Saddle up for real western excitement with this incredible 6 DVD collection of 27 action-packed, song-filled cowboys classics starring Roy Rogers - "The King of the Cowboys" - and Gene Autry - "America's Favorite Cowboy." You'll relive the days of the Saturday matinees with these outstanding titles:
THE BIG SHOW - Gene Autry plays a dual role in this film: well-known cowboy Tom Ford and his identical stunt double. When Ford fails to show at the 1936 Texas Centennial for a personal appearance, his stuntman attempts to impersonate the missing star. A plot twist is thrown into the mix when gangster Rico arrives at the event to collect the $10,000 that Ford owes him, believing the cowboy's stunt double to be Ford. Confusion and mayhem ensue between the gangster%u2014who is intent on making the cowboy pay up%u2014and the rodeo star's adoring but bewildered fans.
SPRINGTIME IN THE ROCKIES - When Sandra, a rancher newly out of animal husbandry school, tries her hand at raising sheep in cattle country, the local ranchers are violently opposed due to limited rangeland for their cattle to roam and graze. Now the target of plots devised to drive her away, Sandra enlists the aid of ranch foreman Gene Autry, who steps in to expose the cattlemen's tricks and make peace between the feuding parties. But when Autry is framed for murder, what will become of Sandra and her ranch%u2014and who will clear Gene's name?
BOOTS AND SADDLES - Edward, a young British earl, winds up in the Wild West when he inherits a rambling ranch from his recently deceased father. Conflict arises when the earl discovers his dad is indebted to a neighbor. To pay off his father's debt, the boy agrees to put the ranch up for sale%u2014much to the chagrin of Gene Autry, who urges the earl to raise horses for the U.S. Army instead. But Edward can't be persuaded, and a buyer puts in a bid for the ranch. Autry matches the proposition, and a horse race is scheduled to determine the winning bid. But on the night before the big race, Autry's stable tragically burns down, and all fingers point to arson%u2026
KING OF THE COWBOYS - Roy Rogers stars as a renowned rodeo legend assigned by the government to look into a rash of warehouse bombings during World War II. As part of the operation, Roy penetrates the Merry Makers, a traveling tent show whose fake mind reader, Maurice, is also head of the gang of saboteurs. But when Roy attempts to expose the malevolent man, Maurice catches him in the act of gathering evidence and ties the cowboy up in a warehouse that is about to be blown to smithereens. Luckily, Roy escapes but finds himself in hot water once again when Maurice murders a man and frames Rogers for the dirty deed. Soon Roy is jailed, and it becomes a race against time to stop the terrorists before they can bomb a train loaded with war supplies.
MY PAL TRIGGER - Said to be Roy Rogers' personal favorite and one of his best films, My Pal Trigger unfolds as horse trader Roy prepares to breed his finest mare with a friend's palomino stallion. Trouble arises when a shifty gambler (Jack Holt), who wants to use the stud to breed with one of his own mares, attempts to rustle the coveted horse. The plan fails, the stud breaks away and breeds with Roy's mare just before the gambler shows up, guns the escaped stallion down, and leaves Roy to take the blame. All ends well as Rogers deals some frontier style justice, and the mare eventually gives birth to Trigger, who grows into Roy's faithful steed.
SONG OF TEXAS - Tired of the thieving orchestrated by his manager Jim Calvert, Roy Rogers leaves the rodeo and enters the ranching industry. Though successful at his new endeavor, Roy soon finds himself helping his washed-up rodeo pal Sam trick his daughter into believing he's a rich, successful rancher after she sends word that she is coming to visit. To help his old friend out, Roy agrees to let his friend pose as the owner of his ranch, but a disgruntled Calvert threatens the harmless plan by scheming to reveal the truth to Sam's daughter.
UNDER CALIFORNIA STARS - When Trigger, Roy Rogers' magnificent steed, is stolen and his captors demand a 100,000-dollar ransom, Roy and his pals, Jane Frazee, Andy Devine and The Sons of the Pioneers, are determined to foil the thieves and retrieve his beloved palomino. At first, Roy suspects his young assistant, Ted Conover (Michael Chapin), of helping the thieves make off with Trigger, but when the boy helps Rogers trick the abductors, his true colors are revealed.
UTAH - Dorothy Bryant (Dale Evans) is a Chicago actress whose musical revue is shut down when funds fall short. To her surprise, Dorothy soon learns she has inherited a ranch in Utah, which she plans on selling to get her revue going again. Dorothy and her show mates, the Melody Maids, head out West to find a buyer, but when they arrive, cowhand Roy Rogers dupes Dorothy into believing she owns a ramshackle, broken-down ranch because Rogers doesn't want to see the real one get sold. His plan backfires when instead of going back to Chicago, Dorothy accepts cattle dealer Ben Bowman's low-ball bid for the real ranch.
