"Sagebrush Troubadour" director Joseph Kane's B-movie musical western "Sheriff of Tombstone" has nothing to do with Wyatt Earp, his brothers, and the Clanton gang. Roy is a former Deputy Marshall from Dodge City who turns in his badge after things simmer down and the town settles into peaceful tranquility. Not only does Brett Starr (Roy Rogers) leave the famous Kansas town, but also an unsavory as well as unshaven hombre named Cassidy (Harry Woods of "Monkey Business") plans to pull up stakes, too. Cassidy is widely known for his use of a double-barrel shotgun. A lot of animosity exists between these two characters. "King of the Cowboys" scenarist Olive Cooper wrote this Roy Rogers saga based on "Pride of the Navy" scribe James Webb's original story. Cooper conjures up some good dialogue. Essentially, this oater concerns corrupt officials who rule Tombstone and are doing their best to ruin a harmless old lady, Granny Carson (Zeffie Tilbury of "Camille"), who has struck it rich with a mining claim. Unfortunately, Granny cannot ship bullion to pay her taxes because evil Mayor Luke Keeler (Addison Richards of "Flying Tigers") and saloon owner A.J. Slade (Hal Taliaferro of "Ramrod"), have joined forces to compel Granny into relinquishing her claim because she cannot pay those taxes. They plan to buy her property out. Granny, however, is not inclined to accommodate as readily as Keeler and Slade want. Meantime, Keeler and Slade have another conspirator, Wells Fargo Agent John Anderson (Jay Novello of "The Wonderful Country"), who masquerades as a Mexican bandit named Joe Martinez. Brett Starr arrives in Tombstone and thwarts some men who plunder a clothing store run by Granny's daughter Mary (Elyse Knox of "The Mummy's Tomb"), and Brett takes a fancy to her. He forces the men not only to pay for the dresses they have taken but also to wear them. When Keeler and Slade hear about this encounter, they leap to the conclusion that Brett is actually Cassidy. After Brett left town, he joined up with his relatives to ride to Tombstone, and his friend Judge Gabby Whittaker (George 'Gabby' Hayes of "Blue Steel") rides along with them. During the journey, our heroes have another encounter with the slippery Cassidy. At one point, Gabby plays poker with Cassidy and loots his winnings. The notorious Cassidy tries to bushwhack Gabby in the barn, but the resourceful Gabby surprises him, whirls around in time, and wounds Cassidy. Eventually, when they reach Tombstone, Gabby runs into his own relatives. After the mayor decides to hire Brett as town marshal because he believes erroneously that Brett is Cassidy, Brett learns about Granny's predicament. When Brett tries to ride shotgun on a stagecoach with bullion, he smells an ambush and has the driver reverse the stage and return to Tombstone. During the fray, Brett catches a bullet so that he must have his hand bandaged, but so to does Martinez. "Sheriff of Tombstone" is one of those rare sagebrushers where Roy is wounded. The musical numbers don't slow down the action and each is relatively minor. As usual, Harry Woods makes an excellent villain. "Sheriff of Tombstone" is an adequate shoot'em up with good dialogue and interesting characters, particularly Jay Novello in a dual role.

Having ignored this genre of films for years (due to the enormous amount of material available and the presumed predictability of these films), I have come to enjoy some of them to the point of opening myself up to studying them further. In the case of "Sheriff of Tombstone", I found this one instantly satisfying, whether it be through the mistaken identity plot line or the efforts of the town's sinister mayor to keep gold claim owners from getting their gold to the mint. Roy Rogers is mistaken for a gun-slinging crook because he is holding the man's sawed-off shotgun, and made sheriff of the very corrupt town of Tombstone. Store owner Elyse Knox, granddaughter of the feisty Zeffie Tilbury, at first wants nothing to do with Rogers, believing him to be this bad man, and is surprised when Rogers offers her family help in order to protect her claim. But the real gunslinger arrives and this leads to a show-down between good and evil.Tilbury, a delightfully spry elder lady, steals every scene she is in. Best known to "Our Gang" fans as the cranky old lady who befriends Spanky and the gang in "Second Childhood" and as the grandmother in "The Grapes of Wrath", Tilbury is the type of actress who has you eating out of her hands the moment she pops up on the screen, even though she is in only a few scenes here. She reminds me of Judith Lowry, the elderly character actress of the 1970's whom TV audiences adored for her feisty Mother Dexter on "Phyllis". Sally Payne also offers some amusing moments as George "Gabby" Hayes' estranged daughter who gets to perform a few musical numbers along with Rogers. "B" westerns may not necessarily make you think too much, but they are pleasing time-passers, and this one is among the better ones which I have seen.

In Sheriff Of Tombstone Roy Rogers plays a Wyatt Earp like character who has quit being the marshal of Dodge City and is going west to Tombstone to be with his brothers and settle down in business. Problem is that Tombstone is a town in bad need of taming. The outlaws as headed by Addison Richards see it that way also and they've sent for a notorious outlaw played by perennial western villain Harry Woods to see it's tamed their way.But Woods meets with a funny accident on the way, courtesy of Gabby Hayes no less who beats him to the draw. This may have been Gabby's finest hour as a western sidekick. Roy arrives ahead of Woods and Richards and his henchmen think Roy is Woods.Of course that doesn't last long, but Rogers is resourceful and you know the bad guys will be brought in line before the end of the final reel.Given the constraints of Republic Pictures budget for a B film, this one is not bad for its type. Elyse Knox who became wife of Tom Harmon and mother of Mark Harmon is the leading lady, she's the granddaughter of the head of a clan of mine owners who Richards and his friends are trying to squeeze out of business. Sally Payne is also around in a role as a spunky saloon girl who does a little espionage for Roy on the side. She gets almost as many musical numbers as Roy in this film.Definitely one for Roy and his devoted legion of fans.

Roy Rogers (as Brett Starr) gets out of Dodge, with some of his brother's family, to become "Sheriff of Tombstone". Along the way, he meets old up with old pal George "Gabby" Hayes (as Gabby), now a lawyer. Sally Payne returns as Gabby's daughter Queenie. Mr. Rogers and company find lawlessness in Tombstone, led by corrupt Mayor Addison Richards and wayward Sheriff Harry Woods.Jay Novello steals away with all acting honors as John Anderson aka Joe Martinez; Mr. Novello is dialect-able, makes terrific getaways - and, he is more fun to watch than the cute kids, the granny, and the love interest for Rogers. Novello's versatility is very much appreciated in this film. By the way, the film closes with a suggestion Rogers is about to do some major neckin' with Elyse Knox (as Mary). Rogers and Ms. Payne share in a light, pleasant soundtrack, highlighted by Rogers' "Sons of the Western Foil" and Payne's "Two-Gun Pete". ****** Sheriff of Tombstone (1941) Joseph Kane ~ Roy Rogers, George 'Gabby' Hayes, Jay Novello