Tue 18 Nov 2014
A Western Movie Review by Jonathan Lewis: UNDER CALIFORNIA STARS (1948).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , Western movies[3] Comments
UNDER CALIFORNIA STARS. Republic Pictures, 1948. Roy Rogers, Trigger, Jane Frazee, Andy Devine, George H. Lloyd, Wade Crosby, Michael Chapin. Director: William Witney.
Don’t let the cowboy songs and the lighthearted Andy Devine comic antics deceive you. This William Witney-directed Roy Rogers movie isn’t entirely as innocent as you might think.
In Under California Stars, Trigger is kidnapped and is nearly shot to death by a bunch of ornery horse traders. A criminal double-crosses his masters and, as payback for his deception, gets some lead in his chest. And Rogers aptly demonstrates that he can throw a mean punch or two, get scrappy in a fight, and roll in the dirt with the best of the brawlers, thanks in so small part to Witney’s excellent choreographing.
But it’s not all mayhem in and around the Double R ranch. There are some fun characters too. Cookie Bullfincher (Devine) and his lovely cousin, Caroline (Jane Frazee) add a light touch to the story, as does Ted Carver (Michael Chapin), who portrays a young boy caught between his mean stepfather and his affection for Trigger.
All told, this Roy Rogers movie is a better than average singing cowboy 1940s Western. Filmed in Trucolor, it’s definitely a step up from the lower grade black and white Western films from the same era. And you know what, the catchy title song, “Under California Stars,†isn’t all that bad, either.
November 18th, 2014 at 10:06 pm
Roy was doing his best films in this period, and some of them were pretty tough minded like this and his best film ever THE BELLS OF SAN ANGELO with some really rough and tumble fights benefiting from the fact that the legendary Dave Sharp was about Roy’s height and general build and coordinating many of the fights, he’s even one of the bad guys in SAN ANGELO (which for once actually looks a little like the location of the film)and features in two excellent battles with Roy.
A few of the films have an edge, and Roy was a much tougher character in them than he had been in earlier films. Frankly some of these are among the best singing cowboy films ever made. There were also some interesting themes like salmon fisheries and Christmas Tree rustling.
Roy and Gene both were having a renaissance in this period.
November 18th, 2014 at 10:12 pm
David
In agreement with your assessment
Plus, having Witney at the helm really helped make this a quite good singing cowboy / action film
November 19th, 2014 at 12:54 am
Whether it was Roy, Rex Allen, or Monte Hale, the average Republic singing cowboy effort (or non singing for that matter) tended to be an attractive above average product from directors like Witney and Joseph Kane. Between the end of the War and the mid fifties Republic seemed to consistently turn out superior western films, B films that looked like A films in Republic’s TruColor and often shot on location.