When John Barrabbee's plane makes an emergency landing, he wanders off and joins Roy's cattle drive. Later he learns he was killed when his plane resumed its flight and crashed. He also learns his daughter is going to sell his ranch and marry a man he dislikes. So he gives Roy a job on the ranch and sends him off to see if he can prevent both of these events while he remains in hiding. Written by Maurice VanAuken Western girl moves east and influenced badly by her snobby fiance. She returns to sell her deceased father's ranch. The father isn't really dead, though; he's hoping that his friend Roy can restore the girl's western values. Songs include "New Moon Over Nevada," "A Cowboy has to Yodel in the Morning," and "The Harum Scarum Baron of the Harmonium." Written by Ed Stephan
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Good movie but grossly overrated
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.
The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
Acccording to IMDb, 25% of this film was trimmed for television. Sadly, no other version is available today and my review is based solely on this abbreviated version. It's a shame, as what I saw I liked very much. It was fun and the songs, while not my favorite part of any western, were bouncy and enjoyable. My score of 7 is a combination of how it is compared to all films as well as to other Bs--you really cannot compare a Roy Rogers film to a normal full-length film because the style is so different. As a B, I'd give it a 9--it's just fun. Compared to the average film overall, I'd give it a 5. A nice rich older man (Thurston Hall) has a brat of a daughter (Dale Evans) who is more concerned with high society than her western roots. She has all but forgotten about her childhood on the ranch and now plans to marry a dopey society guy against her father's wishes. However, the old man and Roy Rogers (who he meets while on an airplane trip) hatch a plan to remind Dale of her former life and the importance of good old country values. So, Hall stages his own death and Dale heads out to the old family ranch to settle his affairs and sell off the place. There, Roy uses his many charms to soften her up and a couple friends of Hall put on an act that will prove once and for all what Dale's fiancé is really like. In the end, naturally, Dale is thrilled to learn her father is alive, keeps the ranch and finds true love--and sings a few songs.None of this film came unexpectedly--and it never was really meant to. Instead, it followed a nice predictable formula AND worked better than usual thanks mostly to Hall's wonderful presence in the film. This unsung supporting actor was able to play two types of men wonderfully in films--rich nasty old guys and rich lovable old guys--and here he's at his lovable best. Overall, a nice film and one you can't help but enjoy.
Since only the mutilated version of Song of Nevada survives today, on that basis we have to judge it. Somehow I doubt there will be a big search for a director's cut either.Song of Nevada finds millionaire rancher Thurston Hall tired of the big city ways and the big city dude that his daughter Dale Evans wants to marry played by John Eldredge. He takes a trip out west and the plane makes an emergency landing in Nevada where he leaves the plane and hooks up with Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers driving a herd of cattle.Later on that same plane crashes and Hall's reported dead. But this gives Hall and Roy a perfect opportunity to see what's going on at the ranch. Lots of skullduggery going on there and you know Roy's going to put an end to it and win Dale from Eldredge.For reasons I can't fathom, Song of Nevada includes a big Busby Berkeley type western production number in the finale. Or at least what passed for one at Republic Pictures. For a while at this time Rogers films seem to have these. After the war, Roy got back to doing more riding and shooting and had less choreography in his musical numbers.Sad to say this badly edited version, butchered for television is what I saw. Song of Nevada looks like it could have been better in its original form.
Song of Nevada is in my top 10 list of favorite Roy Rogers Movies. The writing and story line is very good, larger budget than his usual movies, very good songs, lavish ending production number and an overall good movie. It was cut from 75 minutes to 54 minutes for TV, but recently the 75 minute uncut version became available from the Roy Rogers Museum. For some reason I still think there are two songs missing from their "uncut" version: "A Cowboy Has To Yodel In The Morning" by Roy and "Hi Ho Little Doggies" by the Sons of the Pioneers. But it is still worth buying as this version has much more than the 54 minute version. Also Mary Lee sings some nice songs and adds to the story.
This is one of my favourite Roy Rogers films...it's only 55 minutes, so the writing is tight and there aren't many distractions from the story (which is a problem in some later ones); the music is at its top; the acting is all quite good; there's even a stagecoach race!! And the story itself is quite amusing, which also became a problem in later films when they were being churned out a mile a minute and the quality severely deteriorated. It's just a shame the print I saw was really poor quality...it would have been even more enjoyable.I'm not the biggest Roy Rogers fan, I don't like the genre much, although I find his films more amusing than most others (and I near-*despise* Gene Autry...), but sometimes he's on, and he is here. His screen-presence is really high here, and he plays off of the other characters quite well.Overall: This is definitely better than most of the others I've seen; I should probably hunt down some more of the earlier ones...I'd definitely recommend this to any Rogers fan! 8/10.
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