5.0 out of 5 stars
"Gene Autry B-Western Series ... Under Fiesta Stars (1941) ... Image Entertainment", July 17, 2007
This review is from: Gene Autry Collection - Under Fiesta Stars (DVD)
Republic Pictures present "UNDER FIESTA STARS" (1941) (65 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 ... don't miss any of the Singing Cowboy's Gene Autry features loaded with action that will leave you wanting more of his B-Western adventures
Under Frank McDonald (Director), Harry Grey (Producer), Karl Brown (Screenwriter), Eliot Gibbons (Screenwriter), Harry Neumann (Cinematographer), Tony Martinelli (Editor) --- released Augusta 25, 1941 --- our story has Gene's life in danger as a mine owner dies and leaves half to Gene and half to easterner Barbara Erwin --- Gene wants to continue operation of the mine as requested in the will but Barbara wants to sell and leave with her half of the money --- So she hires two lawyers not knowing they are crooks and the fun begins --- Gene and his sidekick Smiley Burnette perform "Under Fiesta Stars", "Purple Sage in the Twilight", "When You're Smiling" and "The Man in the Flying Trapeze".
the cast includes
Gene Autry ... Gene Autry
Smiley Burnette ... Frog
Carol Hughes ... Barbara Erwin
Frank Darien ... Benjamin Peabody
Joe Strauch Jr. ... Tadpole (as Joseph Strauch Jr.)
Pauline Drake ... Kitty Callahan
Ivan Miller ... Arnold
Sam Flint ... Fry
Elias Gamboa ... Jose Ortego
John Merton ... Henchman Tommick
Jack Kirk ... Sheriff
Inez Palange ... Mrs. Romero
Wally Wales (Hal Talliaferro) ... Smokey
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
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 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: 65 min on DVD ~ Image Video #4008 ~ (1/20/2004)
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