Out California Way

This isn't so much of a western movie, as it is a movie about MAKING western movies - set in the mid 40s. There are at least a half-dozen songs here, but many of them are quite juvenile. I guess that's supposed to play to the youthfulness of the audience at whom this must be aimed. Most of the music is provided by Foy Willing and The Riders of The Purple Sage, but Roy Rogers and Dale Evans - as part of their cameo appearance - also contribute a tune. Rocky Lane and Red Barry briefly cross the screen as well. Robert (Bobby, as he was billed back then) Blake has a main part: While trying to get his HORSE in films, he meets actor-wannabe Monte Hale. The newcomer ultimately upstages an established radio-to-celluloid cowboy, thereby establishing what little tension there is in this flick. In addition, the kid has an older sister, who provides a bit of romance involving her and Monte. The plot and dialogue throughout seems very contrived, which may be too noticeable to adults; and kids may lose interest in a few places.

When Herbert J. Yates decided to introduce his latest sagebrush star Monte Hale he did with a backstage story so to speak. Monte Hale gets to play himself, a likable young cowboy who would like to break into motion pictures. In going to Republic he sure went to the right studio since this was the bread and butter of that outfit.

Hale teams up with young Bobby Blake and his horse Partner who Blake has taught many tricks. He first tries to introduce Partner to western star John Dehner who is a radio actor with a western series there. But for the big screen Dehner just hasn't the skills and his double Fred Graham fills in for Dehner in a lot of ways.

Hale catches the studio attention, but Dehner is jealous and he wants to damage Hale's career before it starts. And the horse Partner is the instrument he uses.

Monte also gets a little romance in with Bobby Blake's sister Lorna Gray and Republic Pictures gets a new cowboy hero. Several of the current stars like Allan Lane, Don Barry and Roy Rogers and Dale Evans all make guest appearances. And of course John Dehner never became a cowboy hero at Republic, but in real life had quite a distinguished career in all kinds of character roles.

You have to wonder about the real studio politics among all these guys at Republic. When Gene Autry moved to Columbia Pictures, Roy Rogers was King of the Republic lot as well as King of the Cowboys. But there was quite a bit of rivalry over who was crown prince and those listed above were not the only movie cowboys working for Herbert J. Yates.

Out California Way is a pleasant enough picture and Monte Hale is a good cowboy hero.

This is a real good Republic B-western. A cowboy hero(John Dehner)on the radio wants to establish himself stronger in the movies. Standing in the way is a much younger cowboy(Monte Hale)drawing much new interest. A young boy(13 yr old Robert Blake)is also trying to get his horse into show business. The trick horse becomes a pivotal pawn in the established feud. Lorna Gray is the obligatory love interest. Cameos by Rocky Lane, Red Barry as well as Roy Rogers and Dale Evans who supply a toe tappin' tune to the half-dozen or so offerings from Foy Willing and his Riders of the Purple Sage. Just over an hour...sorta like sitting in the Kiddie Matinee on Saturday morning.

I noticed one reviewer described this film as looking 'garish'....and it is indeed an ugly looking color movie. This is because Republic Studio made many of its late 40s and early 50s B-movies in TruColor. While these films were color pictures, it was a second-rate color. This is because Technicolor was expensive and TruColor and Cinecolor were much cheaper alternatives...about the same price as black & white film stock. But these two color systems had serious drawbacks. Because they were two-color processes, they really did not provide a full spectrum of colors. Yellows and purples, for example, were not possible with TruColor or Cinecolor and the other colors tended to look orangy and greenish-blue. And, this weird spectrum only got worse as the films degraded...and the copy I found and dan-180 apparently found was pretty degraded...and is definitely very orangy. Ugly and garish are definitely the case with this film, though some TruColors and Cinecolor films have aged a bit better...and a few even worse.

The copy on YouTube also has another huge drawback. Like so many of the old B-westerns, this one has been trimmed to fit television time slots. While it originally ran 67 minutes, after trimming it's only about 52...and that's a lot of missing footage...too much. So, if you can find a different copy of the film, watch it--the color might be better and you might get more of the original movie.

The story itself is a cute supposedly behind the scenes movie starring the second-tier western star, Monte Hale. When it begins, Monte is trying to break into movies...and a cute kid (Bobby Blake) is trying to get his trick horse into films as well. But the fat-headed newcomer, radio cowboy Rod Mason (John Dehner) is determined to keep them out of pictures because he's a jerk and is very insecure. So, after Hale is discovered and put into one of Mason's films, Mason and his jerk friend both torture the horse when no one is looking in order to make him dangerous to ride!! Can Monte and the studio figure out the truth?

This film is neat because in addition to seeing Hale (who did a great job), you see other supposedly behind the scenes cameos with Republic stars Rocky Lane, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans and Red Barry. All in all a fun film...it's just such a darn shame it is so ugly and short.

By the way, I do wonder if this film was meant as some sort of commentary about specific jerk western stars. I know, for instance, that 1930s star Ken Maynard has a horrible reputation as a real jerk-face once the cameras started rolling. I could guess as to which other stars (particularly ex-Republic stars) the film might also be alluding to, but know that Ken Maynard (not to be mixed up with his nice-guy brother, Kermit) was pretty much hated by everyone in the industry.

Although Roy and Dale have a cameo appearance in this movie, they are not the stars. I bought the DVD with Roy featured on the cover to watch a Roy Rogers movie. As you can see from the other commentators, this movie is not so much a western as it is about making a western, Hollywood style, and that's the story. Roy and Dale were probably the best part of the movie when they did a song together and then rode off on their horses. Of course, when you get Roy and Dale together and doing their thing, they tend upstage everyone else anyway. That is meant in a good way as it was just their natural talents and personalities that shine in any movie. The only one that I've seen that can keep up with them on the same screen is George Gabby Hayes. Anyway, the movie was OK and had some good actors. Monte Hale seemed to be a very likable fellow and sang well. In fact, I think the problem with his part was that he was being too nice, and that's not natural. If the bad guys were doing to me, what was being done to him, I'd be a little more angry. But when you're an actor you have to do it the way the director tells you if you want to work. Bobby Blake was very good as a child actor, and it is difficult to match him to the mean spirited type actor he became. Then again, life experiences have changed many a person and we all have to play the hand we are dealt. Allan "Rocky" Lane had a cameo and it was good to see a cameo of Don "Red" Barry too, as he was a favorite of mine as a kid. The female lead was Lorna Gray (aka Virginia Pound and Adrian Booth), who is one of the last surviving cast members of Columbia Pictures Three Stooges shorts. A pretty girl, she did a nice job of the part given her. John Dehner was the bad guy, as he was often cast in many westerns. Rarely a starring role but almost always a very important supporting role in more TV shows and movies than I can count. And he always did an excellent job, it just seemed to come naturally to him. I remember him as a newspaperman in the TV show of the 60's titled The Roaring 20's. This was a favorite show, as I never missed a chance to watch Dorothy Provine, who was the star of the series (OK, Donald May was in it but when Dorothy is on screen - wow!). It is said that John Dehner started out as an animator for Walt Disney and was an accomplished piano player. And of course, the pleasant tunes of Foy Willing and The Riders of the Purple Sage. If you're looking to spend a pleasant Saturday matinée type hour, then no harm done with this movie. But if you are looking to see Roy Rogers in a starring role, don't let the cover fool you, he only has those few minutes of cameo (but well worth seeing and hearing with Dale).