3.0 out of 5 stars
Saving Small Farmers, November 17, 2010
The Old Barn Dance, 1938 film
The film begins with men on horses singing. Gene hopes to sell his horses at Grangeville. The blacksmith is turning into a gas station, they're not using horses anymore. Tractors are more efficient. The bandwagon rolls into town for a barn dance. Sally the radio station owner wants to hire him for a radio program. A tractor scares the horses and they stampede. Are horses better than tractors for the farmers? The success of KLD depends on signing Gene and his musicians. People bought tractors since they can do more plowing than a dozen horses. "Mammoth" tractors sell very well. But the tractors can be repossessed if they fall behind on payments. The angry farmers blame Gene Autry because of his sponsor! Gene's horses aren't selling well.
The angry farmers attack Gene, and his men join in the fight. Sally tells the truth to Gene. Gene will supply horses to the farmers for their harvest. Sally is threatened by Thornton, she must use Gene's recordings. Thornton's men plan to sabotage Gene's business by scattering the horses. If they bring horses to the farmers they won't go into debt for their crops. Thornton talks to his henchman. Gene shows up to demand his records. The farmers show up to fight with Thornton's men. Sally calls the sheriff. Can the horses arrive by October? There is music and singing at the Country Fair. But an attachment is served on Gene to take his horses because of the damage to the radio station. Smiley takes a tractor for a test drive. That record reveals Thornton's actions against Gene!
Can Sally save the record for evidence? There is a car chase for action. Shots are fired. Gene catches Thornton, the evidence will be used against him. There seems to be a happy ending. The story about the conflict between horses and tractors is unusual, Putting it on a personal level allows drama. Horse farms could switch to cattle. Horse farms are locally owned small businesses, tractor manufacturers are centralized big businesses. This story is partly educational about economics.
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