Western Jamboree (1938)

Intro.

Gene Autry first began appearing in films in 1934, and needless to say, he didn't have much experience.  His acting was stiff and uncomfortable, but he could always save the day with a good fistfight and an even better song.  Through the years his acting improved immensely and his voice smoothed out to transform him from a yodeling cowboy to a crooner of the West.  Western Jamboree is near the early to middle part of his career, so there is some fine singing and decent acting.

Overview

Western Jamboree focuses on two storylines with Gene as the connecting thread.  He's a foreman on a ranch that is about to be taken over by a new owner.  The previous owner had discovered natural gas containing  much sought after helium, on the property just before he died, so with him gone the men who filed his claim are trying to discover the pipeline and take it over.  Meanwhile, Gene's friend Haskell (played by Frank Darien) has a problem - his grown daughter is newly engaged and coming back home from the East in order to see her father and introduce him to her fiancee and soon to be mother-in-law.  The only problem is, he's told her that he owns a dude ranch when the truth is that he's been doing odd jobs and barely scraping together enough money to put her through school.  So Gene decides to get his local friends to pose as high-society guests and turn the ranch into a dude ranch.  Haskell's daughter Betty loves the whole place, but her fiancee and his mother (both very arrogant socialites) hate it.  Gene tries his best to pass off the place as a real dude ranch, but when the bad guys try to move in on them for the gas and then the ranch's true owner turns up, the cover's blown and a fight for the ranch begins.

Highlights

Gene has some great songs in here.  I mentioned in an earlier post that Gene's films tend toward music, comedy or action.  This one is heavy on the comedy and then on the music.  He does a great rendition of "Cielito Lindo" as well as the beautiful "Old November Moon."  And perhaps the best number bookends the picture, "When the Bloom is on the Sage."  Gene opens the film with that song, and the ensemble closes the film with it.  As for the comedy, there's never a dull moment.  In addition to Smiley Burnett's routines, there is the additional comedy inherent in the "masquerade" - Gene's friends are local folks who prefer saloons to society parties, so when they try to act high-class, you can't help but smile.  It reminded me a bit of the film Higher and Higher (which is adorable and you should definitely watch sometime!).        

Review

An enjoyable Gene Autry film, Western Jamboree is a fun movie.  It's never dull or slow, but also not as polished as his later ones.  All in all, good, clean entertainment and a wonderful soundtrack make it a standard but lovable picture. 

Want to read more?  Check out IMDb.  Also, I just found GeneAutry.com, possibly the most awesome website ever.  Seriously, any website that features a place to submit questions called "Ask Champion" just makes my day.