Hurricane Smith

Ray Middleton is a rodeo rider who has finally saved up enough money to get married and buy that ranch. He settles quickly on the wife in Jane Wyatt, whom he meets and charms into saying yes at the sideshow with the aid of a puppet he calls "Colonel Partridge." Where is interrupted when he's arrested, because he looks just like a bank robber who shot a man. He's on his way to prison, when he realizes the robber and his partner are on the the same train. He grabs their bag of loot. The robber pursues him, and in the scuffle, the robber dies and Middleton gets away with the money. It's reported that Middleton has died, so he collects Miss Wyatt, who still loves him, gets married, and together they go looking for that ranch.

Only it turns out to be a valley where the silver mine has played out. Everyone is leaving except lawyer Harry Davenport. He tells Middleton and Miss Wyatt that everyone is a fool. There's artesian water in the ground and run off from the mountains, enough for clover and cattle. So Middleton uses the money from the robbery to rebuild the town and return it to the bank with 6% interest. A few years later, the town is prosperous and looking forward to the Fourth of July. Then the bank robber's partner, J. Edward Bromberg shows up to blackmail Middleton.

It's a fine story, and excellent performances, not only by Davenport, from whom I expected it, but a nice one from Miss Wyatt, and a pleasantly boisterous one by Middleton. He appeared occasionally on the screen, but spent most of his career on the stage. He was the first man to play Superman -- at the 1939 World's Fair -- and originated the role of Frank Butler in Annie Get Your Gun. He died in 1984 at the age of 77.

I must admit I saw it when it first hit the theaters in 1942 or so. I had a crush on Ray Middleton (being just out of high school) and saw it four or five times. It was very much a romantic comedy as well as a 'western'. You could take the plot and turn it into a romance novel. It was typical of "b" movies, not a lot of characters or locations but it was consistent. I wish it was available on DVD so I could enjoy it again. One of the things I liked was Ray Middleton being the hero. In a couple of others he played, if not the villain, the unlikeable other man. Hurrican Smith was fun. He had a great speaking voice and you can hear him sing as Frank Butler in Annie Get Your Gun, the original stage soundtrack with Ethel Merman.

Oh, BTW I'm 81 years old.