Sons of the Pioneers (1942) will likely never reach the classic heights of High Noon (1952) or Destry Rides Again (1939), but there is a touch of both those plots in this story of a mild-mannered young scientist pressed into following in the footsteps of his lawmen father and grandfather to stop a gang of cattle poisoners and arsonists. It's a bit of a switch for Western hero Roy Rogers, playing a man reluctant to strap on guns, but once he does so, he delivers the kind of exciting programmer audiences had come to expect from him. Rogers had been making films since 1935, portraying such Western heroes as Wild Bill Hickok, Buffalo Bill Cody and cowboys who masqueraded as Jesse James and Billy the Kid to foil some dastardly plots. Starting with Red River Valley (1941), however, the star never again played any character other than "Roy Rogers" in modern-day stories that gave juvenile fans the impression they could still travel West and get caught up in two-fisted adventures.

The plot's focus on a hero descended from early tamers of the old Wild West provided the perfect opportunity to title the picture after Rogers' musical group and frequent co-stars. From the 1930s through the early 1970s, The Sons of the Pioneers were one of the longest-running vocal acts in country music and the group that set the standard for Western/cowboy songs in popular entertainment with such hits as "My Adobe Hacienda," "Red River Valley," "Cool Water," and "Tumblin' Tumbleweeds."

The group was formed by a young Ohio singer named Leonard Slye, who had come to California at the age of 18 and hooked up with several Western music groups before joining with Bob Nolan and others to create The Sons of the Pioneers. They recorded their first album in 1934 and the following year made their film debut in a Patsy Kelly-Thelma Todd comedy short. Their first big break came with the Bing Crosby Western musical Rhythm on the Range (1936). By 1938, Leonard Slye had adopted the name Roy Rogers to take on his first acting lead in Under Western Stars (1938). Although he quickly established himself as an immensely popular solo star in the genre, on film and later TV, Rogers continued to appear and record with his group. In Sons of the Pioneers, they play -- what else? -- singing ranch hands and, along with Roy, perform a handful of tunes including "He's Gone Up the Trail," "Things Are Never What They Seem," and "Trail Herdin' Cowboy."

After Rogers' move into starring roles, the group brought in singer/comic Pat Brady as the leader; he is in Sons of the Pioneers and also co-starred in Rogers' and wife Dale Evans' long-running TV series, as a cowboy who drove a Jeep named Nellybelle. In later years, the Sons of the Pioneers included Ken Curtis, a former singer with the Tommy Dorsey orchestra who became famous in the 1950s as the comic character Festus on the long-running Western series Gunsmoke.

Roy's romantic interest in Sons of the Pioneers is played by Maris Wrixon. He and future wife Dale Evans didn't team up on screen for the first time until Cowboy and the Senorita (1944). That film was directed by Joseph Kane, who also helmed Sons of the Pioneers and more than 40 other Roy Rogers movies produced between 1938 and 1944.

Director: Joseph Kane
Screenplay: M. Coates Webster
Cinematography: Bud Thackery
Editing: Edward Schroeder
Art Direction: Russell Kimball
Cast: Roy Rogers (Roy Rogers), George "Gabby" Hayes (Gabby Whittaker), Bob Nolan, Pat Brady, Hugh Farr, Karl Farr, Tim Spencer, Lloyd Perryman aka Sons of the Pioneers (Ranch hands/Musicians)
BW&C-62m.

by Rob Nixon