Sunset in the West
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
William Witney
Roy Rogers
Trigger
Estelita Rodriguez
Penny Edwards
Gordon Jones
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When California sheriff Tad Osborne and his men are sent to investigate a train which an outlaw gang hijacked and then accidentally wrecked, they discover the train's cache of smuggled guns. Some weeks later, rancher and former deputy sheriff Roy Rogers waits to load his cattle onto another train, but it speeds past without stopping. Roy follows the train on his horse Trigger, jumps aboard, wrestles with one of the hijackers and is tossed from the train. He then heads for the jail in nearby Bordertown, where his friend Tad faces a mob of angry citizens complaining about the smugglers. When Tad expresses his concern that he may be voted out of office in the upcoming election, Roy promises to help him. Meanwhile, at the cantina, a Mexican American singer named Carmelita notices two suspicious-looking patrons, smugglers John and Walter Kimball. After she rushes outside to look for Splinters, a deputy, Roy wanders into the cantina. A few minutes later, Splinters enters with his dog Sherlock, mistakes two other patrons for the smugglers and begins accusing them in a loud voice. The real smugglers creep out quietly, but are followed by Roy and Sherlock. While Sherlock growls and tries to bite John, Roy fights with Walter. John then brutally wounds Sherlock and escapes, after which Roy arrests Walter. Later, Roy surmises that the smugglers have been transporting the guns to a deserted beach, where they are subsequently picked up by Mexico-bound boats. At the jail, after Splinters shaves off Walter's beard, Roy recognizes him as a wanted man. Just then, the gang bursts in and frees Walter, after which they blindfold and kidnap Roy. On the way to their hideout, a ranch belonging to their leader, lawyer Gordon MacKnight, the gang meets up with an outlaw named Nick Corella. Nick asks to join the gang, but John refuses, so Nick exacts revenge by slipping a small blade into Roy's hand. After the gang takes Roy to the edge of a steep cliff to throw him off, he cuts his ropes and escapes on Trigger, who waits nearby. Roy returns to Tad's house, where he learns that Tad has been told by a veterinarian that Sherlock will not recover and has taken him outside to "put him out of his misery." Roy rushes outside to stop Tad and learns that Sherlock has just discovered Nick's corpse in the bushes. Later, the coroner removes an antique bullet from Nick's body, and Tad mentions that MacKnight collects antique guns. Roy and his men decide to ride out to MacKnight's ranch, but MacKnight sees them coming and escapes. After Roy enters the house and notices a bird cage, he recalls hearing some birds chirping while he was being held captive. Later, the smugglers load guns onto another hijacked train, while Tad, Roy and Splinters go to the beach. There, they spot the smugglers' boat waiting offshore, just as MacKnight and the rest of the gang arrive. A shootout ensues, and although the smugglers onboard the boat escape, MacKnight is captured. The next day, Tad is re-elected in a landslide victory.
Director
William Witney
Cast
Roy Rogers
Trigger
Estelita Rodriguez
Penny Edwards
Gordon Jones
Will Wright
Pierre Watkin
Charles Latorre
William J. Tannen
Gaylord Pendleton
Paul E. Burns
Dorothy Ann White
Foy Willing
The Riders Of The Purple Sage
Rusty Wescoatt
Karl "killer" Davis
Bobby Barber
Monte Montague
Tony Roux
Tina Menard
John De Simone
Stanley Blystone
Gail Bonney
Eva Novak
Crew
Lynne Burke
R. Dale Butts
Jack Caffee
T. A. Carman
Sam Cohn
Steve Drumm
Jack Elliott
Gerald Geraghty
Aaron Gonzales
Austin Heric
Frank Hotaling
Jack Lacey
Garry Lambrecht
Howard Lydecker
Theodore Lydecker
Mickey Marigold
Bob Mark
Jack Marta
Tony Martinelli
John Mccarthy Jr.
Marie Messinger
George Milo
Joe Novak
Adele Palmer
Edward J. White
Foy Willing
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title for this film was Sunset in the Sierras, which was also the title of another 1950 Roy Rogers picture. Although reviews list Paul E. Burns's character name as "Blink," he is called "Blinky" in the film.
