Well "Ridin' on a Rainbow" certainly sounds a lot more romantic than 'Ridin' on a Steamboat'. Right after singing the title song shortly into the picture, Gene explains that that's every cowboy's dream. So I thought that was kind of cool.
With the offbeat venue, this isn't your typical B Western with frequent horse chases and shootouts with the bad guys, although there's a sampling of each. Gene Autry is faced with the prospect of recovering a pile of cash his rancher friends entrusted to him as the head of the Cattlemen's Association, after the bank in which they deposited their money was robbed. Actually, I found it a bit unbelievable that the cattlemen would forego their personal plans just to save it all for a rainy day like Gene suggested. It's a good thing the ranchers' wives weren't around to give Gene the old what for.
Given the character of young Patsy Evans (Mary Lee), I'm surprised the story had her father as an accomplice to the bad guys. She and her mentor Sally (Carol Adams) were completely above board in their integrity, and the idea of one big score by Pop Evans (Byron Foulger) to provide for his daughter seemed a bit of a stretch to me. Then, when his fellow bandits wound up killing the bank employee, it appeared that Pop was dug in too deep to have his innocence proclaimed once the bad guys got caught. Which made it just a bit too convenient when the baddies did away with Pop before the story ended.
With the story taking place on a showboat offering a variety of entertainment, the picture has it's usual round of musical offerings for Gene, although Smiley Burnette doesn't get to solo this time out. Carol Adams displays some fancy footwork in a couple of tap dance routines, and Mary Lee gets an opportunity to display her singing talent as well in a couple of numbers. As usual with an Autry film, Gene puts away the outlaws for a happy ending, but the idea that Mary Lee would join in the closing number right after her father's murder seemed like a bit of a disconnect to me.
With the offbeat venue, this isn't your typical B Western with frequent horse chases and shootouts with the bad guys, although there's a sampling of each. Gene Autry is faced with the prospect of recovering a pile of cash his rancher friends entrusted to him as the head of the Cattlemen's Association, after the bank in which they deposited their money was robbed. Actually, I found it a bit unbelievable that the cattlemen would forego their personal plans just to save it all for a rainy day like Gene suggested. It's a good thing the ranchers' wives weren't around to give Gene the old what for.
Given the character of young Patsy Evans (Mary Lee), I'm surprised the story had her father as an accomplice to the bad guys. She and her mentor Sally (Carol Adams) were completely above board in their integrity, and the idea of one big score by Pop Evans (Byron Foulger) to provide for his daughter seemed a bit of a stretch to me. Then, when his fellow bandits wound up killing the bank employee, it appeared that Pop was dug in too deep to have his innocence proclaimed once the bad guys got caught. Which made it just a bit too convenient when the baddies did away with Pop before the story ended.
With the story taking place on a showboat offering a variety of entertainment, the picture has it's usual round of musical offerings for Gene, although Smiley Burnette doesn't get to solo this time out. Carol Adams displays some fancy footwork in a couple of tap dance routines, and Mary Lee gets an opportunity to display her singing talent as well in a couple of numbers. As usual with an Autry film, Gene puts away the outlaws for a happy ending, but the idea that Mary Lee would join in the closing number right after her father's murder seemed like a bit of a disconnect to me.