TRAIL OF ROBIN HOOD

Roy sings to dog Bullet

TRAIL OF ROBIN HOOD (1950). Director: William Witney. Filmed in TruColor.

Retired actor Jack Holt, playing himself, hopes to sell a batch of Christmas trees at cost so all the little children can have one. Businessman Aldredge (Emory Parnell) sees this as a good way for him to lose money, so his daughter Toby (Penny Edwards of That Hagen Girl) goes out west to see what she can do. She can't convince Holt to change his methods, and comes into conflict with Roy Rogers (Roy Rogers), who heads the Soil Conservation Service. When Jack is injured in a bad fire, little Sis McGonigle (Carol Nugent of Vice Raid) rounds up a bevy of cowboy stars to bring the Xmas trees to market even though the bridge out of town has been set on fire!

Rex Allen yells at Sis to move her ass -- sort of

Republic studios would occasionally bring together many of its western stars in one movie but fans must have been greatly disappointed -- as I was -- to see how little screen time they get in this, which is, after all, a Roy Rogers and Trigger picture. Monte Hale doesn't even get a close up, although Rex Allen and Allan "Rocky" Lane have a little more to do (but not much). Lesser lights such as Tom Tyler, Crash Corrigan, Tom Keene, and Kermit Maynard at least get a little dialogue. Rex yells at Sis to go ahead and plough over the bridge even though it's on fire and collapses just a second later -- good idea, Rex! 

Jack Holt

Jack Holt appeared in only two more movies and died the year after Trail was released. He had started out in silent films in 1914 and amassed nearly 200 credits, including the serial Holt of the Secret Service. George Chesbro, who was a bad guy in many of Holt's movies, also appears in Trail. The title of this flick makes no sense as there's no Robin Hood, and it's stretching things a bit to suggest that Holt is like Robin Hood in his giving his Christmas trees to the poor. The dog Bullet also appears in the movie, and there's a talented turkey named Galahad who is spared the carving knife. Gordon Jones, who played The Green Hornet, is cast as Sis' big brother, and Clifton Young, who began as a child actor in "Our Gang" comedies, makes an impression as the bad guy Mitch McCall. Young was especially notable in Dark Passage with Bogart.

Verdict: Boo! Hiss! Let's see more of Monte Hale! **. 

THAT HAGEN GIRL

THAT HAGEN GIRL (1947). Director: Peter Godfrey.

"Well, what are we going to talk about now?"

A middle-aged couple, Minta and Jim Hagen (Dorothy Peterson and Charles Kemper), come back to town carrying a baby about the same time as a scandal erupts over a disturbed young lady, Grace Gateley (Kyle [sic] MacDonnell) and her boyfriend Tom Bates (Ronald Reagan). Somehow the whole town gets it into its head that the Hagen baby is actually the child of Grace and Tom, with the result that that child, Mary Hagen (Shirley Temple), has had to put up with odd looks, remarks, and a discriminatory attitude towards her all of her life. When Tom comes back to town, Mary decides to find out if he actually is her father or not. Meanwhile, Mary discovers that while her boyfriend, Ken (Rory Calhoun) wants to marry her, his disapproving old bitch of a mother (Nella Walker) has other ideas. That Hagen Girl is a study of small-town narrow-minded attitudes and is very good at getting across the astute point that men gossip just as much as women do. The problem with the movie is that the two leads, Temple and Reagan, while competent, are so weak that the picture never recovers from the miscasting. Temple plays the entire movie in the key of "pout," while Reagan is simply mediocre, as he was in Kings Row. Calhoun [Night of the Lepus] is handsome, if a little odd-looking; Penny Edwards [Feudin; Fussin', and A'Fightin'] is effective as another gal interested in Calhoun; Lois Maxwell [yes, "Miss Moneypenny" of James Bond fame, but without her British accent] is nice as the sympathetic teacher, Julia Kane; and Kathryn Card, Lucy's mother on I Love Lucy, is fun as the termagant school board member who catches Mary being bussed by horny Dewey Koons (Conrad Janis). Franz Waxman's opening theme is lovely, but the movie that follows the credits is quite disappointing.

Verdict: Excellent premise but this never amounts to what it could have. **.

FEUDIN', FUSSIN', AND A-FIGHTIN'

FEUDIN', FUSSIN', AND A-FIGHTIN' (1948). Director: George Sherman.

A fast-running traveling salesman named Wilbur (Donald O'Connor), comes to the town of Rimrock and is held captive there because they want him to run in -- and win-- the annual foot race they have with a rival community. With Marjorie Main as the Mayor and her Pa Kettle co-star Percy Kilbride as her sort of boyfriend, you know there'll be some fun in the picture --but there really ain't enough of it. Donald O'Connor mugs his usual schtick. Joe Besser of Three Stooges fame is one of the townspeople and Penny Edwards is the pretty love interest. With this cast you just wish there were a lot more laughs. Main and Kilbride are given the final scene, however -- and that's funny!

Verdict: Stick with the Beverly Hillbillies instead. **.