Oklahoma Blues

Veteran director Lambert Hillyer -- he was William S. Hart's director in the 1910s -- helms this ultra-short (56 minutes) Monogram co-feature about a singing cowboy who becomes a deputy sheriff to clear up the town for a county seat and win the pretty restaurant lass.

Quite obviously shot by good talent (there are some lovely compositions) on a tiny budget (the singing sequence that starts off the movie has poor lip-syncing), this is a pretty good movie for anyone happy to see this old story told efficiently. Dub Taylor is the comic sidekick and while this is not much more than a step above a TV western a decade later, the behind-the-screen talent have performed a handsome and efficient job.

Oklahoma Blues has Jimmy Wakely going undercover as a feared singing outlaw known as the Melody Kid. With that monicker tagged to him the numbers aren't quite so out of place.

Wakely is working undercover at the behest of his friend Sheriff Steve Clark to find out who's behind outlaws who've created a recent crime wave. The town of Rainbow's End where the action takes place is in the running to become the county seat but that might not happen with all this crime. And of course there's a villain who gains some big profits if Rainbow's End loses the competition.

Dub Taylor is in the sidekick role and he truly functions as comic relief. Wakely describes him to Clark as his handicap and the remark goes right over his head. Taylor does engage in some good physical comedy and he does help when under proper direction. Other than that he's a hillbilly kibitzer.

Wakely sang a couple of nice, but forgettable songs. He never attained the ranking of Roy and Gene in the singing cowboy sweepstakes, but he was pleasant to listen to.

I'm sure the Saturday matinee kids approved in 1948.