Young Bill Hickok (1940) Roy Rogers, George 'Gabby' Hayes, Julie Bishop, John Miljan Movie Review

Young Bill Hickok (1940)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Sally Payne in Young Bill Hickok (1940)

Roy and Calamity Payne

With many busy with the American Civil War, young Bill Hickok (Roy Rogers) is a freight line agent trying to make sure shipments of gold reach their destination rather than ending up being stolen by some villains working for a man across the ocean. Fortunately for Bill he is found by Calamity Jane (Sally Payne) and her uncle Gabby Whitaker (George 'Gabby' Hayes) during one of his skirmishes and together they join forces to foil the thieves who are also trying to steal land.

Hands up if you answer yes to one of these questions: Are you a budding western aficionado who will watch anything involving the west? Did you grow up in the 1930s and 40s and headed to the pictures on a Saturday morning to catch the latest exploits from Roy Rogers? If you have your hand up then the chances are you might enjoy watching "Young Bill Hickok" with Roy Rogers cast as the young legend alongside Sally Payne as Calamity Jane. Although as this is just another one of those old oaters where the good guy takes down some outlaws who are stealing gold and land it is in fact a bit of a non-descript western.

It means that the only real pull which "Young Bill Hickok" has is watching Roy Rogers playing another good guy who finds time to pick up the guitar and serenade his girl in between dealing with the bad guys. In truth even that isn't much of a pull and at times Sally Payne as Calamity Jane ends up more entertaining than Roy Rogers with both of them often out shone by George 'Gabby' Hayes.

What this all boils down to is that "Young Bill Hickok" is at best just an ordinary old western which might just have some sort of appeal to those who grew up on these old Roy Rogers' westerns.


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