Watch Bells of San Angelo For Free

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Fresh and Exciting

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

While I enjoy Roy Rogers movies, I must admit that one of the shortcomings in them is that they were generally geared towards kids--and the violence was way, way under-emphasized. Roy and the gang didn't shoot baddies--they beat them up and turned them over to the law. Or, if they shot anyone, it was usually the way the Lone Ranger did it--in the hand! However, "Bells of San Angelo" is a welcome change and the film is unabashedly violent...very, very violent. And, because of this, it's among Rogers' better films.The film is a bit unusual because it's in color. Unfortunately, the color is very muddy and unattractive. On the other hand, at least the copy of the film I downloaded for free at archive.org was the full film--not the shortened to fit TV time slot versions you often find."Bells of San Angelo" finds Roy and the Sons of the Pioneers coming into town to help the sheriff (Andy Devine) get to the bottom of a shooting. The mine owner says it was justified--Roy and the gang think there is way more to the shooting and decide to investigate. Along the way, a western writer (Dale Evans) comes to town to visit and, uncharacteristically, Dale is nice and not stupid--and Roy is the dumbbell here. He assumes she CAN'T be the author since she's a woman and he also assumes books about the old west are worthless! By the end of the film, she, of course, proves him wrong.So what about all this violence I mentioned? Well, in the big finale, one of the baddies is launched off a cliff and it looks amazingly real when he hits. Another is shot and killed by Roy. And, both are mangled a bit by dogs just before this! I loved it as it really set the usual formula on its ear. The same can be said for Devine, as usually the sidekicks are pretty passive and not much help--but Devine occasionally kicks the snot out of people! Now compared to a non-Roy Rogers film, this picture isn't that violent--but compared to the usual sanitized view of the west in his films, this IS pretty surprising and a welcome relief.

To all of my learned comrades that posted comments insulting the late, great Roy Rogers & Dale Evans, I say from the bottom of my pea-picking, reminiscing-good old days heart, PPPPPPTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL! I honestly do realize that the color quality isn't exactly top shelf, most of the acting is sub-par & the plots are tissue paper transparent, but who gives a horses saddle bag? I love each and every dusty one of them. And this includes the 50s TV show with sidekick Pat Brady and Nellie Belle the jeep. Yes, Gaby Hayes is the best sidekick ever! I grew up watching R.R. He brought to the youth of my time, "truth, justice & the American way"! I stole that quote, by the way. It brings me back to my childhood, which I guess was worse than these movies were. Maybe that is why I enjoyed them so much. PapaLarry H

Another movie from a cheap 10 movies for $10 DVD set, teamed on a disc with 'The Gunfighters' (good, see review) and 'Guns of the Revolution' (unwatchable, no wonder it's not on IMDb!).I'd not see Roy and friends in color. In fact it's almost 50 years since I'd seen Roy in B/W, on TV. He and Trigger never measured up to 'Hoppy' and Topper, in my boyish opinion of the time. Having now seen both stars and their mounts in recent years, that opinion still holds. William Boyd was a far better actor, as was Topper.However, this movie is entertaining. The story is interesting, as are the characters. Andy Devine pretty much steals in picture. Wow, what a character; and Dale Evans, very nice to look at, and not a bad actor. The characters' guns actually run out of bullets*! *Keith, an 80 yo pal of mine who is a keen fan of Westerns said that as a kid, he thought Colt.45s were called thus because they held 45 bullets!

This one gets better as it goes along. It features Andy Devine as one of Roy's better sidekicks, Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers, Dale as Western writer in disguise. Bad guys are weaker actors than usual. Excellent color processes from Republic help on this one. Weak script hurts, and except for Devine and Snowflake Toones as the ranch cook, the acting is barely passable.