Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Skunkyrate Gripping story with well-crafted characters

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

kevin olzak 1943's "Silver Spurs" was an above average Roy Rogers vehicle, then at the peak of his fame, boasting a higher budget, more ambitious script, and better supporting cast than the usual Republic players. Making his debut for Herbert J. Yates was scene stealing character star John Carradine, clearly in his element as Lucky Miller, villainous proprietor of the Frontier Lodge, who schemes to obtain an oil well by orchestrating a wedding for his drunkard accomplice Jerry Johnson (Jerome Cowan) to a mail order bride (Phyllis Brooks), since Miller can only purchase the ranch property from a widow. Rogers is the ranch foreman, cleverly framed by Miller for the murder of Johnson right after the two had a falling out. Approximately 14-15 minutes are missing from its original 68 minute running time, mostly deleted songs, yet the actual wedding ceremony featuring Byron Foulger's Justice of the Peace is nowhere to be seen either. Roy's horse Trigger has a couple of impressive stunts, while sidekick Smiley Burnette once again trots out Frog Millhouse, a character he played nearly 50 times over 10 years. The dapper Carradine occasionally looks out of place, never seen wearing anything but a suit and tie (even atop a horse!), but his presence spices up the proceedings, making this one of the star's best remembered films.

bkoganbing Silver Spurs has the kind of plot situation more involved in one of those Philo Vance murder mysteries than with a Roy Rogers western. The fact that we see all the villainous machinations of John Carradine and his henchmen out in the open robs it of being a mystery. But Silver Spurs still rates as a pretty good Roy Rogers western.For a plot this is interesting and unusual for a western. It involves playboy Jerome Cowan who among other things has a ranch that Roy Rogers is the foreman of. The people in the area want him to give the railroad a right of way, but Cowan is too busy partying to pay any attention to business.Apparently Jerome's dad knew what an idiot he was raising so the terms of his will are that the ranch can't be sold, but if he dies his widow can. So Carradine who owns the local gambling house arranges for a mail order bride for the well known playboy. Which perks the interest of sob sister reporter Phyllis Brooks and she comes west and marries the guy to see what the story is. Little did Phyllis suspect.The emphasis is on action and plot rather than Roy's singing. Still he gets to do a couple of standards the great Al Jolson song Back In Your Own Backyard and Tumbling Tumbleweeds which was written by Sons Of The Pioneers head Bob Nolan. And Roy gets as a sidekick Smiley Burnette who takes his Frog Millhouse character from those Gene Autry flicks where he sidekicked with Gene before Autry went into the service.Burnette even gets a love interest himself with Joyce Compton who is the sidekick of Phyllis Brooks. All in all a pretty good western for Roy Rogers.

wes-connors Roy Rogers (as Roy), Smiley Burnette (as Frog), and the "Sons of the Pioneers" are forced to operate on the wrong side of the law after Rogers is accused of murdering his drunken boss Jerome Cowan (as Jerry). John Carradine (as Lucky) is the scheming villain, and Phyllis Brooks (as Mary) brings along some feminine charm.The contrived story hits its height of incredulity when the Sheriff immediately believes Mr. Rogers has murdered the man he just pulled up from an over the cliff car crash. However, the film builds to an above average climax that is worth the wait. Trigger repeats his role of Rogers rope puller; but, Smiley performs a later trick Trigger could (and should) have pulled. Mr. Carradine lifts the performance levels considerably. The soundtrack includes one of the biggest Rogers/Nolan/Pioneers hits "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" (from way back in 1934), but it's not the definitive version, and is interrupted by annoying dialog. The "full performance" song highlight is "Back in Your Own Backyard". **** Silver Spurs (1943) Joseph Kane ~ Roy Rogers, Smiley Burnette, John Carradine

Joe Bridge Excellent Roy Rogers vehicle with a great, wily performance by John Carradine as an added bonus.Good pacing and good direction (and yes, a few very good stunts) place this way above similar movies. Even the usually annoying side-kick role (with this one, it's Smiley Burnette as "Frog") isn't that bad at all.Also, far less corny than some would first expect if you've seen others with similar plots from this time period.There are a few very good action sequences, and some very funny lines if you're in the right mood.The story mostly involves a "mail-order bride"; Mary the reporter going in to get a story about the "playboy" rancher and what is obviously a "phoney deal". Rogers is only trying to help his boss. However, the rancher is shot (admittedly, it was one unbelievably good shot through a car window from a fair distance) and Roy is conveniently framed when he shows up at the accident scene to check things out. Of course, you know that everything is bound to turn out for the best. There is also time for a couple good old songs.10/10.