Along the Navajo Trail (I) (1945) User Reviews

Roy, Dale, and the Gypsies

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 2 June 2011]

You would think that with a film entitled Along The Navajo Trail this western might have something to do with Indians. Nary an Indian will be seen in this modern western where Roy Rogers is an undercover US Marshal investigating the killing of one of his colleagues.

That colleague was investigating a series of bad breaks that seem to be happening to Dale Evans and her father Sam Flint on their ranch. No one can figure out who could be plotting against them or what they would want on the ranch it having no mineral value of any kind.

Along for the ride are Gabby Hayes as the Flint/Evans foreman and a clan of gypsies headed by chief Nestor Paiva and his most fetching daughter Estelita Rodriguez. Some really good scenes are involving Paiva and Gabby as Paiva gives some credence to the ethnic stereotyping of gypsies being really shrewd traders and downright cheats. In fact that last gag on Gabby involves a federal crime. That might have carried a joke too far.

Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers aid Roy in singing Nolan's own composition Cool Water and Roy and Dale sing Along The Navajo Trail which was having a real burst of popularity with the best selling record that Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters made of it. And there's a really nice car chase scene, more typical of today's films where the villain meets a bad end.

Lot's of reasons for folks of all ages to like Along The Navajo Trail.

Pretty standard fare.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 21 November 2020]

"Along the Navajo Trail" is a very standard Roy Rogers film that's filled with what you'd expect....Dale Evans, Gabby Hayes, Estelita Rodriguez, the Sons of the Pioneers as well as a very typical baddie.

The story is about a local baddie, Bentley (Douglas Fowley). He and his men are terrorizing the countryside trying to get the ranchers to sell out to him. But it' not because he wants to keep the land...he plans on selling it to an oil company wanting to put in a pipeline. The problems are that they cannot prove that he's behind all the terror AND the last agent who was sent to investigate was murdered. Can Roy manage to get to the bottom of everything?

The answer to the question above is, of course, yes. Roy ALWAYS catches the baddie and it's not any surprise. It's how he does that you need to tune in to see! Overall, pretty much what you'd expect and want out of a Rogers film.

Dale gets jealous of a gypsy flirting with Roy

[weezeralfalfa · 6/10 · 2 May 2019]

Dale Evans is upstaged, at times, by 17 year old Estelite Rodrigues, who plays a fancy-free Gypsy ingénue, Narita, who sings and dances a bit , tells fortunes, and invites Roy to romance her. More about that later.........The basic plot involves the attempt of one Richard Bentley to convince Dale's father: Breck Alastair, to sell his Ladder A ranch to him. Bentley is working in association with the Santa Fe Drilling Company, which desperately needs to run an oil pipeline that partly goes through the Ladder A. They figure they must buy the property, but an option not considered would be to lease that part of the ranch needed for an underground pipe, leaving the surface free for the rancher to graze his stock. At present, they have to run their oil into tanker cars, which is more expensive, in the long run.........Roy is an undercover US Marshal, sent to investigate allegations that Bentley and his henchmen have been committing some property crimes. While riding in the area, Roy comes across Dale clinging to her inverted wagon, in the middle of a pond, screaming for help, since she cannot swim. Roy lassos her and pulls her to shore. She is mad, saying that his method was more likely to drown her. After her wagon quickly sinks she is more grateful. Roy soon disappears, but Gabby shows up, surprisingly unhurt, after his wagon ran aground when he crashed into Dale's wagon, knocking it down a hill, into the pond. Surprisingly, Roy didn't even ask Dale if he could help her get somewhere or recover her horses. Later, Gabby reports to Dale, that he saw a man camping on her property. She tells Gabby to shoo him away, as he may be a Bentley spy. But Gabby is slow to leave, believing the fellow is harmless. Finally, Dale goes herself. She shoots a warning shot at Roy, then recognizes him as the man who saved her. At first, still insisting that he leave, she is glad to share his tarp when a storm suddenly hits. They get better acquainted, then she asks him if he wants a job, which he agrees to. .........Roy goes to town and stops at an eatery. Narita, the gypsy girl, is dancing around and on top of the tables. Bentley's forman, Rusty, helps her down off a table, but then wants to paw her. Her brother Lani tries to interfere, but is pushed aside. Then, Roy arrives and socks Rusty. After turning his back, Rusty is about to shoot Rob, when Bentley shoots Rusty's gun out of his hand. Bentley notices that Roy isn't wearing a gun(Of course, he normally wears 2 guns.). Bentley advises Roy that it's healthy to wear a gun in these parts. But, mostly, Roy ignores this advice, except when Gabby insists. Soon, Narita seeks Roy out, obviously impressed with him, and invites him to visit her at the gypsy camp. The next day, Roy is riding around the ranch, checking on things when he spies Narita at the roadside, with her dress (intentionally) caught in the barbed wire. He fixes it, and lifts her over the fence to his side. They sit under a tree and talk awhile. Unfortunately, Dale comes trotting along and is not amused at what she sees..........Roy, Gabby, Dale, and her father attend a Gypsy festival. Narita steals Roy from Dale, who is jealous..........Later, when Roy is riding toward Santa Fe, at night, to check on the drilling company, Rusty follows him, and shoots at him. Roy tricks and captures him. He spends the rest of the night trying to get Rusty to talk. Dale notices that he didn't come home that night, and assumes he spent it with Narita. She's good and jealous, and fires Roy.(Later, after she discovers that he is a US marshal, she presumably rehires him). Later, Roy discovers that the drilling company wants the Ladder A, not to drill for oil, but to run a pipeline. But, Breck refuses to sell to Bentley at any price, for whatever reason. ........Roy and Dale's workers stage a raid on Bentley's house, which contains his henchmen and a representative of the drilling company. Despite being protected by the house, Bentley's men die, one by one,while Roy's men suffer little. Dale brings the gypsy caravan, but they can do little , as they probably don't have any firearms. When Bentley is the only one left in the house, he sneaks to his buckboard, and hightails it away. Roy chases him, causing Bentley to speed too fast. His wagon doesn't negotiate a bend in the road, and his wagon, with him, goes over a steep cliff........... The gypsy's have a parting celebration, where Dale makes up to Narita, and she sings a song with Roy........... This was Estelita's first film role. She would have more for Republic.

