Man from Music Mountain (1938)

Because a shoot-out in an underground gold mine is always a good idea. 

Intro.

When I started this blog back in January, I was still able to get a cable channel that showed a Gene Autry film every Sunday.  I moved and lost that channel, but I do have a collection of Gene's films that I've been saving for a rainy day.  Despite being a sunny day, I just needed something sweet, simple and fun.  I had heard of Man from Music Mountain and while chuckling at the name, decided it was the perfect way to unwind.   

Overview
Man from Music Mountain begins with the opening of Boulder Dam.  Power line routes are being laid out, and any land around those lines promises to profit.  Two shady businessmen decide to take advantage of the situation and start selling land in Gold River, including a stake in the nearby mine to every landowner.  Many entrepreneurs take the deal, but upon arrival, discover that Gold River is an abandoned ghost town.  Gene Autry runs into these folks on their way to town and realizes that he knows the no-good land baron, Scanlon (Ivan Miller).  Autry tries to get Scanlon to stop the scam, but it doesn't work.  Meanwhile Gene's sidekick, Frog Millhouse (Smiley Burnett), is taken in by the deal and winds up with some land and a stake in the mine.  Gene's invested now, so he agrees to help the townspeople as they try to make the best of the situation.  They all still believe that the power lines will come through, but Gene has his doubts.  When they discover the mine's been worked dry and abandoned some twenty years ago, Gene and Frog hatch a plan to plant some gold dust from Gene's father and start a rumor that the mine's really profitable.  That of course makes Scanlon very upset and he tries to first discredit Gene, and then to buy back everyone's shares while they still think it's a hoax.  The rumor starts a gold rush and the town grows, which really helps the early settlers, but makes Gene really nervous.  Anyway, it all ends with a shoot-out in the mine and a very fortunate discovery!

Highlights (and a quick story)
As with most of Gene's earlier films, the music is fun and the story is pretty lighthearted.  I had some issues first with the slightly racist joke made by an African-American woman who works at Gene's ranch (still much better than Carolina Moon).  And while I applauded the fact that there were two very ambitious women in the earliest settlers who open their own salon, they weren't in keeping with the usually strong female leads that often featured in Gene's films.  Sure they ran their own business and managed to give Gene a manicure (more on that later), but they still relied on the men for everything and didn't fight their attentions.  I missed June Storey's competition with Gene or Irene Manning's use of a rifle to defend herself.  But in all honesty, they are still not the maidens strapped to the railroad tracks by an evil villain with a black mustache.  They choose to strike out on their own as "modern pioneers" and handle their difficulties with a laugh and a smile.  "Modern Pioneers" is a great title too, as this is a typical thirties Western, where the good guys are the hard-working cowboys and the bad-guys are tech-savvy crooks.  I swear in all these films, there's usually a group of cowboys who get run off the road by some vehicle (bus, truck, you name it) and then later the cowboys prove that horses are better because those same vehicles get stuck in the mud or in a river or in a ditch somewhere.  It's a great triumph of the hardworking homesteaders against the rich and mighty. 

The musical accompaniment was also well done.  Not only do we have Gene's usual singing ranch hands (was that asked in their job interview?  Can you rope a steer and then break into three part harmony?), but there's also Polly Jenkins and her Plowboys, a western band lead by a woman.  Gene gets to do a few of his own numbers of course, the best being "Goodbye Paint" which is actually really depressing because it's about a cowboy saying goodbye to his dying horse.  Anyway, I wanted to take a minute and talk about Gene Autry as a singing cowboy and what that meant for the Western film genre.  I know I've mentioned it before (like in Public Cowboy #1), but the addition of a singing cowboy to films helped make Westerns appeal to women, thus increasing the audience and helping save what would have been a dying genre.  But there's an interesting genre mix going on when you take a traditionally masculine genre like a Western and add in a typically feminine genre like a Musical.  I almost fell over laughing when Gene goes to visit the women in the salon and finds himself subjected to a manicure.  When his friends come in and start making fun of him, he is quick to his feet and shoots a warning at them, then forces them to also get manicures.  It's like a hold-up in a beauty salon all with the song, "Burning Love."  The perfect marriage of Western and Musical, with a subtle wink to the name, the "Lavender Cowboy."  It made me reconsider the gender coding of the parent genres and wonder about some underlying homosexual innuendo.  It seems funny that Gene is so quick to defend his right to get a manicure (even if the manicurist is a very pretty woman).   

