Roy is a bandit who is out to get the man who killed his younger brother. He learns as he rides into the town of Senora that the man is the owner of the local saloon and gambling hall. Roy Rogers (Roy Rogers, and not playing "himself" but playing a character named Roy Rogers), posing as The Carson City Kid, is seeking vengeance on Morgan Reynolds, the man who killed his brother. To find Reynolds in the gold towns, he systematically stops stagecoaches and goes through the mail, hoping to find letters addressed to Reynolds and thusly learn his whereabouts. Thus "The Kid" earns the reputation of a stagecoach robber, although he never takes anything, and the reputation is enhanced by the fact that he travels with Laramie (Francis McDonald), a notorious half-breed outlaw. A posse is about to capture them and Roy rides back to get Laramie whose horse has been shot, and Laramie repays the favor by slugging Roy and escaping on his horse Trigger. The posse rides by the unseen Roy and captures Laramie and, since he is riding the "Kid's" horse, take him to jail as being the "Kid." Laramie denies this and is told he will be free when he identifies the "Kid"; othewise he will hang. Roy rides into town, having deduced that the Morgan Reynolds he is looking for operates the Yellowback Saloon under the alias of "Lee Jessup" (Bob Steele) . As part of his plan to get evidence against Jessup, who also does not know his true identity, Roy takes a job as saloon shotgun guard, and meets saloon singer Joby Madison (Pauline Moore, in one of the truly great performances found in the B-western genre) and falls in love with her. Captured, he is taken before Laramie, who quickly identifies him as the "Kid" although he has never seen him before, in order to win the immunity promised him. Roy, masked as the Carson City Kid and speaking Spanish as the Kid did on the stage holdups, intervenes and at gunpoint, asks Jessup to identify what Scott has stolen from him. Besides the gold, Jessup unwittingly identifies as his own the latters and documents, which establish him as Morgan Reynolds. Reynolds meets justice and Roy is exonerated. ne fine little B-western with an excellent performance by George "Gabby" Hayes (as Sheriff Gabby Whittaker), before he had the character down as a sleep-walking exercise and was still revolving, and by, as mentioned, Pauline Moore, as a no-excuses heroine for being where she was doing what she did as a saloon entertainer. The Carson City Kid (Roy Rogers) is on a quest to find the man that murdered his brother, and that trail brings him to Sonora and the Olive Branch Saloon, owned by crooked card shark Lee Jessup (Bob Steele). Although a hero in most of his films, Steele offers a characterization here of a villain you just love to hate, a smarmy, underhanded cheat who can't be greedy enough. George "Gabby" Hayes portrays Marshal Gabby Whitaker, who claims to have ridden with the "Kid" at one time and knows him on sight. That gag gets to be played out a number of times in the film, with Rogers grinning his way through each attempt by Gabby to continue the charade. Roy Rogers plays a man disguising himself as The Carson City Kid who is seeking vengeance on the man responsible for his younger brother's death. He thinks the guilty person is a bar owner (Bob Steele) but along the way he falls for a young woman (Pauline Moore) and tries to help a young man (Noah Beery, Jr.) from the same fate as his own brother. This is yet another good Western from Rogers and company, although no one should confuse this for the work of John Ford. As you'd expect, Rogers has no problem playing the good guy as that laid back style really comes across and it's just really impossible not to like the guy. I'm really not sure what it is but Rogers is just so calm and collective that you can fall for his charm and get behind his cause. Moore makes for a very good love interest as she's certainly cute enough for the part but her performance is also good enough to make you care for her. The same is true for Beery, Jr. whose character really comes across thanks to his fun performance. Steele always makes for an enjoyable bad guy and that's the case here as well as you really want to hiss at him each time he's in the frame. George 'Gabby' Hayes is also on hand doing his typical great support. The story itself isn't the strongest in the world but it's good enough to keep you interested for a hour. The action is fast, the characters enjoyable and overall this is pleasant enough for a time killer. Carson City Kid (1940) Full Length Roy Rogers Western Movies saloon horse posse b western outlaw singer bandit jail stagecoach

• published: 19 May 2014
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