Richard Chatten It's always dangerous to be a lovable old timer in a 'B' western, and sure enough, the Sons of the Pioneers are soon singing at the funeral of Harry Cheshire as Cap Foster, proprietor of the local wildlife sanctuary, who has been shot in cold blood at point blank range by the film's stylishly wicked villainess Jean Loring, played by Stephanie Bachelor.Ms Loring has brought cattle rustling into the Twentieth Century as well as the Sierras when she arrives from the East and installs an enormous deep freeze on her property to store venison obtained from the heinous offence of hunting deer out of season. Not content with already demonstrating herself (in the words of a judge) one of "the lowest, most contemptible breed of all criminals" - and despite having the hulking Roy Barcroft on hand to provide muscle (if not brains) when required - the nefarious Ms Loring doesn't flinch from doing her own dirty work, and personally kills two people without batting an eyelid. She obviously didn't go to the movies often enough, though, or she'd have known better than to mess with Roy Rogers in the first place, and eventually gets her lights punched out by Jane Frazee; who the presence of a female villain satisfyingly provides with someone that for once she too can rough up while Rogers is disposing of Barcroft.Considering that the plot - despite the jolly title - hinges upon a particularly ruthless murder, the tone of 'Springtime in the Sierras' remains persistently light-hearted for much of its duration, with a ratio of comedy relief and songs to plot in a film that runs only 75 minutes that surpasses even that of a Bollywood movie.

dougdoepke First-rate matinée fare with Roy in fine early form. Republic popped for more than usual with a load of extras and TruColor. Then too, the storyline's almost contemporary with Roy and guys trying to save wildlife from greedy poachers. Of course, this means flying fists, fast guns, and hard riding. Plus a gang headed by a pretty girl (Bachelor), instead of the usual mustachioed slickster. Wow! And most challenging of all, Roy's got to survive being trapped in a frozen meat locker, of all things. Good thing hefty Andy Devine's along providing more than comedy relief. I guess Dale was busy elsewhere, so nifty little Jane Frazee gets to supply the romance, while the Sons of the Pioneers get to croon a few tunes along with our hero. I guess my only minus is the locations. Too bad Republic didn't pop for more scenic surroundings than scrubby greater LA. But that's okay since there's more than enough to keep this Front Row geezer happy, and hopefully you too.

classicsoncall Considering all the Westerns and cowboy stars I've seen in action, Roy Rogers pulls a move here I've never seen before and it looked really cool. Near the finale with the bad guys giving chase on horseback, Roy hooks his left leg over Triggers saddle, faces backwards towards his pursuers, and with his right foot firmly in the stirrup, begins shooting at full gallop! So as I'm marveling over that maneuver, good girl Taffy Baker (Jane Frazee) catches up with bad girl Jean Loring (Stephanie Bachelor), knocks her off her horse, and brings her personal battle to an end with a solid right cross! What more could you ask for?Well I probably shouldn't have started with the way the picture ends, but the film did have an exciting finish. Leading up to it had Roy investigating the murder of old friend Cap Foster (Harry Cheshire) on his way to exposing a poaching racket that had Miss Loring's bunch hunting game out of season and turning a profit on selling illegal venison. I have to say, the Loring character could have given any male villain a run for his money; she's the one who plugged ole Cap while smugly stating, "This is going to hurt a little bit".So let's see, besides Trigger in this one, we've got Snoopy the squirrel and Jimmy the Crow in supporting animal roles. The animal theme probably made this flick a Roy Rogers favorite back during the matinée days, and it still appears pretty entertaining today. The picture seemed to go out of it's way a bit in the early stages when a piece of stock footage was used to convey an anti-poaching message by calling out professional hunters who do it for the money. The story then goes on to excoriate the poachers for using silencers, telescopic gun-sights and camouflage gear to shoot their prey, thereby taking the sport right out of traditional hunting for food and survival.With Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers on hand, the picture offers up a good eight or nine tunes in it's seventy five minute run. Roy does well by the picture's title with an opening rendition and then once more about a third of the way through. Andy Devine sidekicks Roy as his recurring character Cookie Bullfincher, and I was pleased to see the uncredited Pat Brady with a fair amount of screen time.

Mike-764 * This review is based on the shortened 54 minute version * A group of poachers are violating all of the hunting regulations so they can provide the venison and other meats for market. Roy Rogers and Captain Foster, who provide a sanatorium for the wildlife go searching for the criminals, who happen to be neighboring rancher Jean Loring. When Foster discovers Jean's gang at work, she shoots him, which unnerves Bert Baker, a young member of the gang, whose sister runs the ranch Roy works for. Jean and her main henchman Matt Wilkes, find out that it is not safe with Roy on their trail, since he already suspects the two of poaching. Roy sets himself as a member of the Loring ranch, but when he finds the proof he needs, Jean and Wilkes make sure that he never reaches the marshal. Enjoyable routing Rogers picture with a nice amount of songs, action, and mushy sentiment often seen in his films. The fight between Roy and Barcroft in the freezer is very well handled by Witney mainly because of free camera movement even in the cramped quarters. Rating based on B westerns- 6.