The first movie my parents took me to as a kid growing up in Minto, New Brunswick, Canada starred Roy Rogers. It was in color. I was probably five. To say I loved it is to put it mildly.
Roy Rogers was the hero of my youth. He was the hero of a lot of kids.
This week I watched the wonderful Kino Lorber restoration of TRIGGER JR. (1950). Rogers worked for Republic Pictures which had its own color process, Trucolor. Time has not been kind to films released in Trucolor.

Time has not been kind to films released in Trucolor. The restoration work on TRIGGER JR. and SING GUNS (both 1950) brings them back to their glory (which is damned glorious).
I also watched another Republic picture from 1950, SINGING GUNS with Vaughn Monroe whom I had never heard of which is surprising as he sang the song I most loved as a kid, GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY. Burl Ives had introduced the song. Monroe’s baritone made it a huge hit.
SINGING GUNS introduced Monroe to the movies. It’s a sure fire picture based on a Max Brand novel. It has a fine cast which includes Ella Raines as the female lead. My friend Stedmond Pardy walked in as I was running SINGING GUNS on the big screen at The Cineforum. He let out a great gasp of admiration when Ella Raines turned on the heat for Vaughn Monroe.
These films left me with a desire to see more. That’s what good movies do.–Reg Hartt 2018–04-14.
More info here:
SINGING GUNS (1950) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singing_Guns
https://www.kinolorber.com/product/view/id/5093
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/90265/Singing-Guns/
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2o7rep
http://www.moviefanfare.com/?p=51636
TRIGGER JR. (1950) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trigger,_Jr.
https://www.kinolorber.com/product/view/id/5092
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/93922/Trigger-Jr-/
My number one favourite song as a kid and still up there today is Ghost Riders In The Sky.
Here it is sung first by Burl Ives: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2klh2cTa_Q
It was Vaughn Monroe, however, who really made it famous: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyDNnQbbkSQ
http://www.vaughnmonroesociety.org/biography.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ9t6RTBSCs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ8W3gRc14M
Roy Rogers, naturally, did his version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuAxm_02fw0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_z2UP8QnNk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB6SSIUqQRg
http://www.royrogers.com/roy_rogers_bio.html
The Trucolor Process SINGING GUNS and TRIGGER HR. were filmed in was Republic Pictures own process. KINO LORBER has done a swell job restoring these films to their original beauty.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trucolor
http://zauberklang.ch/filmcolors/timeline-entry/1294/
Here is GHOST RIDERS sung by The Cineforum’s Petunia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWbh-YYFo4g
Petunia: Toronto Is Colder Than Mars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rMfd38jqtg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aKt5AweMLY
http://www.taddlecreekmag.com/going-with-the-flow
Stedmond Pardy came in while I was watching SINGING GUNS. One look at Ella Raines brought out a gasp of admiration. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Mg0oi3glgw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj7TaNZUW4M
http://www.brandonpitts.com/mosaic-poets-with-stedmond-pardy/
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