"Bells of San Angelo" was the second of Roy Rogers' Trucolor westerns. It was a mixed bag at best. On the positive side there was the addition of jolly old Andy Devine as Roy's side kick Cookie Bullfincher replacing the departed Gabby Hayes. And Dale Evans never looked better. On the negative side, some one decided to include a segment where an English lawyer (Olaf Hytten) arrives looking for Cookie (under a different name). Then, of all things they threw in a "fox" hunt with , now get this, a racoon. The unusual running time of 78 minutes could have been pared down by at least 15 minutes,
The plot has miner Gridley (John McGuire ) mining silver in Mexico and smuggling it across the border through a tunnel of the abandoned San Angelo mine and selling it through his worthless mine on the American side. Border Investigator Roy Rogers is sent to investigate. The sub plot has western writer Lee Madison (Evans) arriving by stage and learning that Roy has no use for "him". Lee adopts an alias to fool Roy.
With William Whitney as director, you know that you will get a little more realism as had been the case in earlier entries, He doesn't disappoint. Roy gets into a fight with Ulrich, Gridley's henchman (Dave Sharpe - one of Republic's top stuntmen) and Dale Van Sickle another top stuntman. There's also a climatic fight atop a cliff between Roy McGuire and Sharpe.
Bob Nolan and The Sons of the Pioneers are also along to provide musical entertainment. Roy sings a couple of forgettable tunes and Dale has a catchy little solo of her own.
The plot has miner Gridley (John McGuire ) mining silver in Mexico and smuggling it across the border through a tunnel of the abandoned San Angelo mine and selling it through his worthless mine on the American side. Border Investigator Roy Rogers is sent to investigate. The sub plot has western writer Lee Madison (Evans) arriving by stage and learning that Roy has no use for "him". Lee adopts an alias to fool Roy.
With William Whitney as director, you know that you will get a little more realism as had been the case in earlier entries, He doesn't disappoint. Roy gets into a fight with Ulrich, Gridley's henchman (Dave Sharpe - one of Republic's top stuntmen) and Dale Van Sickle another top stuntman. There's also a climatic fight atop a cliff between Roy McGuire and Sharpe.
Bob Nolan and The Sons of the Pioneers are also along to provide musical entertainment. Roy sings a couple of forgettable tunes and Dale has a catchy little solo of her own.