Boots and Saddles

Can Gene and Frog save the ranch for Spud, well played by child actor Ronald Sinclair? Of course Wild Bill Elliot gives the boys more than they can handle. As does gorgeous Judith Allen with Guy Usher as Colonel Allen brilliantly setting the land mines along the way. Also great acting by John Ward as Henry 'Windy' Wyndham, the boy's solicitor from England. Frog sets the stage and action from the get go telling Gene "we promised Old Spud we'd make a real westerner out of him". A great cast and story line make Boots and Saddles a singing cowboy spectacular.

This is a typical early Gene Autry western which means it is above average for a B oater. There are half a dozen musical numbers in the film, most of them sung by Gene. Frog does get to sing one of his own compositions "Dusty Roads," which is always a treat. The song title was apropos since the film was made during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Smiley was a much better musician and songwriter than he was a comic. The show is filled with the usual amount of Republic action. Republic stunts and special effects were always top of the line for its day, an exciting horse race toward the end is a good example. The audience was never disappointed. There is even a bicycle chase added for variety. Gene's movies were almost always "modern" westerns, which meant they often had automobiles, telephones, radios and other such 20th century gadgets.

The story is not bad. A British heir to the ranch where Gene and Frog work arrives to sell the place. He is a youngster who looks like a dude. To Gene and Frog's surprise the dude, called Spud after his father's nickname, turns out to be a driver and a skilled horseman. Gene takes him under his wing and persuades him not to sell. Enter Gordon Elliott, who not long after wards would become Wild Bill Elliott and rival Gene at the box office. Elliott plays the villain. With his sneaky looks and mustache, he comes across as a Snidely Whiplash type that was popular in the melodramas of the silent era. Seems he is selling horses to the cavalry and wants the British heir's horse ranch to extend his domain. Gene and Frog turn the tables and convince Spud who looks like Little Lord Fauntleroy at first to sell his horses and get the ranch out of debt. Col. Allen, the cavalry horse buyer, has a beautiful daughter, Bernice, who pretends to be a housemaid to get back at Gene for a run-in on the trail. One humorous part has Bernice telling Gene that the Colonel is hard of hearing and so has to be yelled at. The Colonel is told that Gene is the one who is hard of hearing and has to be yelled at. This leads to a few funny scenes between the two. The rest of the film involves Gene trying to save the ranch for Spud from his arch rival Elliott.

Even Frog is not as silly as usual. There is one hilarious part where Frog shows Spud how he can blow the bugle they found in an army tent. Spud finds a music book for Frog to go by and Smiley starts blowing up a storm. Unintentionally Frog's blowing mobilizes the entire cavalry unit who mount their horses and charge into battle.

See this film if you're looking for a good singing cowboy picture or if you're one of Gene's many fans.

When the story begins, the new owner of the ranch arrives out west. Apparently, some spoiled rich kid named 'Spud' inherited the place. Now this is the odd part....he arrives out west dressed in a top hat....looking for all the world like a Charlie McCarthy puppet! I know the kid is supposed to be rich, but who would show up dressed like THAT?!

Spud initially just wants to sell the place. However, he soon becomes friends with Gene and he agrees to sell him the ranch. But another bidder also wants it, so it's up to Gene and his competition to have a race to decide who gets the place....an odd way to decide things, I know. And, considering that the hero ALWAYS has an unscrupulous nemesis, you can only assume this other guy will stop at NOTHING to get the land! In between, there's time to romance the Colonel's daughter, for Smiley to somehow find himself in the Army and much more.

It's not surprising that Smiley Burnette is on hand to play Gene's sidekick, as he made a ton of pics with Autry. And, as usual, he sings and uses his froggy voice in a humorous tune. After all, why have Smiley in a film without a song?

I noticed one reviewer compared this movie to a Gene Autry flick meets "Little Lord Fauntleroy"...and that is pretty much on the mark, though the kid warms up to Gene MUCH faster than the grandfather in "Fauntleroy".

So is all this worth watching? Well, if you like Gene Autry films, you'll no doubt enjoy this. As usual, he sings a bunch of tunes and ends up being a paragon of virtue and niceness. Typical...but also typically enjoyable and well worth your time.

Boots and Saddles finds Gene Autry the foreman of a ranch that is inherited by young Ronald Sinclair, the Earl of Granville. His father owned the ranch and passed away and the son comes over from the United Kingdom. A lot of British folks came over and did buy property in the American west, the most known probably is Henry Tunstall, patron of Billy the Kid and who got killed in the Lincoln County War.

Anyway the young Earl under Gene's tutelage becomes a real cowboy, but the ranch has problems until Gene comes up with an idea to break and sell horses to the cavalry. Unfortunately Gordon Elliott also has the same idea and he's pretty ruthless about getting what he wants. Yes, that's the same Gordon Elliott who later became Wild Bill Elliott, a cowboy hero of no mean proportion later on.

Judith Allen plays the colonel's daughter and some of the romantic capers that she and Autry engage in is very similar to what later went on with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Smiley Burnette is around also for laughs because he certainly doesn't help Autry too much. He has some funny moments when he almost gets enlisted in the army after trying to locate Gene on the army post.

Gene has some good songs to sing, topped off by the cowboy standard Take Me Back to my Boots and Saddles. He also sang a song called The One Rose which was a Hawaiian number oddly enough and a million selling record for Bing Crosby the year before. Crosby also recorded the title song and another version of it in my collection is by concert baritone John Charles Thomas.

Boots and Saddles is one of the better Autry westerns that Republic put out and it still is enjoyable.

The 1937 one. What's a western without gene autry, snging his heart out ? Young chap from england ( is THAT what his accent is supposed to be ??) visits the ranch he inherited. He plans on selling it, but ranch manager gene wants to convince him to keep it and work it like a real cowboy. Interesting career path for ra hould, who later changed his name to ronald sinclair... he's only thirteen in this. Born in new zealand, he acted in seventeen films, then worked behind the scenes as crew for many more films! It's a solid if slightly goofy storyline, but it all comes off well enough. Directed by joe kane, king of the westerns. Made tons of them with john wayne, gene autry, roy rogers. It's a 58 minute shortie, from republic. It's your usual horses galloping around, while some conflict is ironed out. Some scenes filmed in the glorious alabama hills area of lone pine. The sound and picture quality are in excellent shape, especially for a film about ninety years old!