The title song is sung twice:: near the beginning, as the bells of a church (Rosarita?) ring, and, again, at the end, when all join in singing. I'm a bit confused about the first time. After the bells ring, The Robert Mitchell Choir sings, followed by Roy. Then a young woman, dressed in white, as a bride might, emerges from the church gets in an open carriage, rides a short while, then stops, and sings a little of the song, when Roy comes along on Trigger, scoops her up on Trigger, and rides away, as if he is her groom, taking her home. I strongly suspect that young woman is Janet Martin, who plays a character called Rosarita, and is only seen in this scene. I'm not sure if she is merely pretending to be a historical figure called Rosarita, after which the church was named. This scene is actually part of a movie shoot, the film being called "Bells of Rosarita"! .....The plot is quite simple: Dale Evans, as Sue Furnum, has inherited a circus and ranch from her father. But, Bill Ripley claims her father borrowed a large amount money from him and never repaid. Now, he wants the circus and the ranch in compensation. However, her father's partner in the circus business, Slim Phillips, claims that her father did repay the loan. But, they need to find the receipt to prove that he did repay. Slim suspects it's in their safe deposit box. It should be a simple matter of checking. However, Slim is kidnapped before he can get to the bank. The presumption is that Ripley is behind this, but he has disappeared with Slim. So, Roy and aids go riding around looking for them. Finally, they find Ripley's hideout, and a gun battle ensues. It ends when Roy supposedly shoots the top off the stove pipe (what?!), which somehow supposedly clogs the pipe so that the smoke fills the cabin, causing all inside to exit with their hands raised. One would think that the 2 baddies(Ripley and his aid Maxwell) would be charged with kidnapping and put in jail. But, NO!, next we see them in an office planning how to get to the safe deposit box before Slim does! That evening, while everyone is at the circus, they break into the bank, and dynamite the vault, notifying everyone that they are there. Supposedly, they then search for and find Slim's box(?), presumably shoot the lock off, grab the contents, and dash to their car, before an authority arrives!? A chase ensues involving a bunch of horsemen chasing their car. Eventually, they run out of gas from a bullet in the gas tank, a gun battle occurs, followed by a series of fisticuffs. Roy finds the receipt in the pocket of the knocked out Ripley, and the sheriff arrives. If the bandits had some smarts, they would have torn the receipt into little pieces and scattered them outside, as they drove along. Roy and all return to the circus, where Roy, and some other Republic cowboy heroes gather, and have the horses rear up when they are announced..........A humorous event occurs when Ripley reminds the sheriff that there is a town ordinance against allowing circus parades within the town. The sheriff reminds Roy, but he claims they are not a circus, but a funeral procession! So, who died? The pet duck of one of the Sons of the Pioneers. Amazingly, the circus gets away with this!..........There are numerous songs sung along the way, either by the boy's choir, the Sons of the Pioneers, Roy , Dale, or all together. Incidentally, the boys are cast as orphans, who live and work on Dale's ranch.
Review of Bells of Rosarita