"Somebody's gonna get stung!"

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 13 March 2022]

I'll never figure out how some of these old time B Westerns are titled when they have no connection at all to the story. It's not just Roy Rogers' films, it happens all the time with other cowboy stars as well. This flick has no Navajo Trail and no Indians. Go figure.

What it does have are the usual suspects, i.e, Roy, Dale Evans, Gabby Hayes, Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers, and the requisite bad guys, this time in the person of Douglas Fowley and Roy Barcroft. The plot involves the villains attempting to buy the ranch owned by Breck Alastair (Sam Flint) and his daughter Lorry (Dale Evans) for an oil company pipeline before any of the locals get wind of it. A band of gypsies hover in the background with some colorful song and dance numbers, with Estelita Rodriguez casting her romantic eyes in Roy's direction, much to the consternation of Dale's character after getting off on the wrong foot with Roy to begin with.

Although Roy decides against wearing his six-guns in the story, he does have names for them - Annie Oakley and Calamity Jane! Gabby has a talented mutt named General, and manages to get hoodwinked a couple times by the Gypsy leader Janza (Nestor Paiva). When he goes to dress down a beautiful pinto he bought from Janza, the white spot on the pinto's rump washes away! I've seen that gimmick used once before but couldn't tell you where among the hundreds of old time Westerns I've seen. As the story closes, Gabby gets his money back, but upon closer inspection, finds out the bills were recently printed, as the ink smears as he inspects them for defects!

If you watch closely during that final chase scene when Roy goes after bad guy Bentley (Douglas Fowley), as Bentley's buckboard goes over a cliff, the dummy that replaces the actor for the scene lands vertically right on its head! You couldn't have timed that more perfectly, and made me go 'ouch', even if it was a mannequin.

Roy Goes Undercover

[Henchman_Number1 · 5/10 · 6 December 2013]

U.S. Marshall Roy Rogers goes undercover to investigate a string of shootings and the murder of a Cattleman's Association Operative on the Alastair Ranch, owned by Breck Alastair and his daughter Lorry (Sam Flint and Dale Evans). Roy soon uncovers a land swindle plot masterminded by J. Richard Bentley and his no-account henchman Rusty Channing (Douglas Fowley and Roy Barcroft)to grab the ranch for an oil pipeline right-of-way. With the help of Gabby Whitaker (Hayes) and an itinerant band of gypsies Roy sets to bring the scalawags to justice.

"Along the Navajo Trail" is directed by Frank McDonald who helmed a handful of Roy's Movies between the Joseph Kane years and the later William Whitney films. McDonald began to transition Roy's movies from the World War II years musical extravaganzas to more of the automobile-age western format, though this one still features Roy singing several tunes, gone are the large scale song and dance numbers. Additionally The Son's of the Pioneers sing their iconic classic Cool Water. The following year McDonald would direct what many fans consider Roy's best movie My Pal Trigger.

While Navajo Trail is a pretty average effort, most of Roy's fans and B-Western fans in general, will enjoy this one. 66 minutes of decent entertainment.

5 of 10 stars

Roy goes unarmed

[rocky-40 · 10/10 · 22 April 2014]

My major memory from having seen this little gem as a kid is that Roy never wore his guns. He had them packed in his gear, and even had a name for each pistol: "Annie" (for Oakley) and "Jane" (for "Calamity"). But mostly he let Gabby wear them. When Roy would leave for something dangerous, Gabby would give him one of them to stick in his belt: "Better take Jane along for company." The byplay between Roy and Dale, moving from antagonists to buddies (as they did in many of their early pictures), was also fun. Dale is the owner of a ranch where Roy, pretending to be an itinerant musician, is working undercover. When Dale fires a warning pistol shot at the place where he's camped, his response is to ask if she can think of a word that rhymes with Saskatoon. Fun stuff, in a more innocent age.