ArizonaRealCountry.com 17 March 2018 With 1950’s the Arizona Cowboy through 1954’s Phantom Stallion, Rex Allen would star in 19 pictures for Republic, plus guest-starring in Roy Rogers’ cowboy epic Trail of Robin Hood (1950). Rex: “Our pictures were shot in about eight days. You had to run the horses fast, run yourself fast and, of course, the cameraman ran fast and if you didn’t get it in one take they were all mad at ya. So, we did it in one take.” Like all popular B cowboy stars, Rex needed a horse. Roy had Trigger; Gene had Champion, while Hopalong Cassidy and Topper were inseparable. Allan Lane started out with Feather and then, as Red Ryder, he inherited Thunder from Wild Bill Elliott, which flawlessly became Black Jack for the ‘Rocky’ Lane series; other duos included Ken Maynard and Tarzan, Tom Mix with Tony, and Silver was a popular steed’s name for The Lone Ranger, Sunset Carson, and Buck Jones. Rex chose a chocolate brown Morgan, with distinctive white mane, tail, and blaze dubbed KoKo. What Rex didn’t realize was that a popular screen horse needed a double. Rex: “Never did find a double for him. They finally got to takin’ a white horse and dying him with vegetable dye. Dyed off everything but his mane, tail, white socks, and the blaze in his face which would last about seven or eight days. When the picture business was over I was working rodeos and finally had a mare drop a colt with a white mane and tail. He wasn’t built like his daddy, but I turned KoKo out to pasture for the last five years of his life and used his colt. We trained him and used him for about 5 years. Roy had Trigger, Jr., Autry had Champion, Jr. Looks like we outlived our horses!” Rex also needed a sidekick. Roy had Gabby, Andy Devine, Gordon Jones, Pat Brady and the obnoxious Pinky Lee! Gene had Smiley and the misplaced Sterling Holloway at Republic, and Pat Buttram, and Smiley at Columbia. Gordon Jones and Fuzzy Knight appeared with Rex in a few films, but his movies gained momentum with Under Mexicali Stars (1950), featuring Buddy Ebsen as his sidekick. Rex: “It was a real pleasure and honor to work with Buddy Ebsen. Buddy had come out to the coast and we really lucked out getting him. He had been on Broadway with his sister. Buddy was a fantastic dancer By Charlie LeSueur Charlie LeSueur, AZ’s Official Western Film Historian. Encore Fellow @ Western Spirit, Scottsdale’s Museum of the West. 480.358.5178, azfilmhistorian@gmail.com, www.silverscreencowboyz.com Remembering Rex Allen Part III Rex, on his horse, Morgan: “Never did find a double for him. They finally got to takin’ a white horse and dying him with vegetable dye.” and a fine actor, and he was kind of starvin’ to death or he wouldn’t have been workin’ at Republic. He made so much money that every pocket was full.” Buddy Ebsen, went on to TV fame as George Russel on Disney’s Davy Crockett (1954), a trailblazer on Northwest Passage (1958-‘59), then superstardom as Jed Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies, and the long-running series, Barnaby Jones. When Ebsen left the series, Rex gained his most enduring and endearing sidekick, rodeo clown ‘Slim Pickens.’ Part 4, next issue. When [Buddy] Ebsen (above, left) left the series, Rex gained his most enduring and endearing sidekick, rodeo clown ‘Slim Pickens’ (above, right).