The conflict between a railroader and a stage line owner is being aggravated by bad guys who are sabotaging both sides. Roy and Gabby mediate the conflict and expose the bad guys. Amos Norton is out to get control of transportation to the gold fields. First he has Black Bart wreck Liddell's stagecoaches making it look like the work of railroad owner Benton. Then he has Black Bart go after the railroad. Jeff figures out who Black Bart is and he and Gabby try to break the next raid. But Benton's men capture them and thinking they are part of the gang, put them in jail. In the 1950s, the rights to a bazillion Roy Rogers movies were sold to television. However, as most of his films were about 65 minutes long, this didn't fit TV time slots. So, to make the films more marketable, they literally chopped the films down to about 50 minutes (more or less). Sometimes this made the movies confusing and stupid–-but in the case of "Nevada City" I actually think it improved it! That's because I am NOT a fan of singing in westerns–and Roy breaking into song never made any sense. However, in this truncated version, he NEVER sings. It's funny, because in one case Roy tells Gabby that he's about to sing and then….nothing! The film also benefited from a trimming because the plot was more compact and to the point. The film is also a bit different from the usual Rogers film. The movie begins with a prologue explaining how the railroad and stage coach owners hated each other. Then, you learn that a bunch of robberies of the stage had been occurring and the stage operators assume that the dreaded railroaders were behind it. When Roy, who works for the stage, talks with the evil railroad operator, he sees he's a swell guy and encourages his boss to make up and become friends with them. But, the butt-head boss fires Roy and Gabby and they look for work with the railroad. In the meantime, a greasy guy is making advances on Roy's girl. Could he have something to do with the robberies and the dreaded 'Black Bart'? Quick and without the usual Rogers nonsense, this one is enjoyable and unusual enough to merit giving it a look. Just try to see the 53 minute version unless you like songs for absolutely no conceivable reason! There is plenty of action in this Roy Rogers feature, and while "Nevada City" is probably a cut below his best features, it still works fine as light entertainment. Rogers and Gabby Hayes play basically their standard characters, and as usual they work pretty well together. The story is fairly involved, with Roy playing a stagecoach driver who gets caught in the middle of a dispute between the stage line and a railroad, with a mysterious bandit also included. The plot this time is rather full of holes, but it does set up plenty of chases and other action scenes, and there is always plenty going on to hold your attention.
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364 weeks ago