Product: The Golden Stallion [VHS] (1949)
Rating: 4.0
Beautiful Trucolor print of a great Roy Rogers western
In the larger pantheon of the western, THE GOLDEN STALLION (1949) may hold a status as a minor classic, but in the world of the B-western, it stands out as a masterpiece, arguably Roy Rogers' best film and certainly compelling viewing for anyone interested in a strong, simple story well told. This is the one where Roy goes to jail on a manslaughter charge rather than let his horse Trigger take the rap for the death of a bad guy (who'd been trying to steal a wild mare which fought back and then ran away).Roy's act saves Trigger's life but cannot prevent him from being auctioned off and purchased by a corrupt businessman who then uses Trigger in an elaborate diamond smuggling-across-the-Mexican border scheme. In the course of it all, Trigger mates with the runaway mare and fathers Trigger, Jr. Dale Evans plays a local ranch owner who writes to Roy in prison every week and helps him to clear his (and Trigger's) name. The musical numbers are not too intrusive and are enlivened by the presence of Estelita Rodriguez as Dale's South American gal pal, Pepe Valdez.This is the best-looking Trucolor print of a Roy Rogers western I've ever seen. The blues are typically strong, the reds look red (not orange) and, surprisingly, the green of the foliage is actually a dark forest green, not brown as it usually registered in Trucolor. (Trucolor was a two-color process used by Republic Pictures in lieu of the more expensive three-color Technicolor process.) There is a lot of beautifully-photographed horse action here, with Trigger sharing the spotlight not only with the mare sought after by the smugglers but also with Trigger Jr. If you're a fan of westerns devoted to horses, then this one's for you. I immediately thought of this film when I saw the 2002 animated release, SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON, and tried to think of an appropriate live-action western equivalent. It may not be an exact equivalent, but it offers some of the same kind of thrilling horse action.GOLDEN STALLION is the film Quentin Tarantino chose as the subject of the very first article in The New York Times' celebrated "Watching Movies" series, in which reporter Rick Lyman sits down with famed actors and directors to watch their selected favorite films. It was a bold choice and helped to call attention to the long career of the film's director, Republic Pictures' veteran action specialist, William Witney.