Song of Old Wyoming

Eddie Dean is billed above the title in this, the first of a series of Cinecolor westerns he made for PRC (on which colour supervisor W.T.Crespinel rather than cameraman Marcel LePicard shares the main credit with the colour process).

It's obvious very quickly that with the possible exception of Sarah Padden as matriarch Ma Conway the real star of the film is Al La Rue, looking a lot like Rags Ragland as black-clad, whip-wielding bad boy The Cheyenne Kid, who even leading lady Jennifer Holt finds more interesting than the boring Dean; provoking Dean and La Rue into the film's obligatory punch-up after Cheyenne dismisses her as just a "cheap flirt".

As 'Lash' LaRue he unsurprisingly was soon promoted to starring in his own vehicles while Dean only lasted a few more films.

This is a very tough movie to watch. Part of it because it's a cheap and dull film. However, part of the problem with watching it isn't the fault of the film makers. The public domain copy is simply a mess--with lots of gaps, skips, faded color and scratchiness. This is clearly an orphaned film! It's degraded horribly...and no one is about to step forward to save it.

The film stars two prolific but minor western B-movie stars--Eddie Dean and Lash LaRue. The plot involves a lady named 'Ma' and her attempts to use her newspaper to push for statehood. However, some jerks are against statehood for their own selfish reasons. It's basically a variation of western plot #3--the boss-man who wants to control all the land/the local government/the water rights.

The biggest problem for me wasn't the lousy print but the completely lethargic look and feel to the film. Although there is some obligatory singing and action, none of it is inspired or interesting. And, you can clearly believe that its budget was a paltry $36,000.

Eddie Dean was acclaimed by Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, and deservedly so. He was one of the best singers of his era, and one of the best singing cowboys.

His songs in "Song of Old Wyoming" are pleasant, if not great, and many are sung to the lovely Jennifer Holt so are worth watching and hearing.

This was almost the debut of Al "Lash" LaRue, billed as La Rue. It was his third film appearance but the first with his soon-to-be-famous whip.

He has the most exciting role of all the several characters in the film.

But the two chief villains are among the best actors of the cast, they and "Ma Conway," played by the wonderful veteran Sarah Padden, who kept acting almost to her end, playing in a TV series, "The Gray Ghost," in 1958.

Ian Keith, as "Landow," and Robert Barron, as banker "Dixon," pretty well steal the acting honors. Superlative performances by both.

Brawn heavy is played by Gene Alsace, here billed as Rocky Camron, his birth name being Rockford Camron, one that surely should have led to screen stardom. He's always fun to watch, even being a bad guy.

Emmet Lynn is remarkably subdued and therefore gives one of his best performances.

All in all, even though "Song of Old Wyoming" is from PRC, it is a very good B Western, giving us lots of action, an involved story of many characters, and is generally very well done.

There are people who complain about the color process and, yes, the version I saw at YouTube definitely has some problems in the print.

Never mind. This is a good movie, and it's movie history. I recommend it.

Now you either liked singing in Westerns or you didn't, in my view. Well, with the exception of Dean Martin & Ricky Nelson in "Rio Bravo" (1959), I'm in the latter camp so Eddie Dean opening up this cattle rustling, property grabbing tale with the title song and I was already struggling; there were a few more ditties before a reprise of said song at the end - and I was lost! The plot didn't matter - Sarah Padden ("Ma Conway") is an old lady who alternates between rough cattle-rancher and charming old lady, but is certainly not interested in being bullied out of her land by the dastardly due of Ian Keith and Robert Barron, and so some unlikely alliances are forged to defy the baddies. Aside from the crooning, it's not a bad little hour with some fisticuffs and a rather camp effort from Lash La Rue as the "Cheyenne Kid"!

Eddie Dean, the lanky singing cowboy, delivers another action-filled entry in his 1940's western film series. Joined by a pre-whip Lash LaRue, Eddie once again saves the day and in the process helps reform the Cheyenne Kid.

While the budget for this film was low and the music somewhat mediocre, it still delivers a bang for the buck. Dean was always beloved by his fans and on the strength of his film appearances with Eddie Dean, Lash LaRue later graduated to his own western film series. If you are a fan of the B-Westerns, don't miss this chance to see two of the icons in the same film. Action-filled with an interesting plot !