Public Cowboy No. 1

Times are changing out in the west and there's this gang of rustlers who've got sheriff William Farnum and Deputy Gene Autry baffled. The local newspaper editor Ann Rutherford is calling for sheriff Farnum to be replaced and that's not sitting well with Gene. Besides that political differences are interfering in a promising romance.

Who'd ever have believed it, but Gene's perennial sidekick Smiley Burnette decides that a short wave radio just might be the key to things and son of a gun he turns out to be right. Ham radio operators the world over must have loved this picture.

No really great songs for Gene come out of this particular film, but Smiley Burnette is a sight to see in a disguise as a cow trying to fend off the attentions of an amorous bull. All in the line of doing some undercover work. Worth watching Public Cowboy No. 1 for that alone.

"Rustlers using modern technology (airplanes, shortwave radios, refrigerated trucks) are Gene's target."--IMDb Summary The version of "Public Cowbiy No. 1" I saw was only 53 minutes long instead of the time listed on IMDb. This is most likely because in the early days of TV they cut down many B-westerns to make them fit TV time slots. However, it's odd that this abbreviated version STILL has so many songs in it, as usually they shortened the films by clipping off a few songs. Actually, clipping a song or two isn't a bad thing, as it tended to speed up the films and keep them much more coherent! But, with ALL the songs seemingly intact in this film, it's not among Autry's best.

The film begins with Gene Autry doing what he does best--singing a song. Soon you see the most amazingly ridiculous cattle rustlers strike nearby. Although this is a western, the baddies drive up in a HUGE modern truck--one that was awfully ridiculous. With meticulous precision, folks pop out of the truck and they quickly butcher and skin the cattle--and hide them in this refrigerated truck! What sort of western would have this any many other oddities in the old west? Yep...a Gene Autry film! You'll also see Gene's Sidekick, Frog (Smiley Burnett) using a shortwave radio, Gene chasing a truck down a highway...with his horse and airplanes! It's the weird sort of melange that even Roy Rogers films tended to avoid--and Autry films abounded with over the years.

So is it any good? Well, not particularly. But, it's also pleasant enough as a time-passer...and it IS funny to see all these modern devices along with so many old fashioned at the same time.

Arthur Loft's cattle-rustling operation is a marvel of modernity: he spots the herds from the air, orders the rustling by radio, and moves them by truck. Long-time sheriff William Farnum is baffled, so the county fires him and his deputies (including Gene Autry) and brings in James C. Morton, who boasts he catches the criminals before they commit the crime. But Autry has his own thoughts on how to catch crooks, and pretty newspaper editor Ann Rutherford.

Orvon Grover Autry's movies were often set in the present day, and this is another of them, with Autry singing four songs, and Smiley Burnette three. It's clean and bright, and well produced; just the sort of movie that would make Autry a wealthy man, first to sell a million copies of a record, first to get a gold record, the only entertainer with five stars on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.

This is a pretty typical early Gene Autry Western. Cowpokes and cattle and horses and cars/trucks/airplanes ... yeehaw.

Anyway, the most unusual scene in this movie, very subtle indeed, is the opening sequence. Gene, ridin' and singin' along, the titles rolling by. Check out behind him and see if you see anything odd.

What's that? Looks like a dummy or something. No, it's Smiley Burnette, riding backwards with a forward facing mask on the back of his head. Even funnier, once the titles and song are finished, Gene and another guy have a long conversation before they even mention the bizarre Smiley and his "disguise" ...

His explanation: It was a disguise so that he could keep an eye out so no one could sneak up on them from behind. Ah, Smiley. Ah, humanity.

William Farnum and Gene Autry are way behind the times in dealing with airplanes, short wave radio and refridgerated trucks. Who can blame Autry in being distracted by the beautiful Ann Rutherford. Smiley Burnette goes undercover and gets romanced by a bull on the loose while Arthur Loft looks at some easy pickens with cattle rustling. Even House Peters Jr. puts on a shooting clinic against the lawmen. But never fear Eustace P. Quackenbush (James C. Morton) has some modern technology to stop the banditos, or does he? Gene Autry shows why he's Public Cowboy No. 1 with some great singing, riding and acting.