The Blazing Sun

Crackling good Autry, full of action, scenery, and two girls to ogle instead of just one. The plot's more complex than usual, but nicely worked out. The stunt work atop the train is an eye- catcher, and I think Gene did his own. Much of the action is woven into that great Lone Pine backdrop of the Southern Sierras, so there's a lot to look at. Then too, sidekick Buttram has a more serious role than usual, with little buffoonery.

Maybe the hardest thing is seeing Alan Hale Jr., the genial Captain from Gilligan's Island, playing a devious bad guy. Good to see Tom London (Tom) a veteran of a thousand and one oaters picking up another payday. He always looked so right for a cowboy part. Gene manages a couple of solo songs, both familiar western standards, so this is primarily an action feature, not an Autry musical. Anyway, as the movie title tells you, it's a grittier story than usual, and a good one it is.

The story begins with two crooks escaping a posse trying to capture them. A bit later the pair meet up with a woman and man on horseback...and they steal their horses. A bit later, Gene comes along and the two folks who just had their horses stolen try to steal Autry's horse, Champion! Talk about jerks!! Oddly, this introduces a bad cliche I've seen in some of the Autry and Roy Rogers films...the inexplicably angry woman who eventually will fall for the hero. In this case, the woman who tried to steal Gene's horse is angry at Gene...and remains so during much of the movie! Apparently, some B-westerns just aren't good at portraying woman...and this is one of them.

As for the crooks, Al Bartlett is the worst! The pair try to take refuge with Bartlett's twin brother...and Al ends up murdering him in the hopes that the townsfolk will this he's the good twin, not the crook! To further solidify this nasty plan, he also kills his friend, the other crook...telling everyone that a pair of criminals came upon him and he ended up killing them both....and folks would think he was a hero! As for Gene, well, you KNOW he won't be fooled by such a ruse for long!

Overall, a film with a very interesting villain...but a really annoying female lead. So, in other words a bit of good and a bit of bad. Overall, a slightly below average but very watchable western....not among Gene's best but still very enjoyable.