Happy Trails Theatre

One of the greatest thrills I had as a young Roy Rogers fan was Happy Trails Theatre. For those of you fortunate enough to have watched TNN during the 1980's, both Gene Autry and Roy Rogers hosted their own Movie festival. The most historically important thing about these shows is not the movies themselves, but the guests.

As Roy and Gene were the giants of the B Western film industry, their co-stars were the best of their day, and their respective museums allowed them to keep in contact with their fan base and old friends. As a result, the guests that graced the stages include Pat Butram, Art Rush, Dale Evans, Roy Rogers Jr, Gene Autry, Iron Eyes Cody, Gail Davis, Penny Edwards, and William Witney. These video tape appearances are for many of the stars, amongst the last time they appeared in public, and for fans of the early films, priceless. The format of the show was simple. "Hi, I'm Roy Rogers"

"And I'm Dale Evans. Welcome to Happy Trails Theatre. Today we'd like to welcome...."

And the show would include the featured movie, questions and answers with Roy and Dale, and a short chat with the guest. Often, rare family photos would show up, and on one show Roy even brought his own family movies! The movies chosen were not always the best copies, but efforts were taken to find the best. Today even, that effort continues so we can have the most pristine masters for the future generations to enjoy. Goodtimes Video under license from the Rogers family and TNN, has undertaken the monumental task of packaging 'Happy Trails Theatre' in both VHS an DVD formats. As with the original broadcasts, the copies are not necessarily the best, but for true fans of the famous couple, that doesn't matter. The graphics on the packages are good, and the bonus material is stunning. [navajo_dvd.jpe][dakota_dvd.jpe] On every video, Roy and Dale host a biography of themselves, there is a sidekicks feature, and Dusty takes you on a short tour of the old museum in Victorville. As the museum is now in Branson, the tour is a real joy. As a fan, I never saw the old museum, but now I can appreciate what fans saw for almost 30 years. As of this writing, there are 18 movies presented in this series. They are:

"Along the Navajo Trail"
"Robin Hood of the Pecos"

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