Roy Rogers: Western Double Feature

Starring:Roy Rogers
Studio: Vci Video
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

"a fella doesn't get any place unless he tries"
A lesser known Wayne Classic
Popular Wayne Civil War -Era 'Western' Still Shines!
On to Kansas
interesting and rare John Wayne movie

Dark Command
Starring: Claire Trevor , John Wayne , Walter Pidgeon , Roy Rogers , and George 'Gabby' Hayes
Director: Raoul Walsh
Manufacturer: Republic Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Biography | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Civil War | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video

All Titles | John Wayne Store | Stores | DVD | Video

1940s | John Wayne Store | Stores | DVD | Video

Westerns | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( D ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

In Old California
Dakota
Flame of Barbary Coast
Three Faces West
A Lady Takes a Chance

ASIN: 0782011195
Release Date: 2000-05-16

Amazon.com

Historically dubious but vigorously entertaining, Dark Command is the best of John Wayne's many movies for Republic (not counting Wayne's lovely producing debut Angel and the Badman and those two John Ford films). Set in "Bleeding Kansas" just before and during the Civil War, it highlights the romantic triangle of amiable but unschooled Texan Wayne, banker's daughter Claire Trevor, and schoolmaster Walter Pidgeon--just long enough for the earnest pedagogue to become embittered, turn into bushwhacker William Quantrill (here Cantrell), and start wreaking havoc in the Border States. This was Republic's first star vehicle for Wayne, following his breakthrough in Stagecoach (away from Republic), and it's an uncharacteristically impressive production: good writers working from a W.R. Burnett novel, Raoul Walsh brought in to direct, music by Victor Young, and strong costars and supporting cast (Marjorie Main, Porter Hall, Raymond Walburn--and Roy Rogers and Gabby Hayes!). Wayne himself is delightful. --Richard T. Jameson

Description

In this pre-civil War saga, Walter Pigeon, as Confederate renegade William Cantrell, along with his raiders, clashes with the new marshal of Kansas City, Bob Seton (John Wayne). Their long-standing rivalry of love and power reaches dangerous proportions when Seton exposes Cantrell and his guerillas, who have been raiding both Union and Confederate lines. Roy Rogers co-stars in one of his earliest film roles.

Customer Reviews:

"a fella doesn't get any place unless he tries".......2007-05-28

This was director Raoul Walsh's second film with Wayne as the male lead. The first, "The Big Trail", was Wayne's first big film role, having just acquired his new stage name. Unfortunately, this very expensive film, as one of the first talkie westerns, was a box office bomb, with Wayne unfairly shouldering most of the blame. The present film is a mixed western-Civil War drama set in bleeding Kansas. Wayne has plenty of support from a cast of well known actors in this well paced drama/comedy.
Claire Trevor is actually given top billing as the belle around which Wayne, Walter Pigeon and a young Roy Rogers revolve. It seems highly implausible that Wayne, as illiterate drifter Bob Seton, should become infatuated with prim snobbish Claire Trevor, nor that she could ever consider him husband material. Wayne's persistence in promoting this union, even after her marriage, is a recurring source of comedy and drama. Initially, another source of comedy is the recently established working partnership between Wayne and immimical Gabby Hayes, a one time doctor, reformulated as a traveling dentist, barber and whatever else he can fix for you. Character actor Raymond Walburn also provides comedic touches as the bug-eyed stammering stuffed shirt of a judge and apparent mayor of Lawrence, Kansas. Roy Rogers looks rather incongruous as the frustrated brother of Claire, under his father's overbearing thumb, who yearns for the excitement of being a cowboy or soldier. His hot head nearly gets him strung up or otherwise killed. Wayne, on the other hand, with the backing of Gabby, changes from an apparent hot head into an honest coolheaded sheriff. Walter Pigeon is the eloquent-speaking legally literate but financially struggling rival of Wayne for the affections of Claire and for the office of sheriff. The striking contrast in personalities and skills of Wayne and Pigeon in their various competitions is another recurring source of comedy and drama throughout the film. We wonder why Pigeon, with his obvious gift for oratory and knowledge of law, is a poorly paid schoolteacher instead of a lawyer. We suspect that he has been a lawyer, but was forced to resign for some transgressions. In engineering Roger's murder defense, we see for the first time the snake that he is under all that eloquence. From his mother's comments, we are led to believe that the desire to do unethical things is a family trait he inherited or was taught.
Things get a lot more serious and complicated as the story progresses. Pigeon,as William Cantrell, knows he is a natural leader of men. Frustrated in obtaining a prominent position in the legal establishment of Lawrence, he organizes a large band of outlaws, posing as Confederate soldiers, as did his historical counterpart, William Quantrell. The film title may suggest this evil gang of thieves and murderers, or it may equally suggest the fact that most of the violent and smuggling confrontations occur at night. Pigeon faces the difficult task of trying to justify or hide from his new wife his rapacious activities. The continuing back and forth relationships between Rogers, Wayne, Pigeon and Claire provide much of the continuing drama of the film.

