When one of his young fans, Bobby Blake and his sister Alice's horses are stolen, (Buzz Henry and Linda Hayes) Roy and the Son's of the Pioneers become entangled in a horse rustling operation. While on his way to a singing engagement at the area dude ranch, The Lariat Lodge, Roy encounters young Blake and self-proclaimed "rustler catcher" Gabby Whitaker (Gabby Hayes) tussling with horse thieves. Roy becomes suspicious when later that evening he finds local rancher Burt Wooster (James Seay) at the scene of the rustling. Roy then sets out to find if Wooster might be involved and how this ties to the Lariat Lodge and it's owner Gus Jordan and his hostess Barbara Joyce (Addison Richards and Lorna Gray).
This one is a treat for any Roy Roger's fan, there's action to keep the story moving along with thoughtfully placed songs including the title track "Ridin' Down the Canyon" and "Blue Prairie" from Roy and the Son's of the Pioneers. Comedic relief is furnished via Pat Brady and Gabby Hayes with a running gag where each is told the other one is deaf. It's as much what this movie doesn't have as what it does have. No lavish costumed musical sets with orchestras and no action stopping slapstick comedy. If you want to know why Gabby Hayes is considered the iconic western sidekick watch this movie. A lot of the credit has to go to the dialog and screenplay by Republic Studios veteran Albert DeMond and Norman Houston. The script seems like it could have been custom written for Gabby who is almost a second lead in this one giving Roy the opportunity to what he does best, just be Roy.
After watching "Ridin Down the Canyon" it's hard to figure out why Republic Studios decided to tamper with such a successful format. After this movie and for the next several years Roy's simple, straight-forward westerns ever increasingly became theatrical musicals that bore less and less resemblance to his earlier releases. This movie is a perfect example of if ain't broke don't fix it.
Top flight Roy Rogers B-western 9 out of 10 *
This one is a treat for any Roy Roger's fan, there's action to keep the story moving along with thoughtfully placed songs including the title track "Ridin' Down the Canyon" and "Blue Prairie" from Roy and the Son's of the Pioneers. Comedic relief is furnished via Pat Brady and Gabby Hayes with a running gag where each is told the other one is deaf. It's as much what this movie doesn't have as what it does have. No lavish costumed musical sets with orchestras and no action stopping slapstick comedy. If you want to know why Gabby Hayes is considered the iconic western sidekick watch this movie. A lot of the credit has to go to the dialog and screenplay by Republic Studios veteran Albert DeMond and Norman Houston. The script seems like it could have been custom written for Gabby who is almost a second lead in this one giving Roy the opportunity to what he does best, just be Roy.
After watching "Ridin Down the Canyon" it's hard to figure out why Republic Studios decided to tamper with such a successful format. After this movie and for the next several years Roy's simple, straight-forward westerns ever increasingly became theatrical musicals that bore less and less resemblance to his earlier releases. This movie is a perfect example of if ain't broke don't fix it.
Top flight Roy Rogers B-western 9 out of 10 *