee it!

Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc), Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") and Trevor Scott (Down Under DVD Com) as they have rekindled my interest once again for Film Noir, B-Westerns and Serials --- looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s & '40s and B-Westerns ... order your copy now from Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on DVD --- stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with musical adventure --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out Amazon where they are experts in releasing B-Westerns --- all my heroes have been cowboys!

Total Time: 80 min on VHS/DVD ~ Republic Pictures ~ (6/22/2004)