Glimmerubro It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

MartinHafer I would have to say that of all the Roy Rogers films I have seen, this has got to be the worst. The plot makes little sense, the writing is very, very poor and it's bizarre they'd call this film "King of the Cowboys" considering it really has nothing to do with cowboys! The film begins with the Governor asking Roy to go undercover. This is a VERY familiar role for Rogers--he'd done this in tons of his other films. But, because the film is like a long talent show, Roy infiltrates a traveling show. This show somehow holds the key as Rogers figures out that they are transmitting secret codes. So, it's up to him, Smiley Burnett, the Sons of the Pioneers AND Dale Evans to sort all this out and save America. So what does this have to do with cowboys? Well, folks wear cowboy clothes--but that's really about it! As I said above, the writing it pretty bad for this one. Now seeing Rogers playing a character in modern times is not at all unusual, but the pitiful writing is. Here are a few examples how bad it got: In the psychic show, audience members are told to 'talk into the magic ring'. It's obvious to anyone that it's a microphone and I can't see how anyone but the dumbest folks on the planet would see this as magical or even interesting. Sadly, it's a VERY important part of the film.When the baddest of the baddies (Gerald Mohr) is about to shoot Rogers (who is unconscious), the wimpy baddie says "I'm going to turn myself in--I'll talk and take what's coming to me!". Who would say that as their partner is standing there with a gun about to shoot someone?! Is it any surprise that only seconds later this wimpy guy is killed?! Duh--can anyone be THAT dumb?! To help break Roy out of prison, his friends get the jailer to put a handkerchief over his head and leave the key to the cell sitting on the table in front of him while they show him a magic trick! Is anyone THAT dumb? Can anyone be that dumb?!Late in the film, Roy and his lady friend discover who the boss-man is of the baddies and they 'forget' and accidentally leave the loud speaker on so the baddies can hear that they've made this discovery!! Again, can anyone be that dumb? You must have noticed that again and again, the film relies on EVERYONE being 100% stupid. And, now that I think about it, they also rely on the audience being that stupid as well! Well, I might not be Einstein, but I am not THAT stupid--I give this one a well-deserved 2.

bkoganbing Roy apparently earns his title as King of the Cowboys by helping out Governor Russell Hicks of Texas track down a nest of Nazi saboteurs who are wreaking havoc across the Lone Star State. Did Congressman Lyndon B. Johnson know about this?Herbert J. Yates put the best creative minds at Republic Pictures to work on this and they came up with a script that's a combination of The Thirty Nine Steps and This Is My Affair. Like the Robert Taylor MGM classic where he's a secret agent working directly and reporting to President McKinley because McKinley like Governor Hicks can't seem to trust anyone in his official capacity. And like The Thirty Nine Steps the key is Gerald Mohr with a carnival memory act. If you're going to borrow at least Yates felt you should borrow from the best. You can't do too much better than Alfred Hitchcock.Roy gets a nice group of songs and I particularly liked the fact that he gets to sing I'm An Old Cowhand which in fact he had a hand in introducing seven years earlier. When Roy was just one of the Sons of the Pioneers who also appear in King of the Cowboys he backed Bing Crosby when he introduced the Johnny Mercer classic in Rhythm on the Range. Now Roy's a star and does a nice solo turn accompanying himself on the guitar.While Republic's other big singing cowboy Gene Autry was off to war, Roy inherited for a while, Smiley Burnette who does his usual comedy bit.Sadly though the film that gives Roy the title he was forever known by is a badly dated war propaganda flick that simply doesn't wear well or age well. The King had been better served by his subjects at Republic before and after this film. They'd also done worse by him as well.

classicsoncall It's only appropriate that the King of the Cowboys would appear in a movie of the same name. Roy Rogers was always my favorite Western hero, and he appears here as an undercover agent for Texas Governor Shuville (Russell Hicks), investigating sabotage in the territory. The story itself however, turns out to be rather ordinary, as Roy and his crew of Pioneers bring the bad guys to justice.Roy's sidekick here is Smiley Burnette, in one of his few outings where he doesn't go by his own name. His character is Frog Millhouse in deference to the particular guttural sound he can produce at will; fortunately it's not overdone. We're still a few pictures away from Dale Evans' first appearance with Roy (1944, Cowboy and the Senorita), so the female lead falls to Peggy Moran, a performer with the Merry Makers Carnival and Tent Show. "Following Merry" is the only clue Roy has, so when he hooks up with the traveling show as a singer, he hopes to uncover the plot.As with most of Roy's films, there are a host of songs performed by the cowboy crooner, including the opener - "Ride 'Em Cowboy". They're followed up by "I'm An Old Cowhand", "A Gay Ranchero" and "Roll Along Prairie Moon". All of them conjure up memories of a youth spent viewing hours of Western thrills following Roy, Gene, Hoppy and plenty of other stars getting the drop on the bad guys. So when you hear Bruce Willis mutter Yippie Ki Yay in "Die Hard", it just doesn't ring the same.I always get a kick out of the perspective offered in these old films. How excited is the café cook when he sees the prospect of two paying customers at thirty five cents each! I know I haven't seen it in a movie before, but what's with the giant mirror in the road trick?Of course in the end, Roy races to the rescue aboard Trigger to save the day, defusing a bomb and saving a railroad train from destruction. The Sons of the Pioneers round up the baddies, and the Governor proclaims Roy "King of the Cowboys" for his heroic assistance. It should be so easy in real life, but this was a simpler time when the guys in white hats always won. Yippee I-O-Ki-Yay!

state40 If you like Roy, you will like this movie.It has a good story line about sabotage and Roy's under cover work to capture the saboteurs.Roy also sings some songs.Smiley Burnett does his usual fine act as a funny sidekick.I was surprised to see Gerald Mohr as a "BAD GUY" in a western.The movies and T.V.I have seen him in he usually plays a sophisticated type of character.If you don't blink your eyes,you will see Eddie Dean as a policeman who has been tied up in his patrol car.