Sing, Cowboy, Sing

I think bad editing ruined Sing Cowboy Sing a Tex Ritter western that he did for poverty row Grand National Pictures. I could have rated it a notch or two higher, but I doubt we'll ever see a director's cut.

Tex and companion Al St. John come to the aid of Louise Stanley, unfortunately too late to save her father and his men from being massacred by an outlaw gang in the pay of perennial western villain Karl Hackett trying to take over the freighting concession in the territory.

Hackett's got a sweet little racket going having intimidated Judge Robert McKenzie and Marshal Horace Murphy who would soon be a Tex Ritter sidekick in future films. McKenzie plays Judge Roy Dean who both is judge and runs the saloon. Sounds familiar, doesn't it. McKenzie is the one you'll remember from this film.

Ritter sings a few cowboy ballads including one in jail where he's being framed for a murder charge. What could have been an exciting climax was butchered by bad editing. In the final shootout with freighters and the outlaws, people keep falling off their horses without the sound of gunfire. Looked rather unreal.

Still Tex Ritter's fans will enjoy Sing Cowboy Sing.

The director Robert N. Bradbury had done over 100 Westerns by time he did this one in 1937. He is not lyrical like John Ford, but he does know how to keep things moving and entertaining. The budget seems to be a bit higher than the ones he was working with when he did the great John Wayne early westerns in 1934 and 1935. Although this was on a Mill Creek DVD release of 20 musicals, there are only four songs and they are short and well integrated into the story, so it is really a Western more than a musical.

Tex Ritter is charming as the lead and a bit more relaxed than John Wayne. Al Saint John, who worked with Fatty Arbuckle and Buster Keaton in their early silent slapstick films, is delightful. Everyone else is competent.

Growing up on a steady diet of television westerns in the late 50's and early 60's, it is fun to see these early forerunners of the genre. The early television Westerns like "the Lone Ranger" and "Zorro" really copied the style of the 1930's westerns like this one. The later Western series, like "Maverick," "Wagon Train" and "Bonanza" took after the more dramatic/serious and slower paced ones of the 1950's like "High Noon" and "Shane."

Over the last couple years I have watched a huge number of B-westerns--such as the films of Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Tim McCoy, Bob Steele and many others. As a result, I have noticed that although these films were very quickly and cheaply made, some tend to be a lot better than others--and some tend to be a lot worse. While it might sound a bit cruel, Tex Ritter's films are among my least favorites. While he might have been a nice person in real life, his career was hindered by the incredibly poor production values of his films. Quite bluntly, the writing, budgets and acting were all strictly bargain basement compared to most of his contemporaries. "Sing, Cowboy, Sing" in no way changes my opinions.

The film begins with Ritter and his sidekick (Al St. John) come upon a group of incredibly bad shots who are begin slaughtered by a gang of equally well-armed and equal number of men! The pair arrive too late, though one member of the party is still alive--the rancher's daughter. Why were they attacked? Well, eventually it turns out that there is a freight business and the local baddie wants that franchise for himself--and killing off the rancher and his workers would normally do the trick. However, Tex and his friend decide to stay and help the woman with her business. Unfortunately, it will be tough, however, as the local judge is THE dumbest man in the history of westerns. Through most of the film, he just seemed corrupt and in the pocket of the baddie--but it turns out he's just an idiot! Can the boys defeat the idiot and the big baddie boss-man? While I enjoyed watching Snub Pollard and Al St. John since they were silent comedy stars, there isn't a lot to recommend this film. The plot is very derivative and predictable. The acting rather suspect. And, while Ritter sings a whole lot better than I ever could, he isn't even close to being the equal of Roy Rogers or Gene Autry in this regard. And, on top of that, he sings too much--including once when he's in jail! Overall, a weak film but pretty typical of what I've seen of the Tex Ritter films.

Tex Ritter and Al St. John protect a female freight line operator from being put out of business by the villains who murdered her father in an attempt to gain control the price of goods and the means of supply.

Mostly typical, there's some good action scenes and music, including the terrific title song.

Tex is great, as usual and St. John is an animated and entertaining sidekick, showing off his credible fighting and riding skills, though not as glib as he became in many of his later pictures.

The most memorable scene of the picture is Tex's murder trial in a saloon courtroom with a bartender judge!

Good name for this film filled with western tropes and lots of cowboy songs.