And that leads me to my brief story.  At work, we had been talking about how films are marketed to female audiences - very few are when you think about it, and the ones that are still stereotype women.  One of my coworkers brought up a good point that in the new Twilight films, men are being objectified the way women have been for centuries.  I got to thinking about how this changes the audience and the marketing of these films and realized that on a similar level William Holden had also done this in the film Picnic.  I mean, that whole film revolves around him being shirtless and causing all the women to go a bit nuts.  But on a different level, Gene's films could also be argued to have been marketed to men and women equally.  When I brought this up, Catherine looked at me and said "so was he a Chippendale cowboy?"  I'm not too sure what Gene would've said to this, but I had a good laugh.  No, there was no shirtless-ness (he was still an idol of kids, remember) and definitely no kissing!   Anyway, the point of the story is that if we really want to consider targeted audiences, it goes back further than just glittery vampires.        

Review and Recommendation 
A solid film on many fronts, Man from Music Mountain is a pretty typical B-Western.  It's a fun ride if you don't take it too seriously.  The ending might make you groan a bit, mainly because the women turn into airheads, but whatever.  It's Gene Autry and he sings and gets fabulous nails.  What more could you want?

P.S.  Sad but true: I couldn't make out the year on this film's title screen, so I tried to guess as I watched.  Based on Gene's appearance, his sidekick and supporting cast and the general feel, I guessed 1938.  Turns out I was right.  I'm not sure whether or not to be proud of this....

Boots and Saddles (1937)

Intro.

I know I've probably mentioned this before, but I love the television channel Encore Westerns.  I love it not for the lesser known movies or reruns of Gunsmoke, but because every Sunday at noon they have a salute to Gene Autry, and play one of his films.  I know it isn't a well known or even very popular station with people my age, but one of my simple pleasures is to curl up with a cup of coffee on Sunday mornings and watch another Gene Autry Western.  They have commercials for it to, and my favorite shows clips of Gene singing and throwing punches as the voice-over calls him the original American Idol.  It's easy to see why so many young boys and girls looked up to him.

Overview

Boots and Saddles is a pretty standard Gene vehicle, and like his other pre-WWII films, it's heavy on the singing, followed by equal parts comedy and action.  This time Gene's the foreman of a ranch whose owner has just died.  The owner's pre-teenaged son Edward is coming from England to collect his inheritance, but unbeknownst to Gene, the boy intends to sell the ranch.  Gene and Frog then face two problems - first is to get the prim and proper boy to fall in love with the West and the ranch.  Second is to find a way to make the ranch more profitable so that they can pay off the owner's debts.  Jim Neale (played by Bill Elliot) wants to buy the ranch to raise horses to sell to the Army.  Gene takes his idea and sets out to sell the ranch's horses to the Army instead.  A lot of good humor results from a series of misunderstandings when Gene mistakes the Colonel's daughter for his maid and Frog gets mistaken for a new recruit.  It all winds up with a race between Neale's horses and Gene's horses - Neale's riders wear black hats and Gene's wear white (naturally).

Highlights

Gene does sing a few great numbers in here, namely the song that lends itself to the title, "Take me Back to My Boots and Saddles."  Gene also serenades the colonel's daughter Bernice (played by Judith Allen) with "The One Rose (That's Left in My Heart)."  He is nicely backed up by the locals in both songs, unlike the comedic song "Why Did I Get Married?" that he sings to Bernice once he figures out who she really is.

The other point worth mentioning is the relationship between Gene and Bernice.  She's upset with him because he's just a cowboy, and her boyfriend happens to be Neale.  They start out on a bad foot because Gene and his boys block the road with all their horses, preventing she and her father to pass on their surrey (which makes for some funny Western road rage).  Well, when Gene shows up and mistakes her for the maid, she plays along.  She even tells him that the Colonel is deaf and likes it when people shout at him (which, of course, Gene does, causing the Colonel to think Gene is hard of hearing).  Later Gene goes to pick Bernice up for a date and she tells him she has to clean the room first.  He discovers a family photo of she and the Colonel and realizes what he had suspected is true.  So he gets even by finding all kinds of things needing to be cleaned, including how awful the floor looks and how she'd better scrub it.  It's a funny give and take that adds not only humor but a good dynamic to the film, even if it is a bit stereotypical. 

Review

Definitely one of Gene's better pre-WWII pictures, Boots and Saddles is very entertaining and wholesome, with some good, clean fun.  Yes, it's dated and pretty old-fashioned, but the film doesn't take itself seriously and neither should its viewers.  I recommend it as a good, solid singing cowboy film that doesn't disappoint its genre or Gene's fans. Oh, and Champion of course steals the show, making the film even better.

