It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
The Yellow Rose of Texas (1944) – Musical #742

Studio:
Republic Pictures

Director:
Joseph Kane

Starring:
Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Trigger, Grant Withers, Harry Shannon, George Cleveland, William Haade, Don Reynolds (uncredited)
Themselves: Sons of the Pioneers

Plot:
Roy (Rogers) plays an insurance investigator, who is working undercover as a singing cowboy on a performing show boat. Roy is searching Sam Weston (Shannon), who escaped out of jail, and he’s looking for the bankroll money Sam is accused of searching for. Betty Weston (Evans) is Sam’s daughter and tries to prove his innocence, with the help of Roy.

Trivia:
• Partially filmed at the Iverson Ranch in Los Angeles, California.
• First film of child actor, Don Reynolds.
• The original film was 69 minutes, but most accessible versions of the film found today are 56 minutes.

Highlights:
• The western music

Notable Songs:
• “The Yellow Rose of Texas” performed by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans
• “Song of the Rover” performed by Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers
• “The Timber Trail” performed by the Sons of Pioneers
• “When You’re On a Showboat” performed by Dale Evans
• “Lucky Me, Unlucky You” performed by Roy Rogers

My review:
I’m continuing my Musical Monday spotlight on singing cowboys and western music. I grew up in a household that loves Roy Rogers, so it was difficult to pick just which Rogers movie to review. There were several that sounded interesting, but I felt it was important to make sure Dale Evans was I the film and there were multiple songs. Thus, that’s why I picked “The Yellow Rose of Texas” (1944).

In the film, Roy plays an insurance investigator who is undercover as a showboat performer (the film is set in modern times, though). Betty (Evans) works on the showboat and is the daughter of Sam Weston (Shannon), who is in jail for a payroll robbery. Sam escapes from prison and the law begins following Betty assuming she will connect with her dad. Roy is also watching Betty and hoping to find Sam and the payroll money. Sam insists he is innocent, however.

With a mix of music, mystery intrigue, theft and insurance investigations, the film matches many of Roy’s musical westerns released by Republic.

However, I walked away from “The Yellow Rose of Texas” disappointed at no fault of Roy or Dale.

While several websites list multiple songs and a run time of 69 minutes, most prints available have been cut down to 56 minutes which seem to omit several songs. Why on earth would they edit this movie down? It’s already so short!

For example, Xavier Cugat’s song “Take It Easy” is listed as a song in the film, and in the opening credits, Janet Martin is noted for singing “Down Mexico Way.” Neither of these appear in the print I was able to watch. I was disappointed, because I’m not familiar with Janet Martin and wanted to see her perform. I also was curious to hear Cugat’s song performed by someone else. In the finale, Rogers sings “Lucky Me, Unlucky You” like a reprise, and I have a feeling we missed out on a full performance of this song.

Why did the film editor assume that the music was disposable? That’s incredibly frustrating to me. Unless someone restores this film to it’s original length, or the 69-minute print is floating around, those musical performances may never be seen again.

Also, unfortunately because this film is public domain, the sound is rough in various areas.

While I was disappointed, the songs we do hear are still fun, and Roy Rogers and Dale Evans are wholesomely charming throughout. Roy is certainly the King of the Cowboys.

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