All of Roy Rogers' films were later edited down to about 55 minutes for TV, and many of the original full-length prints have never been recovered. Most of the shorter films still 'work' although much of the music and comedy (often the best parts) were excised, but "The Man From Music Mountain" suffered a mangling at the hands of the editors. It's missing not only songs but sections of plot, leaving holes and odd bits of dialogue referring to things that don't happen in the film. What's left are enough scraps of plot to hang together, some very entertaining comedy scenes, and some of the most gorgeous mountain scenery ever featured in a Roy Rogers picture.
The plot is slightly similar to the later "Roll On Texas Moon," featuring a sheep/cattle feud instigated by a villain (Paul Kelly) with ulterior motives. This time around Roy and sidekick Pat Brady go undercover to investigate, helped and sometimes hindered by sharp-tongued heroine Ruth Terry, her kid sister with a crush on Roy (Ann Gillis) and their grim and dry-witted housekeeper Renie Riano. As the subordinate villains Hal Taliaferro is dependable as usual, while Jay Novello is average in a slightly less entertaining part than the colorful character villains he played in some of Roy's other films. The Sons of the Pioneers are on hand to help round them up, but it would appear that most of their scenes were cut.
There is some music left and of course it's good; Roy sings a short but sweet serenade and the Sons of the Pioneers render a tantalizingly brief excerpt from "Song of the Bandit," one of Bob Nolan's best songs. Taken all together it's an enjoyable little western that could probably be a whole lot better in its original form.
The plot is slightly similar to the later "Roll On Texas Moon," featuring a sheep/cattle feud instigated by a villain (Paul Kelly) with ulterior motives. This time around Roy and sidekick Pat Brady go undercover to investigate, helped and sometimes hindered by sharp-tongued heroine Ruth Terry, her kid sister with a crush on Roy (Ann Gillis) and their grim and dry-witted housekeeper Renie Riano. As the subordinate villains Hal Taliaferro is dependable as usual, while Jay Novello is average in a slightly less entertaining part than the colorful character villains he played in some of Roy's other films. The Sons of the Pioneers are on hand to help round them up, but it would appear that most of their scenes were cut.
There is some music left and of course it's good; Roy sings a short but sweet serenade and the Sons of the Pioneers render a tantalizingly brief excerpt from "Song of the Bandit," one of Bob Nolan's best songs. Taken all together it's an enjoyable little western that could probably be a whole lot better in its original form.