A lesser known Wayne Classic.......2007-03-05

This movie solidified Wayne's place as a western star after Stagecoach. It is a rollicking fun western that has plenty of action. A really amazing cast was assembled for this film starting with Claire Trevor (of Stagecoach) and Walter Pidgeon. Gabby Hayes and Roy Rogers round out the stars of this movie. This is just a joy to watch. The pace never falters and it delivers plenty of fights. Find out if the illiterate cowboy from Texas can overcome the learned teacher who becomes the leader of a vast outlaw band during the Civil War. Will John Wayne get the girl? Forget that I asked. Get this movie.

Popular Wayne Civil War -Era 'Western' Still Shines!.......2006-11-03

"Dark Command" is a rip-roaring, entertaining 1940 John Wayne western with plenty of excitement, romance, and comedy, and it offers one of his most engaging pre-WWII performances, as illiterate but straight-shooting Texan 'Bob Seton', wooing Claire Trevor while defending Lawrence, Kansas as the Civil War erupts.

The film is significant in Wayne's career, as it acknowledged his emergence as a major star by the studio (Republic Pictures) who had produced the bulk of his 'quickie' westerns over the previous decade (in their previous incarnation, 'Lone Star' films). With the success of John Ford's "Stagecoach", Wayne's value to the young studio increased dramatically, as a commodity that could be 'loaned out' to major studios for a tidy profit, but without 'quality' Wayne films of their own, his 'bankability' wouldn't last, so Republic mounted a major production, with a top director (Warner's Raoul Walsh, who had helmed the Duke's ill-fated 'starring' debut, "The Big Trail", nearly a decade earlier), a first-class cast (including Trevor, in her third pairing with Wayne in less than two years, and MGM star Walter Pidgeon), and a terrific screenplay (based on a story by respected author W.R. Burnett). Wisely including their most popular character actor, Gabby Hayes, for comic relief, and rising star Roy Rogers (who, surprisingly, doesn't sing!) in support, the end result would not only build upon Wayne's rising status as a major star, but would give the studio credibility within the industry as more than a 'B' picture factory.

While the history covered in "Dark Command" is largely fabricated (with infamous mercenary William Quantrill reinvented as a more urbane, if equally dangerous 'William Cantrell', portrayed by Pidgeon), Walsh never lets the 'facts' interfere with the action, and the end result certainly delivers!

Definitely a 'keeper'!

On to Kansas .......2005-09-07

DARK COMMAND is a good, old-fashioned western. The movie takes places in Kansas on the eve of the Civil War. Not just anywhere in Kansas, either - the movie's set in bloody Lawrence, the hotbed of guerilla activity during that war. Perhaps no guerilla leader was more notorious than Kansas's William Quantrill, the school teacher turned raider who fought against the Union until his death in 1865.

Although DARK COMMAND is a work of fiction, it doesn't try hard to hide its sources. DARK COMMAND is adapted from a novel by the talented and prolific W.R. Burnett, whose Hollywood credits include either the based-on novel and/or screenplay for such action classics as Little Caesar, the original Scarface, The Asphalt Jungle, High Sierra, and dozens of others. John Wayne plays a roustabout Texan named Bob Seton who's traveling through with dentist/barber/sidekick Andrew `Doc' Grunch (George `Gabby' Hayes.) While in Lawrence Seton meets and immediately falls for pretty Miss Mary McCloud (Claire Trevor), local belle and daughter of the president of the town's bank, a Virginian (where you were from counted a lot in Kansas prior to the Civil War.) Seton's competitor for the affections of pretty Miss McCloud, and a bit later for the office of town marshal, is schoolteacher William Cantrell (Walter Pidgeon.) That the real life Quantrill was also a Lawrence, Kansas schoolteacher is, well, probably something more than a coincidence.

