Rootin' Tootin' Rhythm

Even for a B western, this wasn't very good. Compared with A westerns of the period, this is really bad.

The plot is confusing as to who is who in all that dust and with all those costume changes. There's lots of shooting, but not many dead bodies. The action scenes are interspersed with some fair to middling western tunes by the hero and others.

Gene Autry made better movies than this. This one appears to be thrown together as the movies was being shot. The ending is completely predictable and dull.

Gene even has a half-hearted love interest that comes out of nowhere and makes no sense. And he leaves her with a song.

Rootin' Tootin' Rhythm has Gene Autry and his favorite sidekick Smiley Burnette on the trail of cattle rustlers. They've got a special interest in going after these because it's Gene's cattle they've stolen.

Unfortunately what was supposed to be comedy in this film is just general silliness. Gene and Smiley finding some abandoned clothing belonging to some notorious rustlers decide to shed their outfits and go incognito to get a line on the gang. That little bit of undercover work gets them nearly killed because the outlaws they thought were dead show up most inconveniently.

As for how they get out of it, Smiley Burnette has developed a new line of practical joke items like squirting flowers, exploding cigars and whoopee cushions. One of those actually saves Gene and Smiley.

Despite the silliness Gene has some good songs to sing including Mexicali Rose. That was a big hit in 1937 with Bing Crosby gaining one of his gold records with his version of it. But the Autry version here is OK too, especially since we get to hear the verse as well.

Gene's fans will like the movie and everyone will like the song.

When the story begins, Gene and Frog Millhouse (Smiley Burnette) are out chasing after some evil cattle rustlers. Now here's the crazy part...they find clothes from two of the gang and wear them...hoping to infiltrate the gang. But the almost end up getting hung when they are caught by a posse, as the gang ALSO killed two deputies. To find out how the pair get out of this mess and catch the leader of the baddies, you'll just have to see the film yourself!

"Rootin', Tootin' Rhythm" is a very good Gene Autry film, though not among his very best. Most of this is because of the music. While pleasant, the songs in this one aren't among the great singer's best....and while I usually HATE singing in movies, I love Autry as he really had a lovely voice and knew how to put over a tune. Apart from that, it's quite enjoyable and features some of the best stunt work you'll see in one of his movies.

This is one of Gene's early starring westerns for Republic filled with plenty of action and just enough music to keep it interesting. Quite obviously famed stuntman Yakima Canutt is at the helm. He had already perfected the stunt used many years later in "Ben-Hur" where the stuntman goes under the horses, then continues back to also go under the wagon. It's amazing to watch, and just as exciting in 1937 as it would be in 1959 when a chariot rather than a wagon is employed.

Gene croons a few numbers. My personal favorite is "Mexicali Rose." It was so loved by Gene's fans that he named one of his later oaters after it. Frog too gets to show off his varied musical talents. An accomplished songwriter, singer, musician, Smiley Burnette could play over one hundred instruments. Besides guitar, this outing Frog also plays up a storm on an accordion. Frog's humor left a lot to be desired but was appealing to the youngsters. In the early days, as in this film, Frog used a yell for assistance from Gene or out of frustration that was similar to one later used by Lou Costello to greater effect when calling for help from Bud Abbott.

The script if fairly routine, but involves so many mistaken identities involving donning other's clothing and going undercover that viewers may get confused at times, especially the kids. Gene and Frog slip out to chase rustlers. Not long afterward, Gene's cowhands joined by a few new recruits with suspicious credentials also slip out to chase the same rustlers. Two fugitives with a price on their heads shoot two lawmen and exchange clothing with them. Gene and Frog come upon the crime. They proceed to take the fugitives' cast off clothing and exchange it for their own. This leads to all sorts of complications to say the least which eventually involve two ladies who catch Gene and Frog asleep and hogtie them. This time there's not only a woman for Gene but a fairly good looking one for Frog as well. In future films, Frog would usually get stuck with wallflowers or frog lookalikes of a different gender. In the end Frog and Gene are able to extricate themselves from the situation and also from the two women. Frog says it best, "Say goodbye? Why, Lady, we never even said hello."

By the time Gene Autry made this film, he had been starring in B-Westerns for almost two years, and was right on the verge of being named "Public Cowboy No. 1" for 1937, based on the box-office returns from his movies. He held that honor for six straight years, before entering the U.S. Army Air Force in World War II.

Gene and Buffalo Brady (Hal Taliaferro) are co-owners of a large Western ranch from which cattle are being rustled. Gene and his sidekick Frog Millhouse (Smiley Burnette) set out to try to find the rustlers, at one point changing clothes with two lawmen they have found murdered, to aid in hiding their identities in their search. Their journey brings them into some shenanigans with two attractive ladies, and climaxes with a wild stagecoach chase. And I may be wrong, but I'm fairly sure Gene himself did the transfer from Champ's back to the stage.

Hope I haven't posted any "spoilers" here, because the movie is much better than the other posters here have implied, with their lukewarm descriptions like "OK," "Pleasant enough," etc. And when one posts, "Not up to Autry's usual standard," I'd like to know which "usual standard" of his movies they're talking about, as they almost always say that in their reviews.

By the way: Gene Autry's movies are known for their music -- naturally -- and the credits for this one feature a great, Western Swing-sounding instrumental that I've never heard before or since. The scene behind the music is that of a slam-bang rodeo -- which has nothing to do with the story. Explanation? Beats me! But I sure enjoyed that song!