Lights of Old Santa Fe
“The thrill of stirring adventure blended with comedy and music... to make the greatest Roy Rogers hit so far!”
About Lights of Old Santa Fe
Gabby Whittaker hides the debts of the Brooks rodeo from Marjorie Brooks, who has come home from college to run it. Booker Bill Wetherbee will give them only the state fair, because rival Frank Madden has the other dates. Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers quit Madden when he wants them only as singers, and Gabby hires them, plus Trigger, for a last show in Albuquerque. Madden's man Ken Ferguson burns the gear and tries to steal Trigger, who bolts with Ferguson's rawhide lariat still on him. A faked radio broadcast fools Marjorie until Wetherbee tells her the truth; Roy then ties the lariat to Ferguson, stops her wedding to Madden, and she joins him in the state-fair number.
Cast & crew
More about Lights of Old Santa Fe
Frank McDonald directed an original script by Gordon Kahn and Bob Williams. Harry Grey was associate producer and Armand Schaefer executive producer. Republic copyrighted the picture on October 4, 1944 (LP12999) and released it on November 6, 1944. It runs eight reels, 6,985 feet, with RCA sound.
Themes
Making
Dale Evans plays Marjorie Brooks, the late owner's daughter, not a guest singer. George "Gabby" Hayes is the rodeo manager, not the owner.
Look
Reggie Lanning photographed it in black and white, with Herbert Kirkpatrick as second cameraman.
Music
Morton Scott directed the music. Jack Elliott wrote "Lights of Old Santa Fe" and "The Nerve of Some People." Tim Spencer wrote "Trigger Hasn't Got a Pretty Figger," "I'm a Happy Guy in My Levi Britches," and "Cowpoke Polka." Dale Evans sings "Amor."
Preservation
The film survives and circulates from the Republic library.
Notes
- Trigger is billed as "The Smartest Horse in the Movies.
- Tom Keene, billed in some sources as Richard Powers, plays Frank Madden.
- Lloyd Corrigan plays radio man Marty Maizely, who helps fake the Albuquerque broadcast.
- Roy Rogers shares a song credit with Tim Spencer on "Ride 'Em Cowboy.
- Larry Ceballos directed the dances. Ralph Dixon edited. Morton Scott was musical director.
Scenes
- Ferguson sets the Albuquerque camp on fire and fails to hold Trigger, leaving his lariat on the horse.
- Marty Maizely's radio show pretends the ruined date was a hit.
- Roy stops Madden and Marjorie's wedding and then sings for the state-fair crowd.
Also available
- Internet Archive (LightsOfOldSantaFe1944)