Shooting High

I'm sure Herbert J. Yates of Republic Pictures got a bundle for Gene Autry's services over at 20th Century Fox to co-star with Jane Withers in Shooting High. How he felt about being billed second to Jane is another story, but after all 20th Century Fox was her home studio.

Jane's the little sister of Marjorie Weaver who Gene is romancing. But the problem is that Gene's a Carson and Weaver and Withers are Pritchards. The Carsons and the Pritchards have been feuding for generations and that fact keeps the two lovers apart.

Gene's grandfather was a fighting lawman of the old west and a film company comes to town wanting to film a story about Grandpa. It will star Robert Lowery and Kay Aldridge and will bring a short wave of prosperity to the area.

It won't do me any good to continue, but things do work for the young people in the end as they inevitably do.

Things do get a bit silly here. Autry does well simply being Gene Autry at another studio. Withers plays a Miss Fix-It in a way to rival Deanna Durbin without singing a note. Jack Carson as the fast talking studio agent really stands out in the film. Saying Carson is fast talking is almost a redundancy.

A real bank robbery is worked into the plot giving Gene a chance to be a real hero. Shooting High is an amusing film and no doubt did well in the red state market.

With a movie about making a movie you needed a talent pool and Twentieth Century Fox didn't disappoint. Gene Autry is in the middle of a family feud, facing America's favorite villain LeRoy Mason and in a love triangle with multi talented beauty Marjorie Weaver but his main nemesis is the actor played by Robert Lowery. Top billed Jane Withers well earned that coveted position as the spirited match maker. The man famous for the "double take" Jack Carson, Frank M. Thomas, and perennial victim Hobart Cavanaugh all played their roles to perfection. Great to see Kay Aldridge, George Chandler of Lassie fame and too many other talented actors to mention.

During his career, Gene Autry made a bunch of films for Republic Pictures and Columbia. However, for "Shooting High", he was loaned out to 20th Century-Fox because the young actress Jane Withers campaigned to appear in a picture with him...and somehow she convinced everyone to do this. It represents the only time Autry appeared in a movie for this studio.

The story takes place in modern times in a crappy little town where the Carson and Pritchard families hate each other. They've even feuded a few times and killed each other...the animosity is THAT bad. But Jane Pritchard (Withers) liked Bill Carson (Autry) and she wants her sister to marry him...and hopefully end the feuding.

In the midst of this, a movie studio arrives in town and plan on doing a film about Bill's grandfather. But the very manipulative Jane conspires with the Constable to drive the actor out of town so Bill can assume the lead in the film...and thereby win the heart of Jane's sister. Complications, naturally, arise.

While I did not love this movie, I did appreciate how different it was from Autry's other pictures. My biggest complaint is that Withers' performance is about as subtle as a 2x2 upside the head....and a little more subtlety would have worked better. Still, it's a nice little B-movie and is worth your time.

Good family viewing for the whole family. Also has a great cast many of the faces you will recognize. Yes I will highly recommend this one. James Welch 2/4/2022.

Calling this an Autry Western is a bit of a stretch. Gene's in it, but his part is overshadowed by an over-emoting Jane Withers whose boisterous personality is, I think, a matter of taste. Then too, you may need a score card to keep up with the meandering plot that mixes a family feud with a town's survival with a love triangle with a movie shoot, and finally with real bank robbers. If this sounds complicated, it is, but despite the mix, the results are still pretty entertaining. The opening Autry-Withers duet "Wanderers" is delightful. Too bad we don't see more of Charles Middleton (Flash Gordon's Ming the Merciless) whose graveyard voice and Grim Reaper looks always made me cover my little-kid eyes back in matinée days.

This was a big studio production, Twentieth-Century Fox, which probably accounts for the odd mix, especially a cast that includes familiar Western types like Tom London and Eddie Acuff, but also city dudes like Jack Carson and Robert Lowery. For viewers interested in seeing how horse operas were filmed, this is an opportunity. Carson plays a fast-talking movie producer come to town to shoot an oater based on the town's most famous cowboy citizen. The behind-the-scenes look is fascinating and I'm sure the crew got a kick out of filming "a movie within a movie". But there's not much hard riding or fast shooting, so for fans of more conventional B-Westerns, this one may be a "skip it".