Call of the Canyon

The year 1942 was Gene's last year as the number one cowboy in American, a rank he had held for almost a decade. When he went away to war, Roy Rogers became the King of the Cowboys. Though Gene was able to regain some of his popularity, especially on early television, he was never again number one. "Call of the Canyon" was one of his last movies before he left the screen to serve as a flier with the Air Transport command during World War II. Also by 1942 music was beginning to play a larger role in his films. The grand finale of "Call of the Canyon" is more like a Hollywood musical extravaganza than the end of a western where the cowboy rides off into the sunset. Unlike fellow singing cowboy Roy Rogers, Gene put as much effort into his recordings as his movies and sold millions. So music was always a key element in his life. His sidekick and lifelong pal, Smiley Burnette, was also into music and wrote over 400 songs, such as "Lazy Day" and "Ridin' Down The Canyon." Even with the music, there is still plenty of action. It seems a representative of the chief cattle buyer is shortchanging the cattlemen, headed by Gene, to pay off his gambling debts. The chief cattle buyer, Grantley B. Johnson (Thurston Hall) goes incognito as a cattleman to find out why the ranchers are so disgruntled with his prices. This leads to lots of action in trying to drive the cattle to market for a fair price. When the representative Thomas McCoy (Edmund MacDonald) uses explosives to stop the drive, one of the cattlemen is killed. The film has a subplot about a local band trying to make it big on the radio. The lead singer is known as Kit Carson (Ruth Terry) and becomes unhappy when Gene gets more of the spotlight than she does. Gene Autry westerns usually took place in the modern west, so airplanes and other motor vehicles are usually seen. In "Call of the Canyon," radio is used to catch the bad guys.

Smiley is around for laughs. This time he has a young sidekick who had appeared with him in earlier films, Tadpole Millhouse (Joe Strauch Jr.). Tadpole looks, acts, and talks like Frog, who is not really his father because Frog is supposed to be single, but more like a father figure to the little tad. When the little tad is injured in the explosion Frog sits up with him at the hospital. So the viewer knows that the two are as close as father and son.

The legendary Sons of the Pioneers are around to help with the music. They were at the top of their form in 1942 and add much to the musical numbers in the film. One of their founding members, Leonard Slye, was no longer with them for now he was Roy Rogers, a friendly rival to Gene and his gang.

If you're a Gene Autry fan, get ready for action and music. You're sure to enjoy "Call of the Canyon."

Many of the old B-westerns of the 1930s-50s were trimmed back in the early days of television in order to squeeze these films into one-hour time slots. With some, it wasn't all that noticeable...with only a minute or two trimmed. In others, however, as much as 15 or more minutes were removed...and these abbreviated films are often confusing as a result of over-trimming. In the case of the Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, often the heavily trimmed versions are the only ones you can find. Fortunately, the copy of "Call of the Canyon" posted on YouTube is the original full version.

This film is a bit unusual for a Gene Autry film in that it features him with the Sons of the Pioneers...a singing group founded by Roy Rogers and which appeared mostly in Rogers' pictures.

When the story begins, Gene is trying to meet with Mr. Johnson, a guy who owns a radio station AND is a cattle buyer. Gene wants to see him about cattle, as Johnson's agent is offering cattlemen ridiculously low prices for their beef...so low that they cannot possibly hope to stay in business. But Johnson is a tough guy to meet and when Gene storms into his office, Johnson (Thruston Hall) sneaks out the back!

In the meantime, a spunky lady, 'Kit' Carson (Ruth Terry) has met with Johnson....and he is impressed when he thinks she's a cowgirl. But she's not...and she knows nothing about the west. To make it worse, Johnson insists on going to visit Kit at her ranch....and she doesn't even have one. In desperation, she travels west and rents a ranch from Frog. But the ranch is not his, but Gene's!

When Johnson arrives, he pretends to be someone else because he doesn't want to let Gene know he's Johnson. Why? Because he's learned that Gene and the other ranchers hate Johnson since he's so difficult to see and his agent is such a jerk. But Johnson had no idea his man was offering such ridiculously low prices, as McCoy is underpaying everyone in order to pay off his gambling debts! What's next? See the film, as there's much more to it.

This film is a welcome change of pace, with a plot very much unlike most B-westerns. In fact, most B-westerns have one of only about three different plots! But this one is unique, clever and even a bit funny....and much of it is because Hall was wonderful as Mr. Johnson. My only disappointment is that the songs in the film aren't exactly Autry's most memorable ones...though they are, as usual, pleasant.

Edmund MacDonald in the local buyer for Thurston Hall's packing company. He's also deep in debt to the bookies, who have sent Marc Lawrence and John Harmon to collect. He proposes to them that while Hall is buying at $80 a head, he'll pay $65, and they'll split anything over his debt. But Gene Autry is on the job. He heads over to Hall's home office, where he can't get in. But Ruth Terry has, and while Hall isn't interested in any of the classical stuff, he is enchanted when she claims to be a ranch owner selling him a western music program. Hall started as a cowpuncher, and demonstrates some decent knife-throwing skills and twirls a lariat. He'll follow her back to the first town she's heard of, which is where Autry has come from, rents Autry's ranch from Smiley Burnette, and is getting ready. Meanwhile, Hall comes in and spots the conspirators' plane trying to stampede the cattle, wades right in and wins their affection. When he finds out that he's supposed to be the source of all their troubles, he rouses them to action while trying to figure out what's gone wrong.

It's a greatly enjoyable entry in Autry's series of singing westerns directed by underrated Joseph Santley, full of good humor, pathos, and a fine performance by Thurston Hall -- whose movie career had started with westerns westerns in the 1910s. The music is wide-ranging, with a big production number of jitterbuggers in western gear, aided by the Sons of the Pioneers being the musical group. There is a fine and exciting stunt sequence in which Autry -- or more likely, his stunt double -- has to clamber over a moving train to stop it before it kills the riders. All in all, a grand time.

And it came in under budget! With an estimated cost of $129,808, it priced in at a mere $129,302.