Review of The Singing Vagabond

This is, I think, the only Gene Autry movie where he didn't use his real first name. He is "Tex Autry" in this one. Don't know whose idea that was, but it was never done again. The Singing Cowboy and his group spend a good part of the film fighting a fierce Indian tribe near a U.S. Cavalry fort, singing, and, for Tex, romancing a lovely leading lady, Ann Rutherford. She has come from back east, where the movie begins at a New York theater where we see part of a minstrel show. Some may find this distasteful in this politically correct age, but it didn't bother me a bit, as at the age of 9 I was privileged to see the last live minstrel show ever put on in my hometown. Anyway, there's a lot of good action in the film, and Gene Autry is starting to show acting talent that his critics always claimed he never had. Worth a view!