Although it's often stated that when Rogers started out, he didn't directly compete with Gene Autry, this isn't true. In fact, he was actually hired as a replacement, as Rogers himself details at length in his autobiography. Although Rogers was never as popular with exhibitors, he had a great fan following, In fact, he managed to run up a total of no less than 91 movies in which he either starred or enjoyed a "special guest" spot in addition to his 12 appearances as one of the Sons of the Pioneers. Many of these movies are available on Public Domain DVDs, although there is no definitive edition of his work, as there is for Gene Autry. Worse, some of the DVDs reproduce cutdown TV versions rather than the original theatrical release.
A pleasing exception is Volume 6 of "The Great American Western" series which reproduces the original USA release version of "My Pal Trigger". Admittedly it runs only 79 minutes, and I would have much preferred a re-issue of the 85 minutes version which Rogers himself regarded as his best film and which I saw in theaters back in 1947. Nonetheless, despite the cuts, this is still a top Rogers entry which dares to be extremely critical of law enforcement agencies. That's a nice change in itself. In fact, the only other movie I can call to mind that really gets the boot into the "justice" system is Paramount's "Vice Squad" (1931).
Evidently Republic's Herb Yates had a fit when he saw the finished movie and ordered 6 minutes of cuts, but you can't cut out the theme of the movie itself, and even in its truncated state, it's still a riveting film.
A pleasing exception is Volume 6 of "The Great American Western" series which reproduces the original USA release version of "My Pal Trigger". Admittedly it runs only 79 minutes, and I would have much preferred a re-issue of the 85 minutes version which Rogers himself regarded as his best film and which I saw in theaters back in 1947. Nonetheless, despite the cuts, this is still a top Rogers entry which dares to be extremely critical of law enforcement agencies. That's a nice change in itself. In fact, the only other movie I can call to mind that really gets the boot into the "justice" system is Paramount's "Vice Squad" (1931).
Evidently Republic's Herb Yates had a fit when he saw the finished movie and ordered 6 minutes of cuts, but you can't cut out the theme of the movie itself, and even in its truncated state, it's still a riveting film.