Wagon Team

Wagon Team finds Gene Autry cast as an agent for the stagecoach line looking to locate a missing $97,000.00 dollars stolen by Henry Rowland's gang and later stolen again by the notorious Apache Kid. The Apache Kid is Dick Jones who used to have a trick shot act with his father Harry Harvey and sister Gail Davis and their medicine show. But the outlaw life was alluring and Jones went off the straight and true path.

Autry pretends to be an outlaw himself to get thrown into jail with Jones when he's caught in hopes of getting a line on the stolen loot. Rowland wants to know where the loot is hid and he wants to get his hands on Jones as well. It all works out nice in the end.

Both Dick Jones and Gail Davis had ties to Autry as he would shortly produce their television series. For Jones he was involved with The Range Rider and Buffalo Bill, Jr. for Gene's Flying Crown Productions and Davis was TV's Annie Oakley under that same banner.

Wagon Team also features Pat Buttram as Gene's sidekick here and on his television series and Gordon Jones who was one thick as a brick marshal.

Nice, but Gene would shortly be doing these kind of films on television himself.

Gene must have been working his rear-end off in the early 50's, what with acting and producing features and TV shows, all at the same time. Anyhow, good to hear his signature tune Back in the Saddle Again, taking me back to those Saturday radio evenings at Melody Ranch. Nostalgia aside, this programmer makes good staging use of dry rocky LA locations for the many action and riding scenes.

Nothing special about the plot as lawman Gene goes undercover to retrieve stolen money from outlaws. In the process he's got to sort out where the Weldon family stands. As Dave Weldon, the boyish Jones looks about 20 but is actually 25, while Davis is his tomboy sister and Harry Harvey his ambivalent dad. Jones does well as a semi-outlaw, though his stamina while supposedly at death's door is more than remarkable. Anyhow, the way a couple of action shots are aimed at the camera, I thought maybe someone had 3-D in mind, the process coming along about that time. Be that as it may, it's a solid Autry programmer even though coming late in the feature-length series.

Gene Autry with a great cast of characters takes the chase of their life when The Apache Kid (Dickie Jones) makes a staged break from jail. Great funny man Syd Saylor and Abbott and Costello's favorite cop, Gordon Jones make it happen and they're off to the races. Harry 'Sheriff Blodgett' Harvey and the 'perfect western actress' Gail Davis are trying to run a medicine show while their kin is on the run. George J. Lewis of 'Zorro' fame tries to save the family from Henry Rowland, John Cason and the henchmen while Pat Buttram adds the great comic relief. With many twists, great acting and action, Wagon Team is a winning team.

When the story begins, government agent Gene Autry is in jail...trying to pal up to a suspected criminal, the Apache Kid (Dick Jones*). Unfortunately, the marshal is played by Gordon Jones...which means he's a total idiot**. The marshal's plan is to arrange for the Kid to escape and follow him. Naturally, he soon loses the Kid and the trail is dead. So, Gene goes undercover working with a traveling medicine show because the Kid's old man runs the outfit.

Perhaps the best thing about this film is some of the singing...not just by Gene but by a trio early in the picture. Gene sings his standard, "Back in the Saddle", and although he'd done so previously, it's such a great tune I enjoyed hearing it once again. As for the plot, it's pretty familiar stuff...not bad but quite familiar. What also is unfortunately familiar is when Gene meets the lady...and like too many in his films, she immediately and inexplicably dislikes him...a cliché that began to annoy me after I watched a bunch of these types of films. This can only mean that sooner or later, she's putty in Autry's ultra-manly arms! An unusual aspect of the film is that Pat Buttram is in it...and does not play Autry's sidekick or friend! Instead, he's the idiot marshal's deputy! Imagine a land where those two represent law & order!!

So is this any good? Well, it's pretty average for an Autry flick...and that means it's pretty good. But like nearly all his films, the title pretty much has nothing to do with the actual plot! Worth seeing...particularly if you are a B-western fan.

*Dick Jones' biggest claim to fame was providing the voice for the lead in Disney's "Pinocchio". Not wanting to be known only for this, later in life he appeared in a lot of B-westerns, such as this one.

**I can only assume that in the 1950s, Gordon Jones worked his darnedest to destroy the careers of both Roy Rogers AND Gene Autry. Why? Because his characters were invariably very dumb and often annoying...and apart from the likes of Pinkie Lee or Estelita Rodriguez, he's one of the worst additions to B-westerns in this era.

Stageline Agent Gene Autry goes undercover to help recover the Army payroll stolen from his company by the Apache Kid (Dick Jones) Gene has himself placed in jail as the Kid's cell mate over the objections of the crotchety Sheriff (Gordon Jones), who resents Gene's interference. When the Kid escapes jail Autry follows the clues to the Kid's Father(Harry Harvey) and Sister's (Gail Davis) Traveling Medicine Show, followed by the sheriff and Deputy Pat Buttram who is in line to collect reward money upon the Kid's conviction. Gene must work around the suspicions of the Kid and his family as well as having to battle Bad Guy Mike Mcclure (Henry Rowland) and his henchmen for the stolen loot.

This later Autry Movie has more singing than most of that era. Gene reworks "In and Out of the Jailhouse" and his signature tune "Back in the Saddle Again". The Cass County Boys provide some toe-tapping old time gospel with "Jubilee". The cast is almost entirely comprised of "Gene Autry Show" regulars (ex-Gordon Jones) putting in some overtime for the Big Screen. Add to that the stock footage and you have a fairly uninspired B-Western. The movie definitely has a feel of corner cutting, which is unusual since Gene's B's tended to have higher production values compared to the competition. Lucky for us fans though, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts in this case. While certainly not Gene's best work, most Autry Fans won't ask for their 61 minutes back.

Showing up in this as the sheriff, veteran actor Gordon Jones had his only big screen appearance with Autry in "Wagon Team" though he had previously appeared in a couple of the Autry television episodes. Not only was Jones prolific, he was also one of the most versatile actors to hit the saddle. He was equally at home as the sidekick, the lawman or playing the bad guy. Jones familiar face appeared throughout the 1950's in episodic television with occasional big screen appearances, ending in 1963 with John Wayne in "McLintock.

Not one of Gene's very best but Worth a watch -- 5 out of 10*