Stardust on the Sage

All the elements of the winning Autry programmer are present—good plot, lovely ladies, hard riding, plus music and humor—all smoothly blended. Nothing really exceptional unless you count that sudden gusher out the hillside. Gene's working to keep a gold mine out of hands of devious plotters, and also uphold the virtues of cattle and horses. Of course Gene knows about heritage of the old West, at least the movie version. Then too, Republic always supplied the star with good production values. Also, look for the great Tom London as one of the baddies. No matinée oater would be complete without him. I can only guess at how many hundreds he was in over the years. On the tuneful side, little Edith Fellows manages to inject a winsome juvenile presence without being obnoxious, while Frog battles the bad guys when not offering up his slapstick brand of comedy. Nothing special here—just another solid installment of Gene's outstanding years with Republic Studios.

A "6" on the matinée scale.

Gene Autry has been paying William Henry for cattle, but Henry has been using the money to keep digging on his prospective mine. Autry is willing to go along to help the investors recover their money. What no one knows is that the mining engineer, Emmett Vogan, has bought up the mortgage on the mining equipment, and a full day's shutdown will give him the mine.

It's start and stop on the plot for a while until it gets moving. That's no problem with a Gene Autry movie: just sing another song, including a couple of duets with Edith Fellowes and a singalong for the theater audience at the end.

Smiley Burnette turns out to be useful in a fight in this one. Will wonders never cease? Like most of Autry's movies, it came in over its $86,378 budget. It cost $87,830 to get it in the can. Spendthrift!

This film sure doesn't skimp on the Gene Autry songs. Ol' Frog (Smiley Burnette) adds a few good ones along with some great sing-a-longs. Edith Fellows is smitten with Autry and they add memorable duets. Leading lady Louise Currie reminds everyone that last week she was head over heels for John Wayne. It all starts when George Ernest, with Fellows gets caught in a rock slide and Autry chases down a runaway coach. Autry gets very skeptical of Dan Pearson's (Emmett Vogan) business practices and foe and friend alike do some shenanigans of the radio broadcast which puts Autry on the hot seat with the town folk. Combat photographer of WW ll, William Henry well plays the inconsolable business man who is literally at the end of his rope. Watch for some good scenes with Fellow's flat tire and Smiley trying to get money from Gene to get a night on the town. With creme of the crop henchmen like Roy Barcroff and Tom London and Ol' Frog's slapstick comedy, Stardust of the Sage is a wonderful early western.

Normally, straight-shooting Gene Autry is a great judge of character in his films, but here he's been taken in by a 'friend', Jeff Drew. Jeff is selling stock in a mining company and it turns out he's a crook as is his boss. He also enlists the help of his sister, Nancy. In the case of Nancy, she's also VERY dishonest and she records Gene talking and splices it apart....and rearranges it so it sounds as if he's recommending people buy Jeff's stock! As a result, all the cattlemen soon decide to invest in the scheme. What will Gene do when he discovers the truth? Well, it sure isn't what I would do!

This is an odd film...odd but enjoyable. Gene's solution to his friend being a lying crook is strange...but the movie itself STILL in enjoyable and worth seeing. Nothing great but still good.

Westerns come in many flavors, but the type portended by the very phrase "singing cowboy" definitively smacks of ham and cheese. That's not to say that the films of Gene Autry or Roy Rogers can't be enjoyable, with good storytelling, clever humor, fine stunts, and genuine singing skill. To be sure, we get just such content in 'Stardust on the sage.' It's also safe to say, however, that this and its kin share kitschy sensibilities that today are most commonly associated with TV sitcoms of the 1950s, which at times also includes antiquated values and questionable writing of characters, particularly women. Suffice to say that this won't appeal to all comers. Still, if you can abide the gaucheness and old-fashioned notions, this is really pretty fun and well made.

This feature can claim earnest humor amidst the silliness, and minor excitement with any instances of action. Though some specifics of the dialogue and characterizations haven't aged well, the scene writing is swell generally, and William Morgan's direction is quite sharp. There are familiar ideas in the narrative to the point that we've surely seen this tale play out elsewhere, with some details changed, yet even at that the plot is written well, and is duly compelling. The very end, encouraging the audience to sing along, is hopelessly awkward and altogether cringe-worthy, yet otherwise there's no questioning that Autry, and co-star Edith Fellows, had terrific voices; it's no wonder they both respectively enjoyed such careers as they did at the time. It should further be noted that by all means, the contributions of those behind the scenes are just super - sets, costume design, and so on.

There's hardly any disputing that pictures like this reflect "simpler entertainment for a simpler time"; for all the back and forth and scheming in the plot, ultimately the tale is rather straightforward. Singing cowboy movies wouldn't pass muster with modern audiences unless such songs were performed with a tongue-in-cheek wink, and unless you're an utmost fan, even the most open-minded cinephiles might be less keen on the genre. Him and haw all you want, however, about how the medium has changed in the last 80 years - the fact remains that even at its saccharine peaks, 'Stardust on the sage' is well made, and intended only for a good time. Anyone who has difficulty with older features won't find anything here to change their mind, yet between solid storytelling, craftsmanship, and stunts, I think this is fairly enjoyable, and not at all a bad film with which to spend an hour.