Musical Monday: Rodeo King and the Senorita (1951)

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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:
Rodeo King and the Senorita (1951) – Musical #849

Studio:
Republic Pictures

Director:
Phillip Ford

Starring:
Themselves: Rex Allen, Koko the Horse
Mary Ellen Kay, Buddy Ebsen, Bonnie DeSimone, Roy Barcroft, Don Beddoe, Jonathan Hale, Buff Brady

Plot:
Rex Allen (as himself) is set to take over as star in a rodeo, when Pablo Morales (Brady), dies. Steve Lacey (Barcroft), is angered as he anticipated making himself the star. Allen also takes over caring for Pablo’s daughter, Juanita Morales (DeSimone). Meanwhile, Juanita comes to love Allen’s horse, Koko. When Allen has a similar riding accident to what killed Pablo, he begins to wonder if he was murdered and if Steve is behind it.

Trivia:
• Director Philip Ford was the nephew of director John Ford and son of Francis Ford.
• Only feature film of Bonnie DeSimone.

Notable Songs:
• “The Strawberry Roan” performed by Rex Allen
• “Windy Bill” performed by Rex Allen
• “Juanita” performed by Rex Allen

My review:
Walt Disney fans may know Rex Allen best for narrating nature documentaries. With Allen’s country twang, he would describe what an “ole coyote” or what bear cubs at Yellowstone are doing.

But before his Disney career, Allen was best known as a singing cowboy, with his horse Koko. Though Allen only started in films as a singing cowboy in 1950, RODEO KING AND THE SENORITA (1951) is his eighth film. In the film, Allen co-stars with his six-time leading lady, Mary Ellen Kay.

In RODEO KING AND THE SENORITA, Rex Allen (as himself) is set to take over as star in a rodeo, when Pablo Morales (Brady), dies. Steve Lacey (Barcroft), is angered as he anticipated making himself the star. Allen also takes over caring for Pablo’s daughter, Juanita Morales (Bonnie DeSimone). Meanwhile, Juanita comes to love Allen’s horse, Koko. When Allen has a similar riding accident to what killed Pablo, he begins to wonder if he was murdered and if Steve is behind it.

This is a brisk, 67-minute singing cowboy western with the same weak type of plotline they all have. I think this film would have faired better if the plot focused more on Rex Allen and a cute kid, than the rodeo star drama.

A highlight of the film is seeing Buddy Ebsen and hearing him sing, harkening back to his 1930s MGM musical films. Ebsen didn’t have much to do, though, and neither did Allen’s leading lady played by Mary Ellen Kay. In fact, I sort of forgot about her while watching the film, because she had such little screentime.

I believe this may be my first Rex Allen singing cowboy films (outside of seeing his Disney narration films), and I found him incredibly pleasant. I enjoyed getting to hear him sing, and wish he had more songs throughout the film.

While RODEO KING AND THE SENORITA isn’t much to write home about, it has piqued my interest in seeing more Rex Allen films.

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