Home in Wyomin'

Thanks to the Encore Westerns channel for playing the fully restored HOME IN WYOMIN'. Singing cowboy and radio star Gene Autry comes to the rescue to solve a murder mystery at the rodeo during a Frontier Days celebration. The rodeo promoter Tex Harrison(James Seay)has been drinking recklessly and has become involved with Chicago gangster's. Clementine Benson(Fay McKenzie)is a newspaper correspondent sent to dispute the reputation of all around hero Autry.

Sidekick 'Frog' Millhouse(Smiley Burnette)has his own sidekick...a smaller version of himself 'Tadpole' Millhouse(Joe Strauch Jr.). This is comical in itself. Gene always manages to get a few songs in. This time the likes of "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes" and "Tweedle O'Twill". In honor of the female reporter there is a rousing version of "Clemetine". And whoa Nelly...Gene and Champion get to chase a gangster's sedan. Also in the cast: Olin Howland, Charles Lane, Hal Price and Forrest Taylor.

It's another well-produced oater from Gene's Republic period. The story's more plot-heavy than usual, the first half being mainly set-up. It's the second half that has the action, plus an unexpected twist unusual for a matinée. Seems Gene's got to help save a rodeo and a ranch, all in 67-minutes. But not to worry, Gene's got Champion who's a lot more versatile than a road-hugging car. Then too, he's got Frog and his junior sized clone Tadpole. I like their little battle with a runaway ore car in a shadowy tunnel that nicely combines amusement with suspense. In fact the comedy relief is well calibrated, never sliding into the clownish.

Some good stunt work too, especially the axle grabbing beneath a racing wagon, just the sort pioneered by the great stuntman Yakima Canutt. Still, I wish some of the background process shots were more realistic, but that was a technical problem afflicting many films of the period. There're two good bouts of flying fists where Gene shows off his athletic skills. But note a general absence of gunplay, from Gene especially. Also, note the little ditty pushing government bonds, a reflection of 1942 and emergence of WWII. Two of his songs shine at least in my ear—a charming "Clementine" and the catchy "Tweedle-O-Twill". All in all, the programmer amounts to ace entertainment for Front-Row kids of all ages, including us geezers.

A "7" on the Matinée Scale

This Gene Autry oater will mainly appeal to his many fans, especially those who are fond of his music. He sings three of his trademark songs, "Be Honest With Me," "Tweedle O Twill," and his theme "Back in the Saddle Again." He also does a fairly good job on the old Carter Family standard "I'm Thinking Tonight of my Blue Eyes," which has the melody used in "The Great Speckled Bird," "Wild Side of Life," and "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels." The year is 1942 and so Gene does his part for the war effort by singing Irving Berlin's "Any Bonds Today." Gene even takes a jibe at Bing Crosby by adding a line to the old standard "(Oh My Darling)Clementine" about bubbling Bing and will he sue? Gene received assistance in the songwriting department from Fred Rose who later helped start a publishing empire in Nashville and discovered Hank Williams Sr. Also, The inimitable Tex Ritter helped with some of the musical arrangements.

Too bad Frog wasn't given a larger musical role. Smiley was one of the best song smiths around and a top musician, able to play a hundred different musical instruments. Though he does get to sing one song, most of the time he spends trying to keep up with his charge, Tadpole. Often Tadpole upstages Frog. Frog plays an instrument he invented, the craziest musical contraption you'll ever see and it's strapped to the back of a jackass!

There are only two major action sequences in "Home in Wyomin'," but they're both dandies. One involves a wild car chase with Gene and Champion in hot pursuit, the other a wild wagon chase with Gene and Champion in hot pursuit. The stunt work in the latter is spine tingling.

The story is a good one for a B western involving Gene attempting to save a rodeo he sponsors from going broke because of the drinking and gambling habits of its manager and star, Tex Harrison (James Seay), who is the son of Gene's good friend and mentor Pop Harrison (Forrest Taylor). Tex becomes involved with the mob from his gambling. To add to the drama two newspaper correspondents, a pretty photographer Clementine (Fay McKenzie) and her partner "Hack" (Chick Chandler), go west to join the rodeo for a story on Gene, who is a popular radio personality. They wish to debunk him, but the editor wants a story with Gene as a model for America. Hack is murdered in the stands in the middle of a rodeo performance. Tex is framed. Gene and Frog spend the rest of the film clearing Tex and finding the real killer who is not unveiled until the end.

Charles Lane plays the newspaper editor. There's a story about Mark Twain being prematurely listed as deceased. When Twain heard about it, he laughed and stated, "The rumors of my death have been highly exaggerated." Charles Lane was thought dead for several years until he popped up on the TVLand Awards on March 16, 2005, to be honored on his 100th birthday. He told an amazed audience that he was still available.

The fiddle player in "Home in Wyomin'" is the notorious western swing guru Spade Cooley who many years later murdered his wife claiming that she was having an affair with Roy Rogers for whom he had doubled in a few films. Seems he thought Roy was doubling for him in bed.

Two other cast members deserve note. Both were minor cowboy stars themselves at one time. Rex Lease who plays one of the gamblers was somewhat of a star in silent films but never quite made it big time in the sound era. The other is cowboy hero Ken Maynard's brother Kermit Maynard who has a bit part and also is one of the stunt men.

By this time in Gene's film career he not only had a legion of small fries as fans but adults as well, especially women found his movie image appealing. So the producers usually made sure that romance was a part of the show. In "Home in Wyomin'" he has to tame the correspondent Clementine. It takes him a while even after a moonlight interlude when Gene coos about the wind and the rain in her hair. Gene was never a cowboy to ride off alone into the sunset on his trusty steed Champion. He tried to make sure there was a lovely cowgirl riding along side as he sang an appropriate ditty. For Clementine, it's "Tweedle O Twill." Now I ask you is "Tweedle O Twill" really a love ballad? Hey, if it works for Gene....

The plot to "Home in Wyomin'" is quite complicated for a Gene Autry western...and that's not a bad thing. There are a cynical team of a reporter and her photographer who are trying to get a story about Gene...and are bent on making him look like a phony. There's the arrogant and troublesome son of one of Gene's old bosses who seems bent on destroying himself. There is a group of criminals from the East hiding out in Wyoming. And, there's another evil person who you'd probably not suspect. How all of these end up converging on each other is something you'll need to see in the film.

The plot is not only complex but it's different for an Autry film....and that difference makes it a bit more watchable. Additionally, I really liked the kid who played 'Tadpole'. He was sort of like Smiley's sidekick...a sidekick's sidekick! But unlike Smiley, the kid was very smart-mouthed as well as funny. Overall, while certainly not brilliant entertainment, it's fun and quite worth seeing for lovers of B-westerns. It would have been a bit better with less sloppy rear-projection and a less cliched leading lady...but these are pretty standard in the genre.

By the way, there is certainly a bit of irony to this film. Part of the plot involves Autry proving he's 'the real deal'...but like all B-western stars, it's his stuntman doing much of the manly heroics and fighting!