Public Cowboy #1 (1937)

Intro.

Public Cowboy #1 is probably Gene Autry's most referenced film.   I did a research paper on early Westerns a few years ago, and I remember reading countless articles all of which mentioned this picture.  So it was a real treat to watch it last week.  All the hype is due - not only is this an entertaining vehicle, but it clearly demonstrates (better than most of Gene's pictures) the role Gene holds as a hero of the working class during the Depression.  He represents the farmers and ranchers who are hit the worst and his fight soon becomes the fight of all men and women of the time.

Overview

Gene plays a deputy sheriff out in cattle country, where the older sheriff has raised him like a son.  The film opens with the two of them good-naturedly helping their ranching neighbors to round up some strays.   The ranchers have been complaining because of some mysterious rustling - it seems that their cattle are disappearing without a trace.  We as the audience learn that the cattle are being stolen by the Chicago and Western packing company headed by a guy named Shannon.  He's got airplanes passing over head and radioing the packing truckers when and where there is an unguarded herd.  The truckers drive in, kill the cattle and ship them off in minutes, leaving the ranchers on horseback completely baffled.  The sheriff is outwitted as well, so the town votes him out of office and brings in a "modern" police force that promises to use new scientific methods to capture the crooks.  However, the rustlers didn't count on Gene's determination to solve the case the old-fashioned way and give the Sheriff back his pride.  He manages to do just that with the help of Frog's home-made shortwave radio, a funny undercover job and a pretty female newspaper editor named Ann (played by Helen Morgan).  The final show-down is a triumph not only for the ranchers, but for audiences of any generation feeling the pressures of change and technology.

Highlights

Gene, as in most of his pre-WWII films, has a lot of singing in this film. All of the songs are worth mentioning, but especially good were "Old Buckaroo" and the haunting "Wanderers of the Wasteland," the latter of which opens the film on somewhat of a somber note.  My favorite song though is "The West Ain't What it Used to Be," which Gene sings to Ann once they've met and later adds to in an attempt to serenade her.  I've typed up the lyrics, and here's a sample that backs up the whole sentiment of the film - that the West, both in the physical sense and in the mental image of America's promise, has changed.  Whether or not we can call this progress positive is another subject that isn't mentioned.

"There's a New Deal in the West today,
Where the antelope used to play,
I met a deer this very day,
Oh, the West ain't what it used to be."

"There ain't much left of the West no more,
The cowboys all turned troubadour,
A gal I know is an editor,
Oh, the West ain't what it used to be."
-music and lyrics by Fleming Allen

One of the topics I've written about before (and have read a good deal about) is the portrayal of women in Westerns.  Usually they are marked as the innocent, fragile beacon of civilization that must be protected.  However, with the development of a less rough-and-tough hero (I mean, come on, he sings after all) there's a shift towards making women much stronger, more independent characters.  Ann is the epitome of that - she not only writes for the newspaper, she runs the whole office.  She works harder and is more stubborn than her male counterparts.  She represents the best aspects of progress, and while Gene doesn't fit in with her world (as evidenced by him constantly knocking things over in the newspaper office), he does respect her.  When he teases her about her strong work ethic, he says "I guess I'll have to learn how to cook then."  All I want to say is "yes, Gene.  Yes you will."

While Ann may represent the good side of progress, the rustlers and Shannon represent the bad side.  All of the fears of the time are played out here - the fear of losing land and livelihoods and the fear that technology will put the working man out of business.  The film clearly references the very popular crime drama genre of the day - calling the packing company "Chicago & Western" alludes to it being run by gangsters (as well as Shannon wearing dark tailored business suits).  Even the title is a play on the James Cagney hit, The Public Enemy (1931).  Cowboys can not only beat bank robbers and horse-thieves, but they can also take down modern criminals, something the new police-scientists can't accomplish.  It's clear from the beginning that this is a fight Gene has to win - he has to preserve that last part of American fortitude and the can-do spirit, even in the most difficult of times.  His triumph is our triumph.

Review

I love Westerns, as you probably have guessed by now.  And of all the Gene Autry films I've seen, I think that Public Cowboy #1 is definitely one of, if not the absolute, best.  It isn't just about how the story works or how the cinematography looks - this is a film that captures the feeling of a certain time and place and endures because that feeling is universal.  So I definitely recommend this film, especially if you are a fan of how film reflects history or how the Western evolved.

