Tonight's Movie: Night Time in Nevada (1948) at Cinecon

One of the special screenings at the Cinecon Pop-Up Day was the world premiere of a restoration of Roy Rogers' NIGHT TIME IN NEVADA (1948).

This was very exciting, as many of Roy's movies were edited for television and the original prints weren't preserved. The print typically available of this film runs 56 minutes.

Paramount was able to put this film back together by combining a Trucolor print with a black and white print found in Great Britain. The print we watched randomly shifted back and forth from color to black and white, but all 67 minutes were there, looking great, and it was a delight to be able to see it.

Ran Farrell (Grant Withers) deliberately kills his gold-mining partner, Jim Andrews (James Nolan), wanting their big strike all to himself -- only to learn the expected gold isn't in the mine after all.

Years later Ran is rustling cattle when his daughter Joan (Adele Mara) shows up with her friend Toni (Marie Harmon) looking for information on her father. Ran conspires with a lawyer (George Carleton) to do Joan out of some money she should inherit.

Meanwhile Roy Rogers (himself) and lawman Cookie Bullfincher (Andy Devine) are trying to solve the cattle rustling, aided by a group of cowhands (the Sons of the Pioneers).

Multiple murders aside, this is your typical fun Roy Rogers film, buoyed by a solid supporting cast with appealing actors. Adele Mara is a favorite Republic Pictures leading lady, and I enjoyed the chance to see her in this. Devine is congenial and Withers almost surprisingly evil, murdering at least three characters over the course of the film. 

There's also good stuntwork by Joe Yrigoyen, who did some notable "B" Western stunts in the '40s, including jumping a horse over a car in a Gene Autry film.

I especially loved the music and was a bit misty-eyed over the scenes where the Sons of the Pioneers sang. Both my late parents were fans, so I naturally thought of them, and my father especially would have loved seeing this print.

It's a fun note of trivia that Grant Withers, the villain of the piece, would later marry Estelita Rodriguez, one of Roy's leading ladies. (It's also of interest that Withers had eloped with teenaged Loretta Young in 1930, a marriage which was quickly annulled.) Withers had appeared in a couple previous movies with both Roy Rogers and Adele Mara; he was also in numerous John Wayne films.

NIGHT TIME IN NEVADA was directed by William Witney. It was written by Sloan Nibley and filmed by Jack Marta. The exteriors were shot in the Victorville area.

Although poor edited VHS and DVD prints are available, hopefully this restored full-length edition will make it to DVD or Blu-ray at some point. I enjoyed it and would like to be able to watch it again someday.

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