Romance on the Range
Cast & Crew
Joseph Kane
Roy Rogers
George "gabby" Hayes
Sally Payne
Linda Hayes
Edward Pawley
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Roy Rogers, foreman of the Arrowhead Ranch, is saddened and angered when his pal, Rusty Grant, is killed by a gang of fur thieves who have been operating in the area for four months. The secret leader of the gang is Jerome Banning, who manages the ranch for New Yorker Joan Stuart. Joan, who inherited the ranch and local trading post from her father, has never met Banning, and despite her late father's trust in him, has grown suspicious of his numerous reports of the thefts. Along with her maid Sally, who has become engaged to ranch hand Pat via a Lonely Hearts Club, Joan travels to the ranch, where she intends to conceal her identity while investigating Banning. On the day of Joan and Sally's arrival, Roy and his men have a run-in with two members of the gang, but escape. Although Roy and Joan like each other immediately, Joan is put off by Roy's disparaging comments about the ranch's owner, whom he assumes is a dizzy society woman. Meanwhile, members of the gang pressure Banning to get rid of Roy, for they are afraid that he is getting close to uncovering their operation. When Roy arrives in town soon after, Banning orders him to get rid of the two women staying at the ranch and casts aspersions on their characters. Outraged, Roy punches Banning, who then fires him and orders him to vacate the ranch immediately. Roy's friends, including cook Gabby Whittaker, quit and persuade Joan and Sally to accompany them to a cabin in the hills, from which they will continue to look for Rusty's killers. The men receive a tip about the gang's whereabouts, but when they arrive, the thieves run off, leaving behind a large number of furs. Just then, Sheriff Wilson arrives and arrests Roy and friends on suspicion of theft. Roy realizes that they have been set up, but the sheriff jails them anyway. Some of the gang stir up a lynch mob, which just misses capturing Roy and his friends as they escape from the jail. Meanwhile, Joan and Sally, who were captured by the gang after they witnessed Roy being framed, have escaped from the gang's mine shaft hideout. The two women find Roy and the others and lead them to the hideout, where they elude the pursuing posse. Roy's men chase the gang through the shaft and out the other side, where they are in turn chased by the posse. Everyone hides in the rocky hills, and a shootout ensues, during which Roy gives himself up to Wilson to prove his good intentions. Together, Roy and Wilson apprehend Banning, but Wilson is forced to shoot the manager when Banning draws his gun. Soon after, Joan reveals her true identity to Roy, and woman-hater Gabby grouses as Roy and Pat sing to Joan and Sally about romance on the range.
Director
Joseph Kane
Cast
Roy Rogers
George "gabby" Hayes
Sally Payne
Linda Hayes
Edward Pawley
Harry L. Woods
Hal Taliaferro
Glenn Strange
Roy Barcroft
The Sons Of The Pioneers:
Pat Brady
Bob Nolan
Hugh Farr
Karl Farr
Tim Spencer
Lloyd Perryman
Jack O'shea
Jack Montgomery
Jack Kirk
Dick Wessel
Henry Wills
Monte Montague
Selmer Jackson
Frank Brownlee
Trigger
Chester Conklin
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Springtime in the Rockies. The title was relinquished to Twentieth Century-Fox, which used it for a 1942 Betty Grable picture (see below). According to the Twentieth Century-Fox Records of the Legal Department, located at the UCLA Arts-Special Collections Library, the studio paid Republic approximately $1,160 for use of the title. Although a March 30, 1942 Hollywood Reporter news item stated that M. Coates Webster was assigned to work on the film's screenplay, the extent of his contribution to the finished film has not been confirmed. Another Hollywood Reporter news item stated that Republic had decided to "keep one femme player in the lead opposite Roy Rogers," and that she was to be Marilyn Hare. This was to be the first of her series assignments. Modern sources include Richard Alexander and George Kesterton in the cast.
