Cowboy and the Senorita (1944)

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Better Late Then Never

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

At least the villain is not wearing a mustache in this cliché ridden western musical. Roy Rogers is typically heroic as a singing cowboy who aids a 16 year old heir to a gold mine threatened with losing her father's bequest. Very mature looking Mary Lee is as close to 16 as Dale Evans as a Mexican ranch owner. John Hubbard is cast as the villainous land baron determined to add the property to his already huge bundle. Rogers and sidekick Guinn "Big Boy" Williams win the cynical teen instantly (probably because they let her eat the viddles she attempted to steal) and are all of a sudden everybody's (except Hubbard's) pals. Some pleasant minor songs and a lot of action keep this moving at breakneck speed, and it does hold some minor entertainment value. But it's as fresh a plot as 20 year old Lee seemed as a husky voiced teenager. The musical highlight is the plot pointless but quaiby "Enchilada Man" with the leads and the Sons of the Pioneers. Of course, clean shaven Hubbard is surrounded by a bunch of stereotypical looking western bad guys. There are never any surprises which downgrades this to standard stuff, fortunately over as fast as Trigger can cross Texas.

The programmer is basically a "personality" western that depends on the likability of its leads rather than lots of action. Don't expect much hard-riding or fast shooting. There is a cleverly choreographed saloon brawl showing off Roy's Tarzan skills. Unfortunately, about the only outdoor action are buckboards bouncing on a washboard road, again and again. Then too, the musical selections are nothing special, finishing up with a big production number as might be expected.In the personality department, spunky little Mary Lee, as Chip, steals the film with her lively personality, while Roy and Dale serve up more likability in their first screen pairing. At the same time, an oafishly winning Big Boy Williams (Teddy Bear) serves up the chuckles as comedy relief. The plot's fairly standard— but for good guys Roy, Dale and Big Boy, baddie Hubbard is out to steal Chip's inheritance. So nothing special there. Anyway, the most that can be said for the 70-minutes is that it's a fairly pleasant assembly-line product. But maybe more importantly, it hints at why a youthful Roy and Dale made such a likably successful team, both on-screen and off.A "5" on the matinée Scale.

Cowboy and the Senorita (1944) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Roy Rogers and 'Teddy Bear' (Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams) show up in a small town looking for jobs when they're befriend by a young girl (Mary Lee) and her keeper (Dale Evans). Rogers and Bear are given jobs looking after the young girl and it turns out that she has a valuable mine, which a greedy man (John Hubbard) is trying to con her out of. After several double crosses Rogers tries to get evidence to show what's going on. COWBOY AND THE SENORITA isn't the best film Rogers ever made but it's a decent "B" Western that is also remembered for being the first film between Rogers and his future wife Evans. Overall the story here certainly isn't anything too special as the entire "ripping off someone for their mine" had been done to death by the time talkies came into play. With that said, the director and cast do good enough of a job to at least make you care for the characters and want to see the bad punished and the good walking away without any trouble. It certainly doesn't hurt that the cast members are in such fine form and this of course starts with Rogers who once again plays that kind-hearted soul just doing what's right. That laid back style really comes across good here and that chemistry with Evans is on full display. The two really seem to be flirtatious throughout the film and they manage to mix it up quite well. Lee is also very impressive in her part as is Hubbard as the hissing villain. It was pretty funny seeing Williams in a Western like this as he was often seen in gangster pictures from the likes of Warner. There's certainly nothing ground breaking to be found here but if you're a fan of low-budget Westerns then this here is a decent time killer. It should be noted that the most common version out there is missing nearly twenty-minutes worth of footage most of which is song and dance numbers.

Hi again, Any movie Roy Rogers and Dale Evans are in is a treat for me. This film was very early in their career, 1944. Just a bunch of fun including the Sons of the Pioneers and Mary Lee. Thanks for listening. Florence