As I read this all back over, I realize how serious this post sounds.  So let me leave you with a more lighthearted thought: I've heard a lot about the funny debate in the past few years about who would win in a fight - ninjas or pirates.  Well, let me end by saying my money's on the cowboys.

If you're interested in reading more, there's a great article by Lynette Tan called "The New Deal Cowboy: Gene Autry and the Anti-Modern Resolution."  If you think all B-Westerns are lousy oaters, then this article may change your mind!      

Carolina Moon (1940)

Intro.

Some days, you just need a good movie to cheer you up.  That's how I was feeling today, so I decided to watch a movie from my Netflix instant play list.  Turns out they've posted quite a few Gene Autry films, so I'm pretty much in fangirl heaven.  I chose Carolina Moon mainly because it was from 1940 (one of Gene's best years) and co-starred June Storey and Mary Lee.  While the singing was superb, the storyline and the over-done Southern cliches were not.

Overview

The film begins with Caroline Stanhope (June Storey) and her grandfather (Eddy Waller) on their way North to a rodeo, where they hope to ride their prize thoroughbred and win enough money to pay the back taxes on their plantation.  At the rodeo they meet Gene and Frog, who tell them that a thoroughbred can't compete with cow-ponies.  Of course, our guys are right and when the grandfather loses a large bet, he is forced to sell Gene his horse in order to pay.  Unfortunately, Caroline has other ideas and gets the family (and the horse) back to Carolina and leave Gene and Frog holding the bag.  Well, the boys head South (despite Frog claiming there's no such place as Carolina).  Once there, it's clear that the Stanhopes aren't the only ones in danger of losing their plantation.  Gene and Frog naturally decide to help (mostly Gene, because he's obviously falling for Caroline).  The main problem is a guy named Henry Wheeler (Hardie Albright) who wants all the owners to sell him their plantations so that he in turn can sell them for a profit to a lumber company.  Gene and Frog figure it out after a fox-hunt, a Steeplechase, and a challenge to a duel.  Anyway, just when you think it's worked out (the plantation owners sell their timber rights and are able to keep their land), the bad guys add one more twist.  I won't give it away, but let's just say that lumberjacks vs. cowboys makes for one great fight!

Highlights

I couldn't help but laugh during this film, both at the intentionally funny parts and the not-so-intentional parts.  There were good points, but also a few very bad ones.  On the one hand, Gene is great.  He's funny and handsome and at the top of his game.  His singing is just as great as his other films, and there is plenty of it.  Worthy of note are the title song, as well as "Dancing Dreams That Won't Come True", "Say Si Si" and a great one by Mary Lee: "Me and My Echo."  There are some great action scenes too - I already mentioned the fight between cowboys and lumberjacks (good money on the cowboys, of course!) and the race sequence where Gene rides in a Steeplechase.  And he's right, he does look silly in that jockey cap!   Gene and Frog manage to have some great comedy bits too, especially at the rodeo where Frog's trying to pick up a girl.  Finally, to wrap up the highlights was Gene's final showdown with Wheeler.  I didn't think Gene could really intimidate people, but somehow he pulls it off here: "I've heard that word honor ever since I've been here.  We have it out West too.  Only we handle them a little different.  We just start shootin'." 

The hard parts to watch revolved around the Southern cliches.  Although the highlight there was how Mary Lee stopped the fox hunt!  Still, the Southern Colonel obsessed with telling stories of the Civil War and the poor portrayal of African-Americans was too over the top.  I think I finally had enough when Frog tried to disguise himself as a "Mamie."  Really, Frog?  I had to remind myself that this film was in 1940 and I'm in 2010, but it's still troubling to watch.   

Review

This was one of the few times where I wasn't sure just how I felt about a movie.  I think overall, Carolina Moon is not one of Gene's best films.  The golden parts are the singing, the few action scenes and the comedic banter between Gene and Frog.  Other than that, it feels dated and unusual.  I missed Gene being out West and look forward to the next film that takes him back to the prairie.

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.

Night Stage to Galveston (1952)

Intro.
Another of Gene's last Westerns, Night Stage to Galveston also feels more like a longer verison of one of his TV episodes.  It's based on a little-known and interesting piece of Texas history.  After the Civil War, Texas legislation had tried to pass a bill for three companies of Rangers, but when funding failed, they instead put together a group of State Police.  As in most states, these State Police weren't trusted, leading to distrust among the residents.  This sets the stage for Gene's picture.