Of course, Cantrell loses both the election and the heart, if not the hand, of Miss McCloud to Seton. As filtered through the Hollywood lense that's more than enough justification to embark on a campaign of pillage and murder, which Pidgeon's Cantrell proceeds to do with a certain amount of righteous dignity. Raoul Walsh, whose last movie before this one was the classic gangster movie `The Roaring Twenties,' directed DARK COMMAND with his usual relentless flair. Also in 1939, the young John Wayne had finally broken through to the a-list after playing the Ringo Kid in John Ford's `Stagecoach.' `Stagecoach' co-star Clair Trevor is billed above Wayne on the credits, but this is very much a John Wayne movie. The two principals, director Walsh and star Wayne, were at strong points in their careers and this movie did nothing to derail them. Wayne wasn't an icon yet but he had the moves down - he's shy and awkward around the women folk, toweringly commanding with men. One of the text extras on the film quotes Walsh's observation that `Wayne had learned to walk and talk' by the time DARK COMMAND was filmed, and if you watch some of Wayne's earlier b-movies you'd have to agree with Walsh's shrewd assessment.

I've seen a handful of Raoul Walsh movies in the past year and enjoy them tremendously. Pidgeon's Cantrell seems to be a prototypical Walsh heavy - he's erudite, urbane and refined, and, we suspect, substantially smarter than the hero. If Hollywood was about to fall in love with Freud Walsh definitely wasn't leading the charge. Even the presence of a maternal housekeeper, played in American Gothic style by Marjorie Main, doesn't do anything to explain what makes Cantrell tick. Cantrell is a Walsh villain, which means he's evil because he's evil and that's that. We'll have to understand him through action rather than introspection. In lesser hands this would leave us with a scowling, carpet-chewing bad guy. But DARK VICTORY'S script is tight, Walsh was a master at action dramas, and Pidgeon is too good an actor - he never drops Cantrell's courtly façade, and he's all the more a menace for it.

Fans of old b-westerns will get a kick out of seeing a (very) young Roy Rogers and `Gabby' Hayes together in the same movie before they became cinema trail mates. Hayes' slightly mush-mouthed `gol-durn-it' routine can be grating, but Walsh uses him as a relatively subtle comic foil to good effect. If you've watched a few too many b-westerns chances are you'll find oddly touching the one scene between Hayes and Rogers. Rogers is in mortal danger and Hayes is his best and only hope. Hayes drops the Gabby act and lets George take over. It's a nice way for Walsh, through Hayes, to turn the tension up a notch and let us know that this is important. It's been my experience that Walsh's movies are filled with such nice touches, and it's one reason why I like them so much. DARK COMMAND has more than enough going for it to rate a strong recommendation. The script is good, performances are uniformly strong, and Walsh is a master at keeping things moving. It's a great early John Wayne western.

interesting and rare John Wayne movie.......2000-08-20

This Civil War era movie was very interesting as it tried to follow a generalized campaign of the very infamous Captain Quantrell, the Confederate leader of raiding party's into the North. This was not one of John Wayne's best pictures but it ranks up there as being rare and informative. A must see for true John Wayne fans.

Average customer rating:

"two exciting adventures in Trucolor featuring "King of the Cowboys" - Roy Rogers"

Roy Rogers: Western Double Feature
Starring: Roy Rogers
Manufacturer: Vci Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( R ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Santa Fe
Bells of Coronado
Roy Rogers Show Vol 2
The Man Behind the Gun / Thunder Over the Plains / Riding Shotgun
Charlie Chan Collection, Vol. 1 (Charlie Chan in London / Charlie Chan in Paris / Charlie Chan in Egypt / Charlie Chan in Shanghai / Eran Trece)

ASIN: B000087F1B
Release Date: 2003-01-23

Description

This rough-and-tumble double-feature stars Roy Rogers, the "King of the Cowboys," in two rare 'Trucolor' westerns from Republic Pictures. In Under California Stars (1948), Roy roughs up a few bad guys when he plays a border patrol officer and must take on a bunch of no-good smugglers. In The Bells of San Angelo (1947), bad guys kidnap trigger and hold him for a $100,000 ransom and Roy must come to his rescue. Bonus Features: Actor Bios| Scene Selection| Bonus Original Theatrical Trailers. Specs: DVD9; Dolby Digital Mono; 146 minutes; Color; 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio; MPAA - NR; Year - 1947-1948; SRP - $19.99.

