Don't Fence Me In

1945 "TANTALIZING TUNES! BARKING SIX-GUNS!"
6.6| 1h14m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 20 October 1945 Released
Producted By: Republic Pictures
Country:
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Wildcat Kelly has been dead and buried for years. Or has he? Dale is a reporter for an Eastern magazine who comes West to find out the true story of Kelly, of whom Gabby seems to have mysterious knowledge.

Genre

Action, Western

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Director

John English

Production Companies

Republic Pictures

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Don't Fence Me In Audience Reviews

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.
TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
Hattie I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.
vincentlynch-moonoi While growing up, Roy Rogers was my hero, and I even got to see him live at a rodeo at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. For many years, this film was the one I most remembered of the many that showed up on television in the 1950s, usually on Saturday afternoons. So I was delighted when Encore showed the film, apparently in its entirety not too long ago; few of the Roy Rogers films survived the butchery to fit them in 60 minute slots on television.As another of our reviewers pointed out, this is probably the best of Roy's films. After all, you can't go wrong with a Cole Porter lead song and a stellar performance by the best sidekick of them all -- Gabby Hayes. In fact, Hayes is the focus here -- as an old supposedly dead and buried outlaw. The ruse is foiled by Dale Evans, a magazine reporter. But then Gabby (Wildcat Kelly) is shot as an investigation begins into what happened to the reward money which the state paid out when he was supposedly shot dead.It's all great fun, with the Sons Of The Pioneers along for the ride, with a short version of "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" thrown in for good measure. Roy does well here...as he usually did. And, for a change, I actually enjoyed Dale Evans' performance here; in fact, it wouldn't have worked without her role. And Gabby Hayes is at his best, with a particularly funny funeral scene! This may be Hayes' best film performance...and it's pure Gabby!
MartinHafer Before I get to the review, I noticed that one review was for the severely truncated version of "Don't Fence Me In". That's because during the early days of television, many of Roy Rogers' films were hacked to pieces to make them fit TV time slots. In some cases, it's not that obvious--as they removed mostly the songs. In others, it appears as if the film was edited by Freddy Kruger--just hacked to pieces. Fortunately, the on demand version now on Netflix is the full film and my review is based on this.Roy's real-life wife, Dale Evans, appeared in something like about 1/4 of his movies. Usually, she's not bad at all and sings a song or two. However, in "Don't Fence Me In", her appearance is far from welcome--mostly because her part is terribly written. She plays a Lois Lane sort of pushy reporter--and she is just plain annoying. It's a shame, as it's an otherwise decent little B-movie.Long ago, a famous robber, 'Wildcat Kelly' died and his exploits were legendary. However, in a weird twist, it turns out that Gabby Hayes WAS this notorious outlaw but faked his death so that he could live an honest life. Pushy Dale learns this and instead of respecting Gabby's right to remain anonymous, she publishes the story--even after Roy gets her to agree not to. This turns out worse than expected, as someone is now bent on killing Gabby and plugs him. He isn't killed by they pretend he is dead in order to flush out the guy who shot him--by staging a funeral! This is only about halfway through the film and where this takes the audience is just something you'll need to see for yourself. However, be forewarned, Dale is annoying and when there is a big fight sequence, she acts REALLY stupid and sets back women's rights about 6000 years! Uggh, she is awful but the rest of the film is jim-dandy. Overall, I'd give this one a 5--and without Dale, it would earn at least a 7!By the way, Roy and the Sons of the Pioneers sing "Don't Fence Me In" in this film--which, considering the title, isn't at all surprising!
bkoganbing In the George Eells biography of Cole Porter it comes out that Porter while writing the music, did in fact purchase the lyric 'from an antediluvian character' while out west. Probably not unlike Gabby Hayes and the character he plays in the film Don't Fence Me In. The song isn't like any of the sophisticated numbers we normally associate with Porter. Roy Rogers introduced the film in Warner Brothers Hollywood Canteen where no doubt Jack Warner paid Herbert J. Yates at Republic some real big bucks for his cameo. So it may have evened out that Yates got the rights to Don't Fence Me In for a title song for one of Roy's films at his home studio. It turned out that this was one of Roy Rogers best westerns with Republic and in it he plays the proprietor of a dude ranch where he keeps the secret of Gabby Hayes, a harmless old codger who spins a lot of tall tales in the Gabby Hayes fashion. But Gabby is really a notorious outlaw from the old west, one Wildcat Kelly who has been presumed dead for almost 40 years. There's a grave for him in the local cemetery.But the fact that news of his death was greatly exaggerated and that brings Lois Lane type reporter Dale Evans out west for the story. Dale gets that and more including Roy.Again Roy and Dale really have spark as a screen team, not as sophisticated as Bill Powell and Myrna Loy, but definitely their dialog is pretty good. And the situations are hilarious like Dale hitching a ride in the stagecoach boot with Roy throwing in some Limburger cheese for company and her tossing him in the swimming pool in response.But besides Roy and Dale's chemistry, Don't Fence Me In has one of the best musical scores of any Rogers film. Besides the title song, Jack Warner apparently threw in My Little Buckaroo which Dick Foran introduced in one of his westerns at Warner Brothers. Roy also sings Along The Navajo Trail which he sang in a previous film of the same title. All three of these songs were big hits by the way for Bing Crosby. The mystery of Wildcat Kelly is quite an interesting one. I highly recommend Don't Fence Me In as one of the Rogers/Evans best screen team efforts.
revran This film is definitely a classic of the Saturday Matinee Singing Cowboy Western. With the King of the Cowboys, Roy Rogers, the irrepressible George "Gabby" Hayes, the beautiful young and spunky Dale Evans and Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers you can't go wrong. Dale plays an undercover reporter out to do a story on a lost fortune and a dead bank robber. She travels to a Dude Ranch run by Roy and Gabby and the Sons of the Pioneers. Roy takes her for a ride in one hilarious scene with a Stagecoach. Gabby plays dead, coffin and all, . in one of the funniest scenes he's ever done. Elementary age kids just love this one so the family will really enjoy the ride.