Young Buffalo Bill (1940)

"Roy Rogers B-Western Series ... Young Buffalo Bill (1940) ... Republic Pictures "

Republic Pictures present "YOUNG BUFFALO BILL" (12 April 1940) (64 mins/B&W) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) --- Roy Rogers (born Leonard Slye) moved to California in 1930, age 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 Joseph Kane (Director / Producer), Gerald Geraghty (Screenwriter), Norman Houston (Short Story Author), Harry Jacobs (Screenwriter), Robert Yost (Screenwriter), William Nobles (Cinematographer), Cy Feuer (Musical Direction/Supervision), Tony Martinelli (Editor) - - - - Our story line and plot, Roy Rogers as Buffalo Bill saves a New Mexican landowner from the swindling activities of his half-breed ranch foreman --- This film, which climaxes with the arrival of the U.S. Cavalry to drive off the Indians, is one of a few B-Westerns that depicts Native Americans in negative terms --- the aristocratic Spanish-American heroine is played by winsome Pauline Moore --- our King of the Cowboys wound up portraying a number of historical men of the West in his oaters --- If you liked this, you might want to catch him as "Young Bill Hickok" (1940), "Days of Jesse James" (1939) and "Jesse James at Bay" --- some wonderful tunes, ROLLIN' DOWN TO SANTA FE and BLOW BREEZE BLOW.

the cast includes
Roy Rogers ... Bill Cody
Trigger ... "Smartest Horse in the Movies"
George 'Gabby' Hayes ... Gabby Whittaker
Pauline Moore ... Tonia Regas
Hugh Sothern ... Don Regas
Chief Thundercloud ... Akuna
Julian Rivero ... Pancho
Trevor Bardette ... Emelio Montez
Steve Pendleton ... Jerry Calhoun (as Gaylord Pendleton)
Wade Boteler ... Colonel Joseph Calhoun
Anna Demetrio ... Elena
Estelita Zarco ... Dolores
Hank Bell ... Stage shotgun guard
Fred Burns ... Stage driver
Horace B. Carpenter ... Barfly
George Chesebro ... Dice table croupier
Iron Eyes Cody ... Renegade comanche
Al Haskell ... Henchman
Jack O'Shea ... Army corporal

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. 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: 64 min on DVD ~ Republic Pictures ~ (11/04/2003) September 30, 2007

A singing Buffalo Bill riding Trigger with Gabby as sidekick

It doesn't get any weirder or more wonderful than this. People in the 30's and 40's were much more relaxed and open-minded than we are in this politically correct and rigid society. This movie and others of it's kind prove it. It's just a story about Buffalo Bill starring Roy, Gabby, and Trigger without any pretense to historical accuracy. So, yeah, a singing Buffalo Bill riding Trigger. It boggles the mind.

Gabby ("Durn persnickity women") does a bang-up job as always and steals every scene he's in. Roy's outfit is the best I've seen him in - buckskins and crossed single gun belts. There are action-filled riding and chasing scenes in western vistas as there usually is in Roy's movies. Indians, bad guys and shootouts too. A 6-horse stage! Class or what. Roy's "historical pictures" were the best and this one is as good as the rest of them.

As for being "truncated" I don't know but I would bet that Happy Trails Theatre found the best print they could. True, we don't get the Republic Pictures logo at the beginning, but so what? Maybe it was a copyright thing when they played it on Roy and Dale's show. I doubt it was shortened to fit in commecials either or the show would have been an hour and 23 1/2 minutes long. Remember, there is no good copy of even Citizen Kane in existence, so any repro of B-westerns is a treat in my book.

Happy trails, partners. - Gospel February 25, 2006

Be forewarned

Be forewarned....the very opening of the movie on this DVD has been truncated. The source for these transfers is evidently a program hosted by Roy and Dale in their later years. While I have no problem with the DVD's containing the intros, I did not pay for a movie that is not in its entirety...COMPLETE opening credits and all.

Secondly, the source is not good either. Roan Group did a much better job with their Roy Roger movie transfers.

In spite of being "Authorized by the Roy Rogers Estate"...which made me this a safe purchase....these Happy Trails Theatre DVD's are anything BUT high quality. March 27, 2004

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