The Gay Ranchero (1948)

Okay Rogers programmer. Plot's a little different—bad guys trying to sabotage small rural airport and its planes so they can build a casino. Roy's the town sheriff, while Frazee runs the port with Devine's help, that is, when he's not in the bull ring. Guizar and Estrelita are sort of charming drop-ins. There's some good hard riding around familiar LA area locations. Not much gunplay, but some good flying fists, especially when two bad guys mix it up. And, oh yes, lots of a low-flying single engine as it navigates the trees and fields. Unless I missed something, the Amazon streaming version lacked the songs listed here, and was in fuzzy b&w . Anyway, Roy's his usual appealing six-gun hero, while Miss Frazee's a relief from the ugly guys, and Devine's amusing without overdoing it. But, in my little book, Estrelita steals the film with striking looks and a strong personality. Watch out for the little story twists that may require a scorecard as to who's on whose side. All in all, it's an average Rogers oater which for his fans is way good enough.

This is an odd Roy Rogers film, but he did do a lot of strange films that were an odd amalgam of the old and the new. In this case, our cowboy hero is involved with an airport and hijacked airplanes--a very, very odd venue for a western hero. And, yes, it's true, there were no airplanes in the old west. However, Roy Rogers and Gene Autry BOTH made a ton of anachronistic films--with cowboys AND telephones AND pickup trucks and the like. It's odd. So why are the planes being sabotaged? Tune in and see in this rather ordinary (aside from the locale) Rogers film. About the only standout thing is the nice non-stereotypical Hispanic leading man--something unusual for the time.

Roy Rogers is a Sheriff who must catch airplane saboteurs. Mr. Rogers is also a singling cowboy. Tito Guizar is Bullfighter Nicci Lopez. Mr. Guizar is also a singing cowboy. As "The Gay Ranchero" of the title, Guizar seems to have more to do than Rogers. Andy Devine (as "Cookie") works at the Manzanita Springs Airline being sabotaged, and helps out singling cowboys out - and, gets helped out during the bull session. Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers add songs and laughs.This film seems to be an attempt to cross-over the audiences of American singing cowboy star Roy Rogers and Mexican singing cowboy star Tito Guizar. Or, it may be an attempt to introduce the Mexican singing cowboy star to Rogers' U.S. audience. The resulting film is like two partial movies, either of which are very good. The cowboy stars never really operate/act as a "team"; they have little rapport, and few opportunities to show any. ** The Gay Ranchero (1948) William Witney ~ Roy Rogers, Tito Guizar, Andy Devine

This 1948 cowboy flick finds the King of the Cowboys helping to foil a plot to sabotage airline equipment and plunder the contents. Roy is a lawman that gets to the bottom of the hooligans shenanigans .The great Andy Devine is back in this one as "Cookie" and so are the Sons of the Pioneers. The plot, casting and action here are good and the songs are adequate. Gabby Hayes & Dale Evans are sorely missed.This was a pretty good Rogers film. The story moves at a good pace and the airplane angle was nicely incorporated. Jane Frazee was not the best choice for a female lead, but is pleasant nonetheless.An enjoyable, but standard singin' cowboy flick.