The Cariboo Trail (1950)

'Gabby" Hayes can always be relied upon to liven things up, and here he comes very much to the rescue of this otherwise rather hum-drum pioneer western adventure. Top billing goes to the rather sterile Randolph Scott ("Redfern") who, with his pals "Evans" (Bill Williams) & "Ling" (Lee Tung Foo) encounter old-timer "Grizzly" as they head into British Colombia with some farming and gold-panning on their minds. They are not there for long, though, before local cattle baron "Walsh" (Victor Jory) and his men stampede their cattle causing "Evans" an injury that costs him his arm - and costs the operating "Redfern" their friendship. Now facing hostility from just about every side, his only hope is to find some gold in them thar hills. Karin Booth provides the occasional, and lively, love interest - a shrinking violet she isn't, and the rest of the narrative follows a well trammelled storyline peppered with the odd gunfight, before quite an exciting head-to-head. Aside from the rather wooden Scott, this features quite a characterful cast with enough action and a minimum of romance and wordy dialogue to pass eighty minutes amongst some fine cinematography (Colorado not BC) enjoyably enough.

**_Randolph Scott during the Cariboo Gold Rush of British Columbia_**

I saw the 2016 restored version and the colors and scenery are splendid. Scott makes for a noble protagonist while George 'Gabby' Hayes works well as the grizzled geezer in his last feature film. Despite some comic book depictions, such as the bitter prospecting partner played by Bill Williams and the villain mogul played by Victor Jory, the story moves right along and Karin Booth is lovely as a saloon owner in Dawson Creek. Meanwhile the Blackfeet Indians are portrayed quite well, considering the period.

There are a few scenes that unfortunately switch to the studio, and you can always tell they are fake sets, yet they’re more realistic looking compared to most such sequences back then.

It’s short ‘n’ sweet at 1h 21m and was shot in 1949 at Corriganville in Simi Valley, which is 36 miles northwest of Hollywood, as well as Gunnison and Lake City in southwest Colorado, not to mention Bronson Canyon, which is just southeast of the Hollywood Sign. Studio work was filmed in Hollywood with some second unit work reportedly done in British Columbia.

GRADE: B-