As for me, I'd never actually seen a Roy Rogers film, though I was familiar with the actor and his cowboy persona. My teenaged horse-fanatic years even gave me the background to know that "Trigger," who gets equal billing in the opening credits with Rogers, is his highly-trained stunt horse. The question was whether the film would have enough merit on its own to be entertaining to someone who didn't have any prior attachment to it.

In the end... Heldorado doesn't really hold up as a film, as it's far too dated to work as anything other than a nostalgia piece. I enjoy a good western, but Heldorado and In Old Cheyenne wear the overcoats of westerns over a skeletal body that's clearly just a star vehicle for Rogers.  From a modern perspective, the structure of the movie is as plain as day, moving from set-piece to set-piece with a storyline so fluffy it's a wonder it doesn't float away into the skies. A song from Rogers, a chase on horseback, various segments of attempting-to-be-witty repartee... It's an interesting look at the kind of cinema that was on offer in the 1940s, but it's not the kind of film that stands the test of time.

I knew that Rogers was famous for his cowboy roles, but the fact that he plays "Roy Rogers" in Heldorado did strike me as odd. Not that he's the only one: Trigger of course plays himself ("the smartest horse in the West"), and George "Gabby" Hayes plays a character called "Gabby Whittaker." It may have been a development that came with Rogers' growing stardom, as In Old Cheyenne, filmed five years earlier, has Rogers playing a reporter named Steve Blane.

I confess to paying more attention to Trigger than Rogers. What kind of tricks would the "wonder horse" perform? Not a whole lot, really, but it's amusing to keep an eye on him, as he clearly views the whole business of making a film as just one more day's work before heading back to his daily oats. Wild chases, large crowds, riding on parade floats, you name it; Trigger doesn't bat an eyelash. I bet many directors would like to have human actors this professional.

Video

I don't expect a DVD of a film from 1946 to look as good as a transfer of a modern release... although a painstaking restoration can work wonders, as Warner showed with their sparkling transfer of the 1933 Little Women. For Heldorado and In Old Cheyenne, Roan Archival Entertainment claims to have restored the original picture elements, but you couldn't tell by looking at the image.

The print is evidently in very poor condition, as we can see from the quantity and severity of the flaws in the image, ranging from large black squiggles to specks of various sizes to long vertical scratches. On many occasions frames appear to be missing, causing an odd jump in the image; noise is also an issue. The image also displays a fair amount of unsteadiness, especially in In Old Cheyenne.

The black-and-white films are presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio, which, accounting for normal television overscan, is almost exactly its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1.

Audio

The soundtrack for Heldorado is fairly weak, with the various sound elements seeming to be at the same volume level regardless of their importance; dialogue doesn't stand out particularly well. While there doesn't appear to be any distortion, the overall sound has a muffled quality that makes it a bit tiring to listen to. In Old Cheyenne is even more muffled, and with the added problem that there's a distinct crackling noise in the background of the soundtrack.

Extras

There are no special features included on this DVD.

Final thoughts

If your eyes light up and a smile pops up on your face at the thought of seeing an old Roy Rogers film, then Heldorado and In Old Cheyenne are possibly worth seeing... though the poor transfer quality on this DVD makes it difficult for me to recommend it. On the whole, though, I don't think that these films have what it takes to interest viewers on their own merits; so on the basis of both the films and the DVD transfer, my overall advice is to skip it.