timbertrail4444 Another Roy Rogers movie when Republic Studios had his movies loaded with songs and music which I love.You must get the uncut version of this movie to really appreciate it. Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers sing some very good songs along with Roy. Gabby Hayes has some good lines when fighting with the women who he wishes would leave the west and go back to Chicago. There is an excellent musical stage ending where they all sing the title song and several others. The one scene where Roy, Dale and the Pioneers sing Utah against a backdrop of scenes from that beautiful state is a highlight of this movie. Again watch the uncut version.

MartinHafer It's hard for me to do an accurate appraisal of this film, as the version I downloaded from archive.org was missing 24 minutes--that's about a third of the movie! Why? Because back in the 1950s, some overzealous knuckle-heads decided to cram the Roy Rogers films into a TV time slot--trimming them all down to about 53 minutes. In a few cases, where the original film was about an hour long, the difference between the two versions is minimal but here the film is simply hacked apart. So keep this in mind when you read this. However, I can assume that the film was not all that great based on what I saw.The film begins with Dale Evans being told that her show in Chicago is being shut down, as the financial backers have pulled out of the show. However, she owns a ranch out west and takes her friends with her to inspect and possibly sell it. Now here something VERY uncharacteristic occurs--Roy Rogers decides to lie! Instead of taking them to the beautiful ranch, he pretends that Gabby's rundown place is hers. She naturally is disappointed. However, the joke ends up on both of them when she sells the ranch--not realizing it's much bigger and more valuable. The buyer sure knows and enjoys cheating her. But Roy isn't going to let this be the end of it and he goes about trying to right a wrong.How is the film overall? Well, it suffers not only from having Roy play a bit of a jerk but once again the usual female cliché is present--the leading lady HATES Roy with no provocation and seems grouchy. Now later in the film, Dale's character had lots of reason to hate him but why did the writers almost always do this with Dale and Roy? The only saving grace is Gabby Hayes--who is even grouchier and funnier than usual. This misogynist says such wonderful lines about women as "....next to sheep, they're the dumbest critters on Earth!". Overall, I'd give this film a 3--perhaps more in the extended version. But it does suffer because Roy, who always played a sweet person, is a bit of a jerk in this one--and spends much of the film trying to undo all the harm he caused.By the way, although the film is called "Utah", it sure doesn't look like it! Like other Rogers films, it was made in California.

classicsoncall As a long time Western and Roy Rogers fan, I never thought I'd come across a picture where I could say that Dale Evans looked hot. But just check her out in the opening scene where her character Dorothy Bryant performs the 'Strictly From Dixie' song and dance number - wow! This is the only time I'll say it, and you'll have to forgive me on this point, but from a few different angles, she looked like Britney Spears. But don't take my word for it, you'll just have to check it out.As for the story, after watching an untold number of 'B' Western flicks, it's always cool to see an element that I haven't come across before. Though the picture utilizes a nasty arch-villain attempting to pull off a classic land grab, the hook here has Miss Bryant selling what she thinks is her run down ranch for a pittance of five thousand dollars to bad guy Ben Bowman (Grant Withers). He gives her a bogus check as money down, then rustles the cattle on the ranch to come up with the rest of the payment! To top it off, the homestead she thinks she inherited is really Gabby (Hayes) Whitaker's place, a ruse attempted by Roy and Gabby to try to keep her from selling in the first place. I guess it's a good thing Gabby didn't take it too personally.What really had me scratching my head though was that scene where Roy and Gabby wound up in the Coldbrook jail, and made their escape by 'electrocuting' the sheriff. How exactly did that work? No harm done though, that cured the sheriff's arthritis - what?!?! Needless to say, a story like this couldn't hold muster today, but I guess audiences of the Forties weren't very critical about their entertainment. Throw in a few musical numbers with Roy, Dale, and Bob Nolan with the Sons of the Pioneers, and you could usually count on a quick paced romp in between horse chases and shoot-outs with the bad guys. What you definitely couldn't get away with today was Gabby's attitude toward women, as in his remark to Dale Evans at the train station - "No female's capable of thinking for herself". I wonder what Britney would have to say about that.

bkoganbing Utah is one of the dumber Roy Rogers films out there. Mainly because Roy and Gabby Hayes nearly get hoisted on their own petards pulling a practical joke on Dale Evans and her friends.Dale's the absentee owner of the Bar X ranch in Utah which Roy runs and sends her a monthly check while she pursues a show business career. That aspect of the plot is actually close to the life of the real Dale Evans who wanted to star in musical comedy. She's starring in a review ready to open when the backer pulls out. Dale needs money fast so she decides to sell the old Utah homestead.Well she can't do that decide Roy and Gabby because the guy that wants to buy is a no good sheepherder who will be violating the unwritten code of the west and not sticking to his side of the valley with his sheep. Not to mention the fact that these two will have to go out and look for other jobs.For reasons I still can't figure out they pretend Gabby's little shack is the headquarters for Dale's ranch and she and her showgirl friends get put there. A little joke which gets turned on them when she decides to sell what she thinks is worthless.Not that Roy's westerns at Republic resembled Hamlet or MacBeth or even High Noon, but this one was too ridiculous. Even at the beginning when villains Grant Withers and Hal Taliaferro decide to ambush Roy when he goes to meet Dale's train. Roy and Gabby are NOT armed. Roy pretends to fall off Trigger and the two bad guys see Trigger emerge apparently riderless, but it's really Roy hanging on the side. Then still unarmed he and Gabby go to confront them and the villains who are armed run. I am still trying to figure that one out.Obviously Herbert J. Yates must have had his mind on the latest big budget spectacular with Vera Hruba Ralston or he might have noticed something. Utah doesn't even have any really good musical numbers. The only one is at the finale where Roy, Gabby, and the Sons of the Pioneers help Dale and her friends with their show.I'm not sure Roy and Dale's best fans liked this one.