User Reviews

"Lights of Old Santa Fe" presents Roy Rogers and Dale Evans in a modern Western setting with a host of musical numbers and rodeo intrigue in the forefront. Dale's character Marjorie Brooks owns the Brooks International Rodeo, although with only one major booking, the business is on the brink of financial ruin. As unscrupulous rival Frank Madden attempts to take over the rodeo and marry Marjorie to seal the deal, it's up to Roy and Gabby Whittaker (Gabby Hayes) to uncover the scheme and give the Brooks name credibility once again.

Roy and Dale make a wonderful couple on screen and their charm and charisma are evident in the songs they do together, including the title song. Then there's a double dose of an uncharacteristic tune for a Western named "The Cowpoke Polka". But don't ask Gabby to take in a ballet as he's invited to do in the early part of the film - "I'd just as soon slide down a razor blade"!

Trigger gets top billing in the film as "The Smartest Horse in the Movies", but he doesn't have much to do here, although he does warn Roy and the Pioneers of trouble in camp when he breaks away from a Madden henchman named Ferguson (Roy Barcroft). The rawhide lariat that Trigger snaps proves to be the undoing of the whole rodeo scheme when Roy traces it's ownership back to Ferguson and his employer.

Roy and Dale first appeared in a film together in "The Cowboy and the Senorita" in 1944, followed soon after by this one. In all, they performed together in easily two dozen films, along with their hit TV series in the early 1950's. For anyone interested in a film representative of their engaging warmth and charm, "Lights of Old Santa Fe" is a good start.

First, welcome back, Gabby Hayes, after an extended vacation from Roy Films........ Every Roy Rogers film needs a villain for Roy to subdue. Right? And this episode has a clear villain from near the beginning, in Frank Madden, Dale Evans' current boyfriend. Right? Two questions: What's so villainous in being successful in giving your customers more of what they want than your competition? Also, what provoked Madden to send his henchman Ken Ferguson to destroy enough of Dale's Brook's Rodeo hardware that they could no longer continue their journey to an Albuquerque rodeo? He didn't need to destroy Dale's rodeo to eliminate competition. It was widely acknowledged that his rodeo now was much superior to the Brooks' rodeo, which had failed to modernize to the new tastes of the customers. It must have been REVENGE!, says I . Revenge for what? Near the beginning, Roy and the Sons of the Pioneers are hired by Dale(without an audition). Dale rides to a lake in the company of Madden, having borrowed Trigger as her horse. When Roy finds out she borrowed Trigger without his permission, he got mad. Told Gabby to drive him out to the lake to bring Trigger back. Gabby, who ran her rodeo while she was in college, complied, returning after Roy got off. Roy soon found Trigger, and scared away the other horse. He saw Madden and Dale in a row boat. Madden was offering to buy her rodeo and combine it with his. He also proposed marriage. Dale was amendable to these proposes. But, suspecting such, Roy was not. He lassoed the front end of the boat and had Trigger pull it toward the shore. Madden soon fell out of the boat, but Dale stayed in. Trigger pulled the boat to the shore, and a considerable distance on land. Dale was mad as a wet hen. Roy offered her to ride with him on Trigger back home. Initially, she refused, but after walking a ways, she gave in. Technically, Roy could be charged with theft and kidnapping. So, what happened to Madden? We left him dumped in the lake, his horse run off by Roy, with no further consideration by Roy or Dale! Was that sufficient to make him want to damage Dale's rodeo? I think so..........After Ferguson did his dirty work, Roy rides to a telephone and calls his radio announcer friend to come and set things up for a radio broadcast, pretending to be at the rodeo. Another friend has arranged to have Dale listen to the radio broadcast, which consists of Gabby acting as MC, and various songs sung.(How did this happen without a radio transmitter??) Anyway, Dale, who didn't make it to the rodeo, is convinced that her rodeo performed. Unfortunately, later, her booking agent: Wetherbee, tells her that he was at the rodeo and didn't see her rodeo. She is more than irate that Roy and the others tricked her......... She again arranges to marry Madden. But, on her wedding day, Roy discovers evidence suggesting that Madden's henchman: Ferguson, did the partial destruction of Dale's rodeo. After a fisticuff, Ferguson confesses, and Roy gets him to write a confession note, which Roy rushes to the wedding ceremony(Why didn't he bring Ferguson himself?). Anyway, the note is accepted, and Dale calls off the marriage. Madden is arrested, and put in jail, on this rather flimsy evidence. While Madden was rotting in jail, Wetherbee bought his rodeo and offered to have his rodeo perform in combination with Dale's. Also, Dale began to get cozy with Roy...... ... There is a good amount of music, although little dancing.. Dale is featured on stage, singing the classic "Amour". Roy or Sons of the Pioneers sing several songs. I especially like the title song, "The Cowpoke Polka" , "The nerve of some people", and "Trigger hasn't got a Purdy Figure"..........All in all, there are positives and negatives to this film. The biggest negative is the uncertainty whether Madden or Roy should be considered the main villain. If this doesn't bother you, it's an entertaining Roy episode.