Overview
Gene is one of the now-retired Texas Rangers, along with his friend Pat Buttram.  They are working with Colonel Bellamy, who runs a newspaper with his daughter Ann.  The town's been getting pushed around by the local State Police, who pretty much throw anyone they don't like in jail on false charges.  When they kill a local rancher, Gene goes after them and shoots one of them in self-defense.  He and Pat take in the dead rancher's little girl Cathy (Judy Nugent), and take her back to the Colonel.  Gene, Pat and the Colonel come up with a plan to contact all of the old Rangers and have them gather as much proof of police corruption as possible.  It almost works until the State Police steal the affadivts, kidnap Ann and Cathy and beat up the Colonel.  It all culminates in a rip-roaring stagecoah hijacking by Gene and the re-establishment of the Rangers!

Highlights
As in most of his post-WWII films, there is less singing and more action.  The plot is better than some of his later work, and the feature songs in this picture are great.  Gene sings "Heart as Big as Texas" (one of my favorites!) and the theme of the movie, "Eyes of Texas" is a great, old Texas Ranger song.  If it sounds familiar, it could be because the song was also used in the TV series Tales of the Texas Rangers and later was rewritten a bit as the theme song for Walker, Texas Ranger.

The supporting cast is great in this film as well (outside of Pat Buttram's chauvinistic lines about a woman's place).  Colonel  Bellamy is well played, as is the character of Cathy.  Little Cathy (played by 12 year old Judy Nugent) is quite a scene-stealer and has a big part to play.  Aside from hiding several times and overhearing the police plotting, she is also kidnapped with Ann and escapes by climbing out of a chimney.  She gets Gene to come save Ann, then later on she saves the Colonel when he gets shot in the arm and ruptures his artery.  Finally, Gene's horse Champion shares top billing with Gene.  This film highlights what a beautiful horse he is during all of the great chase scenes.

Review
Gene's films usually lean towards comedy, singing or action.  This one is heavy on the action, but has some comedy and singing too.  If you can get past Pat's shenanigans, then I think you'll really appreciate this film.  It's good, solid entertainment and a fine example of the singing cowboy Western.

Want to read more?  Check out the Official Website of the Texas Rangers here.

Apache Country (1952)

Intro.
Encore Westerns had a great Gene Autry double feature today: Melody Ranch and Apache Country.  I watched both, even though I had already seen Melody Ranch (but the second viewing was just as good!).  I have to admit, I was a bit apprehensive about Apache Country.  As a fan of Westerns, I am painfully aware of sometimes awful treatment of Native Americans in motion pictures.  I haven't seen many films where they are not the bad guys, and fewer still where they have been portrayed as complex, important characters.  This picture struck me because the Apaches are the very people Gene is protecting, and they are respected.  The main Apaches in the film are not main characters, but important to the plot.  In a timeline sense, this film came after Gene had already been on his TV show for about 2 years.  He's a bit older than his early classics, but he can still pull a few punches (and sing a few melodies!).

Overview
This film reminds me of a longer, more polished version of one of Gene's TV episodes.  The plot is fairly simple - Gene is chief of scouts for the Army, and his latest assignment is to go undercover in the town of Apache Springs to find out who's been inciting Apache uprisings to cover up real train robbers.  The easy part is finding out the couple behind the outlaw ring - the hard part is proving it.  Lucky for Gene and his sidekick Pat Buttram, they run into Carolina Cotton (playing herself), a gal who runs her late father's medicine show.  Carolina can out shoot and out yodel everyone in the territory, and she and Gene become fast friends.  He entrusts her with a coded report that will expose the outlaw leaders, but the leaders get wind and try to ambush her when she joins a wagon train to the nearest fort.  Gene and Pat ride in just as the bullets start flying, and of course they all get the bad guys.

Highlights
What this film lacks in plot, it makes up for in the character of Carolina Cotton.  She is unstoppable!  Not only is she running her own business, but she's joining up with Gene and Pat to help them in a pretty dangerous situation.  Gene pays her quite a compliment too when he says that next to her father, she's the best they could have asked for.  It's so refreshing to see a woman in a Western who is her own person, not dependant on anyone, able to shoot and fight better than any man.  And she's not the usual old, bitter spinster with a gun - she's gorgeous!

Carolina sounds great when she sings too, and just as terrific when she and Gene sing together.  He doesn't sing as much in this picture, probably because he's too busy chasing train robbers and punching out bad guys.  But he does manage to sing a beautiful version of "Cold, Cold Heart."  The Cass County boys are also along for the ride, providing some nice backup for both Gene and Carolina (although they really should have had more screen time).

