Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Gene Autry B-Western Series ... Rancho Grande (1940) ... Image Ent.", July 31, 2007
Republic Pictures present "RANCHO GRANDE" (March 22, 1940) (68 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 Frank McDonald (Director), Betty Burbridge, (Screenwriter), Connie Lee (Short Story Author), Peter Milne (Screenwriter), Bradford Ropes (Screenwriter), William Nobles (Cinematographer), Tony Martinelli (Editor), William A. Berke (Associate Producer) - - - - our storyline has this musical Gene Autry film about as good as they get --- It's all music and melodrama until the final chase and shoot-out --- Gene's wranglers and ranch hands versus Emory Benson and his gang of saboteurs who are attempting to keep a dam from being constructed --- where easterners go west because of a ranch inheritance which usually involves Gene being the foreman with Frog his helper who have to westernize the dudes --- Gene is put in charge, but the main theme is the completion of a dam being built to provide water and electricity for those who live on the Rancho Grande --- part of the ploy is to prevent the dam from being finished --- how will Gene and Frog westernize the dudes and foil (Emory Benson's (Ferris Taylor) scheme, is laid out for the rest of the film very nicely --- Also look for a few familiar faces in the cast, many having only cameos, Hank Worden (later Mose of "The Searchers") appears briefly as a cowhand. Look too for Roscoe Ates who would go on to play comical sidekick Soapy Jones; former cowboy star Rex Lease; Hank Bell (big mustache), Horace B. Carpenter, Slim Whitaker, Bud Osborne, Jack Kirk, Cactus Mack, Jack Ingram, and even Roy Barcroft --- the viewer may not know the names but will certainly recognize their familiar mugs - - - - some wonderful tunes "ALLA EN EL RANCHO GRANDE" (Studio Singers), "ALLA EN EL RANCHO GRANDE" (Gene Autry, Brewer Kids, and Smiley Burnette), "WHISTLE" (Mary Lee and The Pals of the Golden West), "ALLA EN EL RANCHO GRANDE" (Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Mary Lee, The Pals of the Golden West, and Cast), "DUDE RANCH COWHANDS" (Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, and The Pals of the Golden West), "SWING OF THE RANGE) "Mary Lee), "THERE'LL NEVER BE ANOTHER PAL LIKE YOU" (Gene Autry and Smiley Burnette), "AVE MARIA" (The Boys' Choir of Saint Joseph's School), "I DON'T BELONG TO YOUR WORLD" (Gene Autry), "YOU CAN TAKE THE BOY OUT OF THE COUNTRY" (Smiley Burnette), "SWING OF THE RANGE" (Mary Lee), "OH! SUSANNA Extras), "ALLA EN EL RANCHO GRANDE" (Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Mary Lee, The Pals of the Golden West, and Cast) - - - - some Autry fun facts, Gene tried to play the saxophone when he was a youngster. He finally gave up and turned successfully to the guitar.
the cast includes
Gene Autry ... Gene Autry
Smiley Burnette ... Frog Millhouse
June Storey ... Kay Dodge
Mary Lee ... Patsy Dodge
Dick Hogan ... Tom Dodge
Ellen Lowe ... Effie Tinker (as Ellen E. Lowe)
Ferris Taylor ... Emory Benson
Joe De Stefani ... Jose (as Joseph De Stefani)
Roscoe Ates ... Ranch Hand
Rex Lease ... Joe Travis
Ann Baldwin ... Susan Putnam
Pals of the Golden West ... Musicians (as The Pals of the Golden West)
Nora Lou Martin ... Singer in The Pals of the Golden West
Boys' Choir of St. Joseph's School ... Church Choir (as The Boys' Choir of St. Joseph's School)
Betty Brewer ... Singer (as The Brewer Kids)
Ilene Brewer ... Singer
Chuck Baldra ... Ranch Hand Bill
Roy Barcroft ... Madden
Hank Bell ... Ranch Hand with Big Mustache
The Brewer Kids ... Singers
Horace B. Carpenter ... Justice of the Peace
Jack Ingram ... Adams
Pee Wee King ... Bandleader of The Pals of the Golden West
Jack Kirk ... Cowhand
Cactus Mack ... Ranch Hand
Bud Osborne ... Croupier Joe
Eddie Parker ... Henchman
Slim Whitaker ... Cowboy Who Announces Wreck
Hank Worden ... Cowhand
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 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: 68 min on DVD ~ Image Video #2217 ~ (2/28/2006)
|
|
|
|
DVD ~ Gene Autry
DVD ~ Gene Autry
DVD ~ Gene Autry
DVD ~ Gene Autry
DVD ~ Gene Autry
