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5.0 out of 5 stars
"Gene Autry B-Western Series ... Bells of Capistrano (1942) ... Image Ent.", August 14, 2007
Republic Pictures present "THE BELLS OF CAPISTRANO" (15 September 1942) (73 mins/B&W) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) --- relive those thrilling days when the "First Singing Cowboy" Gene Autry took us down the dusty trails with hard riding and straight shooting hitting the bull's eye with excitement every time --- the Gene Autry series of B-Westerns were a staple of Saturday matinees in the 1930s and 1940s --- The Following Segments are from the "Melody Ranch Theater", which originally aired on the Nashville Network in 1987 --- Hosted by Gene and longtime sidekick Pat Buttram the program showcased many of Gene's classic motion pictures and featured personal anecdotes about how the films were made --- Information on costars and significant happenings in Gene's personal life and career. --- don't miss any of the Singing Cowboy's features loaded with action and songs that will leave you wanting more of Gene Autry's B-Western Adventures --- The sale of this DVD will further the educational and cultural mission of the renowned "Autry National Center in Los Angeles".
Under William Morgan (Director), Harry Grey (Producer),Lawrence Kimble (Screenwriter), Reggie Lanning (Cinematographer), Milton Ager (Composer (Music Score) / Songwriter), Jerry Charleston (Songwriter / Composer (Music Score), Walter Donaldson (Songwriter / Composer (Music Score), Thomas Holer (Songwriter / Composer (Music Score), Sol Meyer (Songwriter / Composer (Music Score), Jimmie Morgan (Songwriter / Composer (Music Score), Morton Scott (Musical Direction/Supervision), Fred Stryker (Songwriter / Composer (Music Score), Jack Yellen (Songwriter / Composer (Music Score), Edward Mann (Editor) - - - - - - "Bells of Capistrano" was Gene's 56th film, was the last he made before becoming Sergeant Gene Autry in the U.S. Air Force --- this oater has a good cast, thrilling action spotted among the musical numbers --- also an excitingly staged fire sequence and a rousing Madison Square Garden patriotic rodeo production number close with Gene singing the 1915 World War One tune. "DON'T BITE THE HAND THAT'S FEEDING YOU" --- in 1942 Gene was taking his oath from Lt. Col. Edward Shaifer and was due to report to Ft. Sheridan August 3rd of that same year --- it would be four years before his return to the screen after flying transport planes in the Pacific. ----- some wonderful tunes, "FORGIVE ME" (Gene Autry), "AT SUNDOWN" (Gene Autry), "FORT WORTH JAIL" (Gene Autry), "IN OLD CAPISTRANO" (Gene Autry and Extras), "DON'T BITE THE HAND THAT'S FEEDING YOU" (Gene Autry) - - - - - - some Autry fun facts, In 1950, Gene was named one of "America's Ten Best-Dressed Men."
the cast includes
Gene Autry ... Gene Autry
Smiley Burnette ... Frog Millhouse
Champion ... Champion, Gene's Horse
Virginia Grey ... Jennifer Benton
Lucien Littlefield ... Daniel (Pop) McCracken
Morgan Conway ... Stag Johnson
Claire Du Brey ... Melinda (Ma) McCracken
Charles Cane ... Tex North
Joe Strauch Jr. ... Tadpole
Marla Shelton ... Jackie Laval
Tristram Coffin ... Jed Johnson
Eddie Acuff ... Mug/Sign poster #1
Al Bridge ... Bartender, Westfall Saloon
Jack O'Shea ... Roustabout
Julian Rivero ... Fiesta Manager
Robert J. Wilke ... Roustabout
BIOS:
1. Gene Autry
Date of Birth: 29 September 1907 - Near Tioga, Texas
Date of Death: 2 October 1998 - Studio City, Los Angeles, California
Special footnote, Orvon Gene Autry was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television --- Discovered by film producer Nat Levine in 1934, he and Burnette made their film debut for Mascot Pictures Corp. "In Old Santa Fe" as part of a singing cowboy quartet; he was then given the starring role by Levine in 1935 in the 12-part serial "The Phantom Empire" --- Shortly thereafter, Mascot was absorbed by the formation of Republic Pictures Corp. and Autry went along to make a further 44 films up to 1940, all B westerns in which he played under his own name, rode his horse Champion, had Burnette as his regular sidekick and had many opportunities to sing in each film --- Autry became the top Western star at the box-office by 1937, reaching his national peak of popularity from 1940 to 1942. His Gene Autry Flying "A" Ranch Rodeo show debuted in 1940 --- Gene Autry is the only celebrity to have five stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one in each of the five categories maintained by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce --- Radio, Films, Recordings, Television and Live Theater.
2. Smiley Burnette (aka: Lester Alvin Burnette)
Date of Birth: 18 March 1911 - Summum, Illinois
Date of Death: 16 February 1967 - Encino, California
Second special footnote, Lester Alvin (Smiley) Burnette an American singer-songwriter who could play as many as 100 different musical instruments, was a successful comedy actor in Western films over three decades --- The popularity of Burnette's Frog Millhouse character, with his trademark floppy black hat, was such that when Autry left for World War II service he did sidekicks duties with Eddie Dew, Sunset Carson and Bob Livingston, plus nine other films with Roy Rogers. After leaving Republic Pictures in 1944, Burnette became the sidekick to Charles Starrett at Columbia Pictures in the long Durango Kid series. Starrett starred in the series from 1944 until 1952, and that pairing resulted in more than 50 films. After the Starrett series was over, Burnette joined Autry for his final six films, all released by Columbia Pictures in 1953.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
1. Reminiscing with Gene Autry and Pat Buttram at the "Melody Ranch Theater"
2. "Don't Touch That Dial", Gene Autry is on the air - excerpts from the Original "Melody Ranch Radio Show"
3. Production and Publicity Stills
4. Horseplay
5. Poster and lobby Card Art
6. Trivia and Movie Facts
7. Original Press Kit Material
Check out a new book from Empire Publishing - "GENE AUTRY WESTERNS" (Hardcover) - by author Boyd Magers, like no other book on Gene Autry --- all of Gene's Mascot, Republic and Columbia westerns included, as well as his half-hour TV Episodes --- each segment contains the release date on each film ... major production credits ... complete cast (including character played) ... all songs included, songwriter and who performed them in the film ... running time of each film ... dates of the filming ... bios on the cast and major players (Smiley, Pat Buttram, Cass County Boys, Herbert J. Yates, directors, leading ladies, songwriters and various heavies, etc.) ... locations that were used ... budgets and negative cost ... stunt people involved ... analysis and synopsis on each film ... notes and comments (including film and cast background info, salaries paid, working titles, etc) ... comments from Gene and many other cast members on each film ... theater exhibitors comments at the time of the films release ...this tribute was written from the heart and it shows.
Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc), Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") and Trevor Scott (Down Under DVD Com) as they have rekindled my interest once again for Film Noir, B-Westerns and Serials --- looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s & '40s and B-Westerns ... order your copy now from Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on DVD --- stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with deadly adventure --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out Image Entertainment where they are experts in releasing B-Westerns --- all my heroes have been cowboys!
Total Time: 73 min on DVD ~ Image Video #3989 ~ (7/29/2003)
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