The Hills of Utah

This is a pretty darn good sepia-tone western from Americas' Favorite Cowboy. Gene plays a Doctor who returns home after his father's death ---- smack dab into the middle of a range war !

Gene, along with his pal Pat Butram, tries to put an end to the hostilities, while tending to those injured in the fracas. I thought the story was unique and well-written. I prefer Smiley Burnette to Butram, but he does a good job here. Denver Pyle is barely recognizable as a combatant ---- in his pre-Dukes of Hazzard days. All in all, not a bad little shoot-em-up.

This one should appeal to most B-western fans .........

Gene gets caught up in a feud between miners and ranchers, one of whom may have killed his father.

The programmer is not among Gene's best, though it is generously produced by Autry Productions. This was a time (1951) when TV was beginning to eat into theatre audiences. So it looks like Gene was looking to modify his long-successful movie mold.

Here, for example, he's not only a good guy with a gun and horse, but a doctor as well. Note too, that the humor with sidekick Buttram is played down more than usual. Also, Gene works in only one tune, Here Comes Peter Cottontail, a delightful rendition, but not exactly a good trail song. Then too, the final shootout is also unusual since Gene is not the main focus; plus the showdown takes place in an elaborate mine tunnel instead of in town or out in the open. The tunnel itself is an impressive set for a horse opera, and I'm not sure whether Gene borrowed it or built it. Either way it's an eye-catcher.

My only complaint is that the movie tends to dawdle until the final sequence. There's some hard riding, but the countryside alternates between the scrubby LA area and the scenic Alabama Hills in not very well blended fashion. Anyway, the movie should please Gene's many fans, myself included.

Gene autry narrates this seventy minute shortie from columbia. It's a tale of trouble between the miners and the cattle men. And autry is the doctor, patching everyone up after the gunfights. Moves pretty slow. And about halfway through, someone sings peter cottontail. Weirdness. It's okay. Interesting mostly for the personalities in the cast. Keep an eye out for pat buttram... he was mister haney on green acres, always trying to swindle the locals. Also denver pyle...probably best known for dukes of hazzard. But he was in just about every western made too. According to imdb, part of this was filmed at the corrigan ranch.. check it out. Was owned by bob hope for a while, now it's a los angeles county park! Interesting history. Also the amazing alabama hills, up in lone pine. Directed by john english, known for working on many of autry's westerns. It's a good, solid story. The usual feuds over land, with the pretty girls helping out.

Although IMDB says the original film was made in sepia tone, the version I found was just in black & white. To me it makes no difference....but in case you want to know.

The film starts in a most unusual way. Gene Autry himself narrates and it's a long exposition about the events that led to this day. It seems that long ago, Gene's father was shot and should have recovered, but there was no doctor about and he perished. Now, Gene's a doctor and he's returning to his old home town. The problem is in the meantime, the local miners and the ranchers all hate each other and it's more like the Hatfields and McCoys! And, while they hate each other, they REALLY hate Gene because he's willing to treat anyone...regardless of affiliation. Can Gene get these knuckleheads to stop fighting and trust him and his new skills?

It's nice that despite having already made dozens of films and this being among his last films, the plot is still quite original. That being said, it's reasonably entertaining and worth seeing. Not among Gene's best..but still good.

By the way, if you do watch, watch the first fight between Gene and Jayda....it's so very obvious they are using stunt doubles...too obvious and therefore kind of funny. The fact they didn't have Gene do these scenes isn't surprising, as he wasn't exactly a spring chicken at 44.

The doc comes to town and it's Gene Autry caught between a rock and a hard place. He's come to save lives but knows his father's killer is lurking around town. Sidekick extraordinaire Pat Buttrum is delivering the mail and a punch now and than for the doc. Autry's in the middle of a feud between Jada (Onslow Stevens) and Bowie (Denver Pyle). Another doc, William Fawcett, AKA Doc T plays the lively hired hand Washoe and the gorgeous Elaine Riley is trying to protect her dad at all costs. My favorite of the supporting cast is Donna Martell as Nola French. She has the hardest part as the scorned wife of Bowie. The best henchmen in the business Kenne Duncan and Harry Lauter round out a great cast.