 (From Old Corral collection)Above - a 1954 re-release title lobby card.
In BELLS OF ROSARITA (Republic, 1945), Roy Rogers, Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers play themselves and they, along with the cast and crew, are filming the movie BELLS OF ROSARITA at a ranch and big top owned by Dale Evans. This is one of a dozen or two "filming a western movie within a western movie", and there's shots of the Republic lot, a camera truck, etc. ROSARITA is in glorious B&W - no Magnacolor or Trucolor.
Brains heavy Grant Withers and helper Roy Barcroft are scheming to take the properties from Dale. To help save the old homestead and circus, Roy calls on five of his Republic buddies to appear at a circus fund raiser ... and they also round up the no goods. The guest stars/heroes are Sunset Carson, Allan Lane and Wild Bill Elliott, all of whom had their own series when BELLS was filmed. Two others, Bob Livingston and Don Barry - billed as Robert Livingston and Donald Barry - were under Republic contracts at the time, but were not starring in any Republic series. Others in the cast included Gabby Hayes, pretty Adele Mara and the Robert Mitchell Boy Choir. The Mitchell Boy Choir appeared in a couple other Rogers westerns as well as many films and TV, including THE JOLSON STORY (Columbia, 1946).
ROSARITA has some humorous moments and dialog:
- Sheriff Ed Cassidy is ready to arrest everybody in the circus parade that rides through town. But Roy and Gabby claim everything's legal as it's a funeral procession for "Oscar the Duck".
- when Roy contacts his buddies, he finds that John Wayne isn't available cause he's out of town.
- watch for Bob Nolan and Adele Mara doing a jitterbug.
- Crooked Roy Barcroft delivers a great line of dialog to crooked Grant Withers when they discover their car is gone: "There must be some crooks around here!"
- in the finale, Allan Lane shoots at a couple of baddies only to be reminded by Bob Livingston that "you're gonna do a lot of damage with those blanks". (But the henchies run out of bullets and surrender.)
- and Wild Bill Elliott (in his Red Ryder outfit and riding "Thunder") reminds us again that "he's a peace-loving man" after landing a brutal right to Roy Barcroft's jaw.
The primary exterior location filming was done at the Iverson Movie Ranch. Released during the Summer of 1945, BELLS does have lots of music - perhaps too much - but it's a enjoyable western. And Dale does a nice job singing "Under A Blanket Of Blue".
Directing was Frank McDonald (1899-1980). He helmed Republics starring Roy, Gene Autry, the Weaver Brothers and Elviry, more. Later, he was the director on TV programs such as WILD BILL HICKOK and DEATH VALLEY DAYS as well as many for Gene Autry's Flying A Production company (GENE AUTRY SHOW, RANGE RIDER, ANNIE OAKLEY, BUFFALO BILL JR.).  Although some of the data may be incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on BELLS OF ROSARITA (Republic, 1945): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037535/
 (From Old Corral collection)
From L-to-R standing in the top row are Wild Bill Elliott, Allan Lane and Sunset Carson. From L-to-R kneeling are Bob Livingston (laughing), Roy Rogers, Don Barry and Dale Evans.
 (From Old Corral collection)
Above from left to right are Sunset Carson, Bob Livingston, Allan Lane, Dale Evans, Roy Rogers, Wild Bill Elliott and Don Barry. |