Finally, the Apaches that tour with Carolina perform some traditional dances for us, and Gene narrates their actions.  He pays respect to their traditions and helps those around him understand the symbolism of the Eagle Dance and the Buffalo Hunt.  It's very different from other cowboy-and-Indian movies, and makes me happy Gene did it.

Review and Recommendation
There are a few reviews out there that say this film is only mediocre.  It really is a usual, run-of-the-mill oater, but still entertaining.  There are a few good reasons to see it.  If you think that Native Americans are never portrayed well, you should see this picture.  If you think women are never strong Western characters, then this film will prove you wrong.  All in all, not Gene's best, but far from his worst either.

Back in the Saddle (1941)

Intro.
Although it's Monday, this review is a tad bit late for "Fridays with the Flying A."  Nevertheless, Back in the Saddle proved to be another fine Gene Autry film.  I had seen a clip of the film on Encore Westerns during an interview with (I think) Douglas Green.  He talked about the man who wrote "Back in the Saddle" - apparently Ray Whitley was the guy, and as they worked on the film he said he needed one last song.  Somehow he said he was getting "back in the saddle" to go to work and a song (and a legend) was born.

Overview
The song, "Back in the Saddle," opens up the film as we see Gene backstage after a rodeo at Madison Square Gardens.  His character is literally going back to his work saddle by leaving the tour and going back to work out West.  While in New York, however, his job is to find Tom Bennet, the man who just inherited Gene's boss's ranch.  Gene and Frog Millhouse find Tom alright and make their way West.  But once they hit town, they find that the copper mine has had a strike and their humble cow town has exploded into a huge mining town.  And at its head is E. G. Blaine, who has the whole town in his pocket.  When Gene and his men discover that Blaine's mine is dumping their runoff into the main river, which is killing their cattle, he tries to put an end to it - first by way of the law.  As Gene tries to get an impartial judge out of town, Tom takes action, resulting in a shootout between the cattlemen and the miners.  In the crossfire, Tom shoots a miner in self-defense.  He is arrested and held with the understanding that as long as Gene doesn't try to stop the mining company, they won't hang Tom.  What results is a battle of wills, which involves two lovely ladies (Julie Bishop and Mary Lee), a gambler who switches to Gene's side, a stampede of cattle and a firey shootout to the end. 

Highlights
I just can't resist Mary Lee and Gene Autry.  They sing so well together, and in this film they are paired for "I'm an Old Cowhand."  Apart from their singing, this film is a pretty standard Western - that is, right up until the last part.  As soon as Tom is taken into custody and Gene is given the ultimatum, the film started to remind me more and more of Rio Bravo (which, ironically enough, stars Dean Martin as a singing cowboy).  That's when the film really starts to turn from a lighthearted oater to a more serious film.  The scene where Gene rides into town to serve the papers to get Tom transferred to another town is breathtaking.  You can feel the tension as he slowly makes his way to the jailhouse at the end of the street.  There's literally no escape.  You know it and Gene knows it.  And that's all I'll say for fear of spoiling it!

Review and Recommendation
While not one of my all time favorite Gene Autry films, Back in the Saddle still deserves a good rating.  It's fun, enjoyable, suspenseful and action-packed.  Plus a few classic songs (I mean, at least watch the first 5 minutes to see where Gene's theme song began!)  It's a well-rounded film with Gene at the top of his game.  Oh yeah, and Mary Lee saves the day - how great is that??         

Melody Ranch (1940)

Intro.
It seems as though I've stumbled onto all these great 1940 musical Westerns in the past few weeks.  I happened upon this one on Netflix and the reason it stood out was the cast - I have to admit, I had to blink a few times to make sure I was reading it correctly.  A Gene Autry picture with Ann Miller and Jimmy Durante?  THE Jimmy Durante?  The same Jimmy Durante that completely won me over in It Happened in Brooklyn (one of Frank Sinatra's best films)???  In a WESTERN?  Needless to say, I had to see it to believe it.

Overview
The plot to the film is really pretty interesting - Gene plays a cowboy who gave up his spurs for a microphone and has become a big radio star.  His old hometown, Torpedo, has invited him to be an honorary Sheriff for their Frontier Days celebration.  Thinking it's good for publicity, Gene goes with his whole radio show, including big-city diva Julie (Ann Miller) and comical manager Corny (Jimmy Durante), who certainly lives up to his name.  Once there, Gene gets shown up by some bad guys and realizes he's lost his edge - he's no longer a cowboy, but a pampered city dweller.  So he decides to stay in Torpedo, get in shape, and clean up the town.  Which he of course does, all the while still hosting his radio program and winning over Julie.

