One of the things that caught me by surprise in this Gene Autry outing was a spill he took astride Champion in the early going. Knowing that Gene would never put his prize horse in jeopardy like that, it made me wonder how often the lead horse (Champion, Trigger, Silver, etc.) might have had a stand-in. Something to think about.
On the flip side, that was a pretty sad excuse for a horse that was used at the center of the story, an old swayback that was already pretty worn out in the middle even before Smiley Burnette climbed aboard. I felt pretty bad for him, the horse that is. But it was a pretty neat gimmick, and one I haven't seen in an old Western before, where the subject horse knew the location of it's murdered owner's gold mine. As such, the old nag was the subject of an intense bidding war to start things off, and then wound up being hijacked by the baddies to bring all the villains and Gene's Vagabond Troubadours together for the finale.
Otherwise, you have a pretty standard story here, with Joan Martin (Barbara Pepper) providing a romantic angle for Gene as he croons a handful of guitar ballads throughout the picture. See if you agree with me on this, but she sure could have passed for a Sally Struthers look-a-like in my book. Her introduction to Gene atop the runaway buckboard made me consider whether if made today, Gene could get away with spanking her for being reckless. Seems to me he would have been brought up on charges. I guess that's why it's so frustrating today to have every little thing micro-managed through the lens of political correctness. Not that I agree with Gene's course of action, I just think you have to cut these films some slack for it being a way simpler time.
A lot of the usual suspects are on board with this one - familiar recurring actors in Gene's films and TV shows, like Frank Glendon, Hooper Atchley, Tom London, and even a young Dennis Moore as a handsome bad guy, something you don't see very often. Smiley's character starts out most sentences with his guttural frog voice in a bit of a different take on his personality. All in keeping with a good natured victory for the heroes by the time it's all over.
On the flip side, that was a pretty sad excuse for a horse that was used at the center of the story, an old swayback that was already pretty worn out in the middle even before Smiley Burnette climbed aboard. I felt pretty bad for him, the horse that is. But it was a pretty neat gimmick, and one I haven't seen in an old Western before, where the subject horse knew the location of it's murdered owner's gold mine. As such, the old nag was the subject of an intense bidding war to start things off, and then wound up being hijacked by the baddies to bring all the villains and Gene's Vagabond Troubadours together for the finale.
Otherwise, you have a pretty standard story here, with Joan Martin (Barbara Pepper) providing a romantic angle for Gene as he croons a handful of guitar ballads throughout the picture. See if you agree with me on this, but she sure could have passed for a Sally Struthers look-a-like in my book. Her introduction to Gene atop the runaway buckboard made me consider whether if made today, Gene could get away with spanking her for being reckless. Seems to me he would have been brought up on charges. I guess that's why it's so frustrating today to have every little thing micro-managed through the lens of political correctness. Not that I agree with Gene's course of action, I just think you have to cut these films some slack for it being a way simpler time.
A lot of the usual suspects are on board with this one - familiar recurring actors in Gene's films and TV shows, like Frank Glendon, Hooper Atchley, Tom London, and even a young Dennis Moore as a handsome bad guy, something you don't see very often. Smiley's character starts out most sentences with his guttural frog voice in a bit of a different take on his personality. All in keeping with a good natured victory for the heroes by the time it's all over.