Customer Reviews:

"two exciting adventures in Trucolor featuring "King of the Cowboys" - Roy Rogers".......2005-09-21

VCI Entertainment and Republic Pictures present the first of a double feature..."Under California Stars" (1948) (digitally remastered in Dolby), long running Roy Rogers series turned out in the early '40s...the story line is excellent with outstanding productions and hours worth of entertainment....here's the plot laid out for us as Roy completes his latest film he goes back to his ranch for a radio broadcast...Roy arrives only to find Cookie has hired many of his relatives who look very much like (Andy Devine stars and plays are the parts)...another relative Caroline the horse trainer (looks nothing like Cookie) is the love interest for Roy...now the plot thickens as a gang of men hired by Pop Sherman (leader-boss) are gathering herds of wild range horses...Roy puts a stop to hunting on his land...will Pop come up with a scheme to kidnap Trigger and ask for $100,000 ransom...can a small boy Ted and his dog Tramp help in setting a trap for the gang of kidnappers or his just being led astray...this is a suspenseful tale and as Roy and his ranch buddies go to rescue Trigger...can Little Ted keep a secret or will he come through with the information that Roy needs to get Trigger back...it's brilliantly filmed in Trucolor don't miss any of the thrilling adventures of Roy and Trigger down some Happy Trailers.

Under director William Witney with story Paul Gangelin, screenplay by Sloan Nibley and Paul Gangelin...the cast include Roy Rogers (Roy Rogers), Trigger (smartest horse in the movies), Jane Frazee (Caroline Bullfincher), Andy Devine (Cookie Bullfincher & Alf Bullfincher), George Lloyd (Pop Jordan), Bob Nolan (Bob), Pat Brady (Pat), Hugh Farr (Singer/Ranch hand), Doye O'Dell (Doye, Sons of the Pioneers), Wade Crosby (Lige McFarland), Michael Chapin (Ted Carver), House Peters Jr (Ed), Steve Clark (Sheriff), Joseph A. Garro (John the Banker), Paul Power (Movie Director Paul), John Wald (KTX Radio Announcer)...another Roy Rogers B-Western provided by Republic Pictures during their heyday in the early '40s.

The second feature on the double bill from VCI Entertainment and Republic Pictures is "Bells of San Angelo" (1947) (digitally remastered), filmed in Trucolor...in my humble opinion this is one of the best screenplays...the story line is a good one and the pace is steady and exciting...the head of the bad guys is Gridley who has a worthless mine and is bringing silver into the United States from Mexico...our hero Roy who just happens to be a Border Guard has been trying to find the secret entrance that Gridley has been using...can Roy figure out who's who and what goes where...can Lee Madison help Roy bring the villains to justice and not get into any trouble herself...never fear we've got Trigger on the job, will he prevail just like in past pictures...there are some wonderful songs "Hot Lead," and "I Like to Get Up Early in the Morning."...leave it to Andy Devine as the sheriff to come up with loads of comedy...Roy was never in better voice.

Under director William Witney with story Paul Gangelin and screenplay by Sloan Nibley...the cast include Roy Rogers (Roy Rogers), Trigger (the smartest horse in the movies), Dale Evans (Lee Madison), Andy Devine (Cookie Bullfincher), John McGuire (Rex Gridley), Olaf Hytten (Lionel Bates), David Sharpe (Gus Ulrich), Fritz Lieber (Padre), Hank Patterson (Deaf Bus Passenger), Fred "Snowflake" Toones (The Cook), Bob Nolan (Bob), Pat Brady (Pat),Eddie Acuff (Bus Driver) .Roy and Dale had a long and prosperous career B-Westerns and television well into the 1950s.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
1. Roy Rogers Riders Club & Prayer.

VCI ROY ROGER TRAILERS
1. "Under Nevada Skies" (Roy, Dale, Gabby & Sons of the Pioneers)
2. "Heldorado" (Roy, Dale, Gabby & Sons of the Pioneers)
3. "On the Old Spanish Trail" (Roy, Andy Devine, Jane Frazee & Sons of the Pioneers)
4. "Heart of the Rockies" (Roy, Gordon Jones, Penny Edwards & Sons of the Pioneers)
5. "Springtime in the Sierras" (Roy, Jane Frazee, Andy Devine, Roy Barcroft & Sons of the Pioneers)
6. "Apache Rose" (Roy, Dale, Bob Nolan & Sons of the Pioneers)

BIOS
1. Roy Rogers
2. Dales Evans
3. Andy Devine
4. Jane Frazee
5. William Witney (Director)