Highlights (and low points)
The music in this film was above par for Gene's B-Westerns.  He has some beautiful solos in here, most enchanting being "Call of the Canyon".  He and Ann Miller have a gorgeous duet as well, "Never Dream the Same Dream Twice."  It's clear in this picture why so many women went crazy over Gene - his voice is at its peak and he looks terrific too.  When he serenades Ann Miller overlooking Melody Ranch's canyon, you fall for him right along with her.  The music is added to by Mary Lee (who I adore!) and her rich voice, as well as Gene's backup.  I thought those musicians looked familiar - it's none other than Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys!  Talk about a bunch of legends together on one screen!

I'm glad that Ann Miller gets a dance solo in here too, even if it is a bit short.  On the other hand, though, she gets more time to sing, which makes you appreciate her talent in a different way.  Also to note, the bad guys do a funny parody of Gene's famous theme song with (Go) "Back to the City Again."  And bonus, Ann's manager/boyfriend Tommy is played by Jerome Cowman.  You probably know him better as Miles Archer...as in Spade & Archer of The Maltese Falcon.

Finally, Jimmy Durante.  He plays the screwy sidekick like Frog Millhouse or Pat Buttram.  It's hard seeing him in such a corny role and I have to admit some of his scenes will make you groan.  But you have to remember it's all in good fun and really, Jimmy is terrific anywhere and anytime.  It's funny, I was just thinking how this film is a good example of the type of film I call the "crooner-comedian" type.  Think Martin and Lewis or Crosby and Hope or Sinatra and Durante.  There's always the straight man with the smooth singing, and then the comedic sidekick who can get obnoxious, but only in fun.  In this case it's Autry and Durante - an unusual pairing, but still very, very entertaining. 

Review and Recommendation
There are some films you have to see simply because of the cast.  It's like Paint Your Wagon - yes, it's a bit cheesy and wrong on so many fronts, but it features Clint Eastwood singing.  This is a must see.  Similarly, seeing Jimmy Durante in a Western is definitely a must see.  It's corny, and if you're a Durante fan, you may be a bit disappointed.  But go with the flow, enjoy it for entertainment's sake and remember that you're watching a bit of grand Hollywood history.

Oh yeah, and if you're a huge Gene Autry fan like me, this film will give you plenty to swoon over :-)  Enjoy!

Ride Tenderfoot Ride (1940)

Intro.
One recurring theme in Gene Autry's pictures is that of a cowboy who must venture into the city for some purpose.  It's an old story, really, something like the city mouse and the country mouse children's story.  Usually the cowboy feels out of place in the city, and when he returns to the range with a city-dweller, the roles are reversed.  As always, the cowboy saves the day as the whole party rides out into the West.  The idea plays on our ever present dream of going West - out where there is land and opportunity, even golden prospects.  It is there that the heroic cowboy, acting as a symbol of all hard-working Americans, can beat any number of "city-slickers."  Such is the theme behind Ride Tenderfoot Ride, one of Gene's most entertaining Westerns.

Overview
The film itself has a pretty standard plot - a man dies and leaves his packing plant to Gene Autry, a man no one seems to be able to find.  As it turns out, Gene is working as a cowhand for the plant's competitor.  At least, was working until a misunderstanding occurs with his boss Ann (played by the always wonderful June Storey).  They part ways, but not for long, as Ann's little sister Patsy runs away only to meet up with Gene, who of course helps her get home.  Ann and her partner, Don Gregory, try to convince Autry that they were friends with the man who left him the plant, and that they were going to consolidate their businesses.  Autry agrees to sell his plant to them, but when he finds out they intend to shut it down and put all the workers out of jobs, he fights it.  He manages to get the contract revoked and then the fun really begins as he and Ann start competing head to head to sign cattlemen.  They are now in Gene's territory, out in the small towns in cattle country.  Gene is really at his best as he tries to out-sell and then out-sing Ann.  It turns out then that Don Gregory is less than honorable, and Gene must save the day.  In between fist fights and Frog Millhouse's shenanigans, Gene still has time for some great songs including the title track as well as the classic "When the Work's All Done This Fall."

Highlights
This film really highlights the city mouse/country mouse tale.  It is clear in a few scenes especially, such as when Gene and Frog are invited to the nice city house of Ann.  There they stick out like sore thumbs among all the citified gentry, right down to their clothes and manner of speech.  Gene is told there and a few other times that he'd be no good behind a desk.  Frog stands out more than Gene, mainly because of his naturally awkward presence.   