What a pleasant surprise it is to see a Roy Rogers movie in its original length, and such a beautiful copy it is too – at least in the "20 Wild Western Movies" collection. Actually, that's a rather odd collection in which to find this entry as it is a musical western from the 1940s and has very little in common with the other nine movies on this particular disc. I'm not complaining, but the people who thrill to "Red Blood, Yellow Gold" and "There's a Noose Waiting For You, Trinity" are going to wonder what "Lights of Old Santa Fe" possibly holds in common with its companions, especially as it is a contemporary 1944 western and has nothing much to do with Santa Fe, young or old, even if that city is "the seat of old world charm in the Wild West." Yes, this movie has charm too, and that adjective certainly does not apply to the other nine movies on this particular disc. And yes, I enjoyed the movie despite the fact that I'm not a fan of George Hayes in his "Gabby" mode and that the emphasis is on song, comedy and romance in that descending order. In fact, "Trigger" provides more action here than Roy or the not- really-so-villainous "bad" guy. But Dale Evans is at her best, and Roy is tolerable. The direction by Frank McDonald rates a reasonably competent score, even though the movie was obviously shot in haste, but it's beautifully photographed all the same by Reggie Lanning. Best performance comes from Lloyd Corrigan as an inept radio broadcaster.

Dale Evans and Gabby Hayes own a traveling rodeo show. However, they are almost broke--no one wants to book the show. Gabby is too stubborn to try to update the show and thanks to Roy arriving on the scene, the show starts to do better. At the same time a 'nice guy' is wooing Dale and has offered to merge his show with hers. And, to make sure she needs him, he makes sure her show fails repeatedly with his dirty tricks.

Dougdoepke wrote in their review that this film was a personality film. In other words, the idea of it being a western or even having a traditional story was completely abandoned by the time "Lights of Old Santa Fe" debuted--it was simply Roy Rogers playing Roy Rogers. And, I must point out, there wasn't a whole lot of attempt to give this film much of a story. Instead, he mostly plays himself and he and Dale Evans as well as the Sons of the Pioneers just sing and sing and sing and sing--and the plot seems completely incidental. However, unlike Dougdoepke and the other reviewers, I felt there really wasn't anything left to watch--it really wasn't much of a movie. And, as a result, it must rank among the very worst of Rogers' films. It's basically a parody of itself and make no effort at all. A lazy and easy to skip little 'western'(???). If you adore the music, watch it--otherwise, you should try some of Roy's earlier films when he and the studio actually cared.

By the way, Dale and Gabby must have felt a bit irked. That's because Trigger actually got higher billing in the film than they did!!

"Lights Of Old Santa Fe" was originally released back in 1944.

Anyway - As the story goes - In their second film together, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans headline the modern Western of romance and adventure. With Dale's rodeo on the brink of bankruptcy and a crooked rival rodeo owner setting his sights on Dale and her operation, it's up to Roy, Trigger, Gabby Hayes and the Sons of the Pioneers to save the day.