FightingWesterner Rodgers holds up mail-lines looking for bad guy Bob Steele, in order to settle an old score. Along the way, he tangles with lawman George "Gabby" Hayes and tries to protect young, naive miner Noah Beery Jr., whom Roy's partner (!) and Steele set their thieving sights on.A great role for Roy, this has a great, above average cast and an irresistible chance to see Rodgers going up against fellow Saturday matinée star Steele (who always looked more like a heavy than a hero) in a rare villainous turn.A better than average script, that knows what buttons to push and a quick pace also go a long way in helping make this Republic Pictures production worth watching.The only things that disappoint is the abrupt conclusion and the half-hearted nature of songs.

phcs01 The Carson City Kid (Roy Rogers) and his partner are, on horseback, fleeing a posse led by Marshal Gabby Whitaker (George "Gabby" Hayes) when his partner's horse is shot from beneath him. The Kid stops and picks up his partner, and they are riding double.The unscrupulous partner then knocks The Kid off the horse and continues alone on horseback. The posse later surrounds the partner and captures him.The Carson City Kid, unhorsed and on foot, hides from the posse that was chasing him and his partner. After the posse captures the partner, and returns to town to jail him, Marshal Gabby Whitaker remains behind, alone, to search for The Carson City Kid.When the Marshal rides beneath a tree, in which The Kid is hiding, The Kid drops a rope over the Marshal and takes his horse, leaving the Marshal to make his way back to town on foot.Since The Kid was on foot, and nowhere near a horse... where did he get the mysteriously appearing rope which he used to capture the Marshal?

Michael_Elliott The Carson City Kid (1940) *** (out of 4) Roy Rogers plays a man disguising himself as The Carson City Kid who is seeking vengeance on the man responsible for his younger brother's death. He thinks the guilty person is a bar owner (Bob Steele) but along the way he falls for a young woman (Pauline Moore) and tries to help a young man (Noah Beery, Jr.) from the same fate as his own brother. This is yet another good Western from Rogers and company, although no one should confuse this for the work of John Ford. Your tolerance of the "B" Western will certainly factor into how much you enjoy this film but if you're one who can put up with their low-budget charm then this here is a good one. The best thing the film has going for it are the performances of the cast. As you'd expect, Rogers has no problem playing the good guy as that laid back style really comes across and it's just really impossible not to like the guy. I'm really not sure what it is but Rogers is just so calm and collective that you can fall for his charm and get behind his cause. Moore makes for a very good love interest as she's certainly cute enough for the part but her performance is also good enough to make you care for her. The same is true for Beery, Jr. whose character really comes across thanks to his fun performance. Steele always makes for an enjoyable bad guy and that's the case here as well as you really want to hiss at him each time he's in the frame. George 'Gabby' Hayes is also on hand doing his typical great support. The story itself isn't the strongest in the world but it's good enough to keep you interested for a hour. The action is fast, the characters enjoyable and overall this is pleasant enough for a time killer.

classicsoncall The Carson City Kid (Roy Rogers) is on a quest to find the man that murdered his brother, and that trail brings him to Sonora and the Olive Branch Saloon, owned by crooked card shark Lee Jessup (Bob Steele). Although a hero in most of his films, Steele offers a characterization here of a villain you just love to hate, a smarmy, underhanded cheat who can't be greedy enough. George "Gabby" Hayes portrays Marshal Gabby Whitaker, who claims to have ridden with the "Kid" at one time and knows him on sight. That gag gets to be played out a number of times in the film, with Rogers grinning his way through each attempt by Gabby to continue the charade. Rounding out the cast is Noah Beery Jr. as a loose lips prospector who impersonates the Carson City Kid in order to retrieve the money he lost to Jessup in a rigged card game. And as usual, there's a romantic interest - Pauline Moore as saloon singer Joby Madison who catches Rogers' eye and later does some catching of her own. Rogers and Moore also teamed up in "Colorado", released in the same year, 1940."Carson City Kid" is a fast paced film coming in at just fifty seven minutes, and manages to include the standard gunfight, posse chase and rope across the trail trick. A 1940 Republic film, it holds up as one of the more entertaining of the early Roy Rogers Westerns.