MAN FROM MUSIC MOUNTAIN - Scanlon (Ivan Miller), a greedy land developer, is selling worthless plots of land in a ghost town to honest ranchers, deceptively telling them that the power company will soon be feeding electricity to the deserted settlement. Gene Autry falls victim to the scheme, persuaded to buy land with the added incentive of a gold mine that the exploitation artist knows to be worthless. But Autry soon catches on to Scanlon's unethical con artistry and tries to trick him into buying the land back by planting gold in the mine to make it appear fruitful. Scanlon sees through the scam and refuses to take the deed to the land back. Disappointed, Autry resigns himself to the fact that he has been swindled and sets about his business. When he discovers that the mine does contain a gold vein, it seems like his luck has changed%u2014until Scanlon's henchmen trap him in its depths with the intent of taking the gold for themselves%u2026
OH, SUSANNA! - In this Western musical, Gene Autry, on a train bound for Mineral Springs, stumbles upon a ring of masked thieves who rob him and then throw him from the train. Two men named Frog (Smiley Burnette) and Professor (Earle Hodgins) rescue the injured Autry and provide much needed comic relief. After Autry gets himself together, he pursues the robbers and brings them to the right side of the law.
THE OLD BARN DANCE - Gene Autry, a horse-trader in this enjoyable oater, is up against Thorton Farming Equipment%u2014a big name tractor dealership owned by a greedy man who seems to possess every major company in town. When Gene signs on to a radio station sponsored by Thorton (Ivan Miller), Autry gets the blame for the ranch foreclosures Thorton makes when the ranchers can't make the payments on his tractors. But not only is Autry able to outsmart the land connoisseur at his own game, he also commands more attention at the local fair sponsored by Thorton's company than Thorton does himself.
THE OLD CORRAL - Gene Autry and Roy Rogers square off when Rogers and his gang of thieves rob a westward bound bus%u2014with the exception of the lady passengers, who are omitted from the highwaymen's thieving in gentlemanly fashion. One of the women on board, Eleanor Spencer (Hope Manning), is wanted by both the Chicago police department and the Chicago mob for witnessing mobster Mike Scarlotti (John Bradford) bump off his adversary Tony Pearl (Buddy Roosevelt). For the sake of her safety, Spencer is trying to lie low, and this unexpected robbery isn't helping matters a bit. As feared, the Windy City's gangsters track Eleanor down, and only Turquoise City Sheriff Autry can save the day.
PUBLIC COWBOY NO. 1 - Jack Shannon (Arthur Loft) is a cattle rustler who has devised a clever operation involving an airplane, short wave radios, and a truck. The villain uses the airplane to scout out roving cattle, the radios to alert his henchmen to their location, and the truck to clandestinely haul the animals away. The area's sheriff is getting on in years and can't quite seem to bring the operation down on his own. Gene Autry, his deputy, suspects that the disappearing beef is the work of Shannon and his cohorts, so he sets up a booby trap to catch the man and his gang in action. But can Autry round up the rustlers on his own?
RIDE, RANGER, RIDE - In this musical Western, Gene Autry is a ranger lieutenant who, with the help of his cohorts Frog Millhouse (Smiley Burnette) and Rube (Max Terhune), attempts to inform a U.S. Cavalry commander that his Indian interpreter Duval (Monte Blue) is a false ally, who is in fact scheming to attack an army supply train with the Comanche tribe. But before they can get to Colonel Summerall (Robert E. Homans), the three Texas rangers are unjustly thrown in the slammer%u2014thus preventing them from informing the colonel. Luckily, the governor of Texas is on their side and has the men released immediately, and they are able to prevent an ambush meant to slaughter cavalrymen and to steal their war supplies.
RIM OF THE CANYON - Gene Autry has a double role as himself and his father%u2014a famous lawman%u2014in this Western actioner. The elder Autry had twenty years previously jailed a gang of three men for robbery, but now the outlaws have broken out of the big house, and it is up to Autry Jr. to hunt down the outlaws and recover the thirty thousand dollars hidden in a ghost town. The lone hero, with the help of his sturdy steed Champion, courageously heads for the hills in search of the villainous banditos and their stolen loot, in order to restore peace and justice to the Wild West.
YODELIN' KID FROM PINE RIDGE - Gene Autry is the son of a Georgian cattle rancher at odds with a group of turpentine-makers who collect the sap of pine trees in the area, and in doing so, interfere with Autry Sr.'s ranching business. When Gene Autry Jr. unexpectedly sides with the turpentiners, his father is infuriated, and feeling betrayed, refuses to have anything more to do with his son. So, Autry packs up his belongings and heads out of town with a traveling performance group called the Wild West Show as a singer. After two years of being on the road, the show returns to Autry's hometown of Pine Ridge. Once there, Gene learns that the turpentine business was really just a front for an illegal operation, and that his father was right all along. Feeling like a heel, Gene goes in search of Autry Sr. to make amends but discovers that his father has been killed in cold blood. Autry is certain that the leader of the turpentiners is responsible but finds himself held in suspicion for the murder. Now Autry must not only get justice for his slain father and disband the criminal operation, but he must clear his name as well.
