The "King of the Cowboys" rides again, with Roy Rogers in his 54th starring role in Rainbow Over Texas (1946). Roy is visiting his home town as part of a personal appearance tour with his band The Sons of the Pioneers and is invited to compete in a recreation of the Pony Express race. Dale Evans, "The Queen of the West," is along for the ride as well, making it the 15th film for the duo; here she plays a heiress posing as a runaway boy. Roy's right-hand Gabby Hayes plays the sheriff, and second-billed Trigger is still "The Smartest Horse in the Movies."

Rainbow Over Texas was based on the serial story Senor Coyote by Max Brand, who also created the Dr. Kildare series. He also penned the novel Destry Rides Again, upon which the 1939 Marlene Dietrich-James Stewart classic was based.

With the release of Rainbow Over Texas in May 1946, Roy Rogers was well on his way to becoming one of the biggest stars in Hollywood-but tragedy would strike just a few months later. One week after giving birth to his son, Roy, Jr., his wife Arlene died of a brain embolism. Roy and Dale would become real-life costars the next year, marrying on New Year's Eve 1947.

Producer: Edward J. White
Director: Frank McDonald
Screenplay: Max Brand, Gerald Geraghty
Cinematography: Reggie Lanning
Film Editing: Charles Craft
Art Direction: Hilyard Brown
Music: Gordon Forster, Morton Scott
Cast: Roy Rogers (Roy Rogers), George 'Gabby' Hayes (Gabby Whittaker), Dale Evans (Jackie Dalrymple), Sheldon Leonard (Kirby Haynes), Robert Emmett Keane (Wooster Dalrymple), Gerald Oliver Smith (Larkin).
BW-63m.

by Eleanor Quin