classicsoncall "In Old Cheyenne" is a refreshingly quick paced Roy Rogers adventure, somewhat unusual in that even though Gabby Hayes is on hand, the comic relief is supplied by his character's frisky daughter, 'Squeak' Brown (Sally Payne). That's her comment in my summary line above, delivered right after she meets Steve Blane (Rogers), and lassos him into attending the local square dance. Not to be outdone though, did you catch that gun twirl Gabby performs right about the same time? Wow! - there's a talent that he should have displayed more often in the Westerns he appeared in; it was so quick it was hard to follow - even when I did a quick rewind to catch it a few more times.Now here's something I was thinking about as the story progressed. Roy's character is a newspaper reporter from New York, who about half way through the story transforms into a life long cowboy, what with his riding and shooting skills. How exactly did that happen? Granted, it's mentioned he was born in Wyoming and later moved East, but still, you don't shoot a gun out of someone's hand without practice.As for the story, it's one of your typical 'get the goods' on the bad guy who's out to force local ranchers off of their properties. The hook here is that villain Sam Drummond (George Rosener) is using his henchmen to cause general mayhem, while blaming it all on a desperado who's well known by name but rarely seen - Arapaho Brown (that's Gabby). Actually that one had me scratching my head too, because Gabby's character seemed fairly well recognized by everyone, but nobody knows his name. Particularly since Drummond himself had his goons knock off Brown's former employer twenty years earlier.Oh well, these stories didn't have to make a lot of sense back in the day for a less discerning audience. I get over the nonsense pretty quickly as well, as Roy is my favorite cowboy star of the era. If you keep a sharp eye, you'll catch another East Sider (counting Roy as one here), Billy Bendict, in that role as the train vendor. Did he have anything you'd want or what? Notwithstanding my summary quote, best line of the picture goes to uncredited Fern Emmett as Miss Smith, who upon meeting Roy's character for the first time exclaims - "Land o' Goshen, and me with a face full of nails"! You'll just have to see it.

FightingWesterner New York reporter Roy Rogers comes to Cheyenne to write a series of articles about a local band of outlaws and ends up being targeted by the gang. Nevertheless, Roy still finds time to romance a pretty senorita and escort Gabby Hayes' hayseed daughter to a dance.Although Roy hasn't quite hit his stride yet and the script is a little typical, this one is pretty fast-paced, with plenty of action - definitely a pleasant enough way to spend an hour.An exciting climax features plenty of gun-play and a flaming stagecoach dropped on a house - quite refreshing considering that in a few of the other early Roy Rogers vehicles hardly a gun is drawn.

KDWms I guess I'm too questioning to give most movies high grades. In this one, for example: Okay - Roy was born in Wyoming but now he's a New York reporter, sent back home to do a story on the discord between cattlemen and homesteaders. He mustn't have been away long, 'cause he sure hasn't lost any of his excellent horsemanship; or even his ability to call a square dance. Well, if that's all that makes you raise your eyebrows, then this is at least up to standard. Gabby Hayes is here: Accused of being responsible for much more nefariousness than is correct: Somebody else was actually doing all of those bad things and HE was getting implicated, as Roy learns. The object of their efforts is to expose the PROPER party, using - among other tools - a Cheyenne newspaper. Typical, early 40s, b-&-w, one-hour western.

Snow Leopard As one of the earlier Roy Rogers features, the emphasis of "In Old Cheyenne" is on action, and there is plenty of it. The story and cast are pretty good, with Roy as a reporter (from New York, of all places) sent to Wyoming to get the story on a series of holdups and other outrages being led by a notorious criminal. Gabby Hayes has one of his cantankerous old-timer roles, Joan Woodbury is a singer whom Roy befriends, and J. Farrell McDonald plays the singer's father. There are also plenty of bad guys around, and a couple of interesting developments as you find out what everyone is up to. It moves quickly, and works well as light entertainment.