If you enjoyed this Western Double Feature, why not pick up the following from VCI Entertainment:
1. Roy Rogers Collection - "The Arizona Kid" and "Ridin' Down the Canyon" (VCI #7214)
2. Roy Rogers Collection - "Robinhood of the Pecos" and "In Old Cheyenne" (VCI #7239)
3. Roy Rogers Collection - "The Far Frontier" and "Yellow Rose of Texas" (VCI #7258)
4. Roy Rogers Collection - "Idaho" (Roy, Smiley Burnette, Bob Nolan & Sons of the Pioneers (VCI #7211)
5. Roy Rogers Collectiion - "Bells of Rosarita" (Roy, Dale, Gabby Hayes, Wild Bill Elliott, Allan "Rocky" Lane, Don "Red" Barry, Robert Livingston & Sunset Carson) (VCI #7216)
6. Roy Rogers Collection - "Home in Oklahoma" (Roy, Dale & Gabby Hayes (VCI #7217)

Don't miss any of Roy's pictures and remember all of the above titles are available in DVD-R Video and Dolby Digital clarity from your friends at VCI Entertainment...pick up your copy today! (ask Amazon.Com to please carry these exciting titles on their website).

Also one of the latest Empire Publishing presents "The Roy Rogers Book", reference trivia scrapbook of Roy Rogers (birth name: Leonard Franklin Slye)...birth date November 5, 1911 in Cincinnati Ohio...left us July 6, 1998 in Apple Valley, California...written by Western film historian David Rothel whose accounts of thrilling adventures of B-Western heroes during the Saturday matinees of yesteryear takes us back to our childhood, family and friends...this is a wish come true, reliving those wonderful years from the past through the pen of David Rothel...published by Empire Publising and available on Amazon and Empire Publications Inc

Great job by VCI Entertainment for releasing the digital transfere with a clean, clear and crisp print...looking forward to more of the same from the '40s vintage...order your copy now from Amazon or VCI Entertainment, stay tuned once again with a top notch B-Western from VCI...just the way we like 'em!

Total Time: 146 mins on DVD ~ VCI Entertainment 8345 ~ (1/07/2003)

[DVD] Roy Rogers Double Feature - Bells of San Angelo + Under California Stars

Average customer rating:

[DVD] Roy Rogers Double Feature - Bells of San Angelo + Under California Stars

Manufacturer: Family Value Collection
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

Product Description

1 Classic movies on 1 DVD! Bells of San Angelo (1947) Gridley is mining silver from an old Mexican mine and bringing it into the USA thru a passage into his worthless mine. Border guard Rogers suspects Gridley and finally finds the secret entrance to the Mexican mine. He sends Lee Madison for help only to have her captured by Gridley. Trigger brings help that takes care of Gridley's men and now Roy has to rescue Madison Under California Stars (1948) Roy has just finished his latest film and leaves for his ranch where he will be broadcasting a show celebrating his tenth year in movies. When Roy and Trigger arrive at his ranch he finds Cookie has hired his relatives. Caroline, the only relative that doesn't have a strong resemblance to Cookie, is the horse trainer. Bob Tells Roy a gang of men are hunting range horses. Roy puts a stop to hunting on his land. Pop decides there's money in kidnapping Trigger and demands a $100,000 ransom. McFarland's stepson, Ted, and his dog Tramp, run away and is found hiding in Roy's barn. A trap is set to catch the kidnappers ranch.

Rogers, Roy Double Feature: Colorado (1940) / Hands Across the Border (1944)

Average customer rating:

Rogers, Roy Double Feature: Colorado (1940) / Hands Across the Border (1944)
Starring: Roy Rogers
Manufacturer: Alpha Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

Bad Man of Deadwood Double Feature with Sheriff of Tombstone

Average customer rating:

Bad Man of Deadwood Double Feature with Sheriff of Tombstone

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Product Description

Roy is a member of Gabby's road show playing in the town of Deadwood. When Gabby is wired thirty-five thousand dollars he takes it in rare thousand dollar bills and is unfortunately robbed. Roy and Gabby have an idea of who is behind the theft, but they have no proof. They break into the bank, taking only its deposit and withdrawal records and then rob an armed coach of these bills. To the surprise of the robbers, the bills are apportioned to each member of the civic association of Deadwood, but now Roy and the gang are outlaws themselves.

The Arizona Kid (1940) / Billy the Kid Returns (1938) (Wild West Double Feature)

Average customer rating:

The Arizona Kid (1940) / Billy the Kid Returns (1938) (Wild West Double Feature)
Starring: Roy Rogers
Manufacturer: Alpha Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

DVD:

DVD

Creature From the Haunted Sea (REGION 1) (NTSC)

DVD: Dying Young

Stomp Out Loud / Brooms