Customer Reviews

Cow Town

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Filmed in 1950, starring Gene Autry, who by that time was a seasoned actor who had grown better and better with the years. Gone were some of the dressy and wonderfully tailored outfits of yesteryear and in it's place was a man in plain jeans and shirts, (of course, we still had the fancy guns and custom made cowboy boots Autry was so famous for) but none the less the hero who saves the day. One of the first in the area to use barbed wire for his cattle ranch, Autry had to uncover a plot by the bad guys to drive a wedge between neighbors using the barbed wire controversy, so that they could buy their ranchs to raise sheep. In turn he also helps a young girl, Gail Davis and her brother to keep their ranch which was in trouble financially. Autry movies in the late 40's and early 50's took on a much more realistic story line which I guess was due to the maturing of this famous "Singing Cowboy". Either way...whether in early movies or the later, more serious movies....they just didn't make them any better. Autry will never be forgotten for the moral and ethical values he showed in these movies. My hats off to you Mr. Autry....He died Oct 2, 1998 long before I discovered his movies and I wish I had found them sooner!!

A good action flick from Gene Autry's later period. Made in 1950, this movie co-stars Gail Davis who is in top form as the obnoxious brat whom Gene soon wins over. The story has to do with Gene convincing the other ranchers to use barbed wired to fence their lands in order to isolate their stock and improve the breed. But Harry Shannon wants to bring in sheep so he has his gunmen wreak havoc upon the ranchers until Autry turns the tables on him. Gene sings several good songs but, in my opinion, most of the songs are misplaced in the storyline. This movie is reproduced with sparkling clarity. High production values in producing the DVD. A lengthy written biography of Gail Davis. About seven minutes of conversation between Autry and Pat Buttram taken from the Gene Autry Theater on the former Nashville Network. This DVD arrived from Amazon's subsidiary provider several days sooner than did the rest of the order (although New Year's holiday was in there).

Columbia Pictures present "COW TOWN" (Released: 19 May 1950) (71 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 Jon English (Director), Armand Schaefer (Producer), Gerald Geraghty (Screenwriter), William Bradford (Cinematographer), Mischa Bakaleinikoff (Musical Direction/Supervision), Johnny Lange (Composer (Music Score), Henry Batista (Editor) - - - - - our story line and plot, Gene had now settled into rather serious mostly straight B-Westerns, full of fisticuffs, gunplay and wild chases with some musicals tunes thrown in for good measure --- gone were the fancy shirts and pants with modern trappings and settings --- the cycle had come nearly full circle, and what emerged was Gene Autry frontiersman --- intending to hinder the rustlers by putting barbed wire fencing around his spread is making rancher Gene Autry very unpopular --- and not all cattlemen favor this tactic thus the action and adventures begin --- Gene introduces barbed wire to the range to end cattle rustling and straying cattle --- his neighbor Ginger Kirby (Gail Davis) and her kid brother Duke (Clark "Buddy" Burroughs) give Gene a rough time --- the crafty livery stable owner Sandy Reeves (Harry Shannon) wants the wide open unfenced range for his sheep, planning to buy up range land for the taxes the cattlemen can't pay ----- some wonderful tunes, DOWN IN THE VALLEY (Gene Autry), BUFFALO GALS (Gene Autry), POWDER YOUR FACE WITH SUNSHINE (Gene Autry), BURY ME NOT ON THE LONE PRAIRIE (Gene Autry) - - - - - some Autry fun facts, Gene had 1,000 square feet of closet space in his North Hollywood home.

the cast includes
Gene Autry ... Gene Autry
Champion ... Champion
Gail Davis ... Ginger Kirby
Harry Shannon ... Sandy Reeves
Jock Mahoney ... Tod Jeffreys (as Jock O'Mahoney)
Clark 'Buddy' Burroughs ... Duke Kirby
Harry Harvey ... Sheriff
Steve Darrell ... Hilliard
Sandy Sanders ... Ranch hand Stormy
Ralph Sanford ... Storekeeper Martin Dalrymple
Ted Mapes ... Henchman Ed
Pat O'Malley ... Townsman
Bud Osborne ... Rancher Copeland
House Peters Jr. ... Gill Saunders

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.

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) and Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") as they have rekindled my interest once again for 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 musical songs and 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: 71 min on DVD ~ Image Entertainment ~ (5/25/2004)