HANDS ACROSS THE BORDER - Roy Rogers plays a traveling Good Samaritan who walks into a battle for an army horse contract between patriotic rancher's daughter Kim Adams (Ruth Terry) and her sneaky competitor Brock Danvers (Onslow Stevens). The dastardly Brock resorts to all sorts of underhanded methods to prevent her stock from getting to the army. Eventually, it is decided that a horse race will be run to decide who gets to have the contract, and Roy plans to help Kim by being her jockey in the contest. This Western musical also features the great talents of Janet Martin, The Wiere Brothers, and The Guadalajara Trio, as well as an appearance by Cisco Kid star Duncan Renaldo.
BILLY THE KID RETURNS - Rogers plays dual roles in this classic musical Western: the famous outlaw Billy the Kid and an innocent cowboy who bears a striking resemblance to the notorious villain. Such a similarity causes quite a problem for the harmless Roy until he is able to clear his name by bringing to justice some other local criminals and performing various musical numbers, since it is known that Billy the Kid couldn't carry a tune in a bucket.
EYES OF TEXAS - A crooked lawyer swindles one of her clients by claiming to have found his long-lost nephew%u2014convincing him to change his will to include the young man. She has the client sign a blank will and then finagles it so that his entire estate is left to the supposed nephew. The corrupt lawyer then unleashes killer dogs on her unwitting pawn, planning to gain custody of her client's estate. But just when she thinks she's going to get away with it%u2014U.S. Marshal Roy Rogers happens upon one of the vicious dogs and catches wind of the evil lawyer's twisted scheme.
BELLS OF ROSARITA - Playing himself, Roy Rogers rides to the rescue of Sue Farnum (Dale Evans) who has inherited a circus from her late father, as well as gained the ire of a cantankerous ex-partner of her father's who wants to steal the traveling show for himself. When he finds that he needs some help, Rogers and a group of other famous Western stars, including Sunset Carson, Wild Bill Elliot, and Robert Livingston, each on their equally famous horses, rally together and rush to aid the heroine.
GRAND CANYON TRAIL - Roy Rogers plays a rancher at odds with Bill Regan (Bob Livingston), a dishonest mining engineer who is attempting to make off with the valuable contents of a silver mine that he has told everyone else is empty. The magnificent vista of the Grand Canyon provides a breathtaking backdrop for the various musical numbers performed by Roy Rogers.
HELDORADO - Roy Rogers travels to Las Vegas to engage in the annual Heldorado Week%u2014an actual event held out West every year. The gala is a mixture of staged shootouts, imitation hold-ups, festive parades and other events revolving around America's final frontier. During the celebration, Roy gets sidetracked from the usual festivities%u2014ending up in a showdown with some crooked gamblers counterfeiting thousand dollar bills and pulling the wool over the casinos' eyes.
ROLL ON TEXAS MOON - In Roll on Texas Moon, Roy Rogers plays an undercover agent sent to investigate a growing feud between cattle ranchers and sheepherders in the region. But when he discovers that the dispute was intentionally ignited, the intrigue and mystery mounts. As relations between the factions intensify, Roy must settle the fiasco before what started as a disagreement erupts into all-out war.
UNDER NEVADA SKIES - Rodeoteer Roy Rogers steps in to help solve the mystery of an old man from Roy's hometown who is viciously murdered. The plot thickens when Rogers meets Helen Williams (Dale Evans), a new singer in town who is on her way to confront the dead man (not knowing he's been slain) about a valuable family heirloom that he supposedly filched from her father. It soon becomes apparent that the party responsible for the man's death is also looking for the heirloom. But who is the culprit? Rogers first suspects Helen, but it soon becomes apparent that she and her family are innocent when both Roy and Helen are almost killed. The would-be assassins are a gang of men who are after the Williams' heirloom, which contains a hidden map that leads to a valuable uranium mine.
WEST OF THE BADLANDS (aka THE BORDER LEGION) - Through no fault of his own, an innocent doctor, Steve Kells (Roy Rogers), assumes a new identity out West in order to escape New York law officials. But his new residence is not the peaceful hideout he hoped it would be, as a rough-and-tumble gang named The Border Legion runs it. Soon after his arrival, the good doctor is kidnapped and forced to give medical aid to their ruthless leader who has been shot. Now marked as a gang member, Kells has only one chance to prove his innocence. He devises a scheme to lure the outlaws into a trap that will reveal the truth of his goodness to all.
YOUNG BILL HICKOK - Young Bill Hickok is a musical Western that picks up where Young Buffalo Bill left off. Bill Hickok, played by Roy Rogers, attempts to prevent foreign invaders from stealing the gold that is entrusted to him in his position at a freight company. Through all the plights and plunders that befall this hapless hero, he is able to remain optimistic, finding many a song to see him through the sorrow. They include, "When the Shadows Fall on the Rockies," "A Cowboy Wedding," "I'll Keep on Singing a Song," and many more!
6 DVDs. B&W/Color. 1622 minutes. Region 1 encodning (U.S. and Canada only).