I really want to note how great Mary Lee is in this film.  I've really started to admire her, not only as an actress, but also for her voice.  As Ann's little sister she is hilarious, even more so when she runs away and tells the airline that Gene is her new husband (only because newlyweds get 2 rides on 1 ticket).  Later she shines again during a duet with Gene.   

Finally, Gene is not the soft, shy cowhand he can sometimes play.  He's ready to meet Ann's challenge in business.  There's one scene where Ann has taken over Gene's singing street show in order to get business away from him.  A group of older townswomen are talking about how disgraceful it is for women to act like Ann.  I thought for sure Gene would stand up to them and explain, but instead he says "I absolutely agree with you.  It is disgraceful, isn't it?"  That gets him the contract, as the women force their husbands to side with Gene instead of Ann.  June Storey should also get a lot of credit, as she is much tougher and independent than most women in Westerns.  She has to prove that she can make it in a man's world, and she does.  In the end it all works out too, as Don Gregory is finally brought to justice and Gene gets not only the plant, but the girl too.

Recommendation
I loved this movie.  Not only is it a great example of the classic city and country folk swap, it showcases both Gene and Mary Lee's beautiful singing.  The story is well worked too and has a good pace.  And above all, you have to root for Gene - the hard working cowboy who overcomes the crooked city businessmen.  He is  the rugged individual against the corporation and he triumphs.  Now that's a happy ending.        

Gaucho Serenade (1940)

I meant to post this yesterday in honor of "Fridays with the Flying A," but as Fridays are usually busy, the weekly Gene Autry post will now be on or around Friday instead. :-)

Intro.
So often Gene Autry films are overlooked in the history of American film; most academics scoff at the mention of "singing cowboy" pictures.  I've heard a few colorful names for them, like oaters and B-Westerns.  But if it wasn't for Gene Autry and the introduction of music to the films, the Western genre may very well have died off back in the 30s.  Adding a rising radio singing star like Autry made Westerns appeal to more people, specifically women.  More people meant more business and more money.  Soon all kinds of singing cowboy pictures turned up, even with stars like Bing Crosby and John Wayne (needless to say, John Wayne had his singing dubbed!)

But it was the Lavender Cowboy himself, Gene Autry, that really led the charge.  And of all the films he made prior to his enlistment in World War II, I think that Gaucho Serenade (1940) is arguably one of the best.  The premise is similar to many of the "road" pictures common at that time (think It Happened One Night and Without Reservations) - strangers meet on the road West, join together through some outside cause, and at first fight then become friends. 

Overview
This film starts with corrupt businessmen having framed a man for murder.  As he is about to testify in a case against them, they decide to convince his 12 yr old son to come home from England to reunite with his father.  They of course plan to hold him as a bit of blackmail.  Anyway, the boy comes over, but mistakes Gene and Smiley Burnett for the businessmen and falls asleep in the back of their car.  They don't have the heart to tell the boy that there's no such thing as "Rancho San Quentin" like his father wrote him about.  Things get more complicated when the guys unknowingly pick up two women - one of which is a runaway bride (who stole the bridegroom's car no less).  What follows is pure entertainment - from the girls and guys bickering, to dodging the cops and the crooked businessmen, to a runaway trailer and hold up, to a shootout on a moving train and even a jail break!  It all works out, though: father and son reunite, justice is served to the bad guys and Gene gets the girl.

Review
What I like the most about this film is that it comes right at the middle of Gene's film years - he's learned a lot about acting since those 1936 pictures, but still has that vigor and lighthearted spirit that seemed to dim after the war.  Perhaps it was because he wasn't competing with Roy Rogers quite yet.  And his role is unusual - not only is he a bit out of his environment (on the road and in cities instead of on a ranch and in some frontier town), but his attitude is more spunky.  I love the banter between him and the would-be bride Joyce (played by June Storey).  I also love the songs - they fit a little better in the plot, and Gene's duets with Joyce's sister Patsy (played by Mary Lee) are superb.

Recommendation
All in all, if you ever want to see a Gene Autry film, I would recommend starting with this one.  It's light, it's funny, has great songs and a great cast.  What a great way to start off "Fridays with the Flying A!"


Interested in singing cowboy films?  Check out the book Singing in the Saddle by Douglas B. Green and Back in the Saddle Again: Essays on the Western by Edward Buscombe and Roberta E. Pearson.  You can also read more about Gene, Smiley and the rest of the cast at IMdB.

Great Article!

I read this article yesterday and had to post it:

Roy Rogers & Gene Autry Riding High Again

Way to go, Gene and Roy!