Riders of the Whistling Pines

Gene Autry works for the Forestry Service. He shoots at a wildcat with his new rifle, but misses. Meanwhile Damian O'Flynn shoots and kills forest ranger Jason Robards Sr, who has been lax in enforcing regulations, but has reached his limit. Gene thinks he killed Robards, until it later turns out that he couldn't have. Time to investigate. Meanwhile, moths are infesting the forest, killing the trees, which suits loggers Douglas Dumbrille, O'Flynn, and company just fine. If the trees are dead, they can harvest them all. When Autry starts supervising dousing everything in DDT, they spread rumors about its deadliness, and poison animals nearby to make the lie look better.

It's a well written episode in Autry's films for Columbia, even if the evidence of DDT's major problems became evident in the decade following. Jimmy Lloyd is on hand as Gene's frequently depressed assistant; his wife, played by a picture of Marilyn Monroe, died while he was at war. Clayton Moore is a henchman, and Leon Weaver is present to please fans who missed his appearances in Republic Pictures movies. Gene sings several songs, including "It's My Lazy Day" and "Hair of Gold", backed by the Cass County Boys, and we can be assured that everything will turn out all right within 70 minutes.

One of my earliest childhood memories was getting home from school and sitting down in the family kitchen to hear "The Lone Ranger" on our big console radio. Of all my first TV heroes, none were bigger or braver than Davy Crockett, Superman and The Lone Ranger (not to forget his "faithful Indian companion and a fiery horse called Silver.") Until now, I'm sure I'd never seen Fess Parker, George Reeves or Clayton Moore as a bad guy. A few hours before this movie aired on cable, I saw the text of the preview box which read "Pete:Clayton Moore" so I was curious to see what color hat he was wearing. Actually, I later found out from IMDb filmographies that Parker, Reeves and Moore had each played villains more than once. Still, I had to wait until the third reel before I could be sure I was seeing Moore. In the first few scenes, what little dialogue he spoke didn't really identify him. But in the last scene he played with Autry, he spoke long enough that his clear deep voice revealed the familiar one we would grow to recognize from the long-running series which began not many months after the release of this film. There's little else about this oater I'd recommend. There are some good but forgettable songs, by Gene and others, just fair action and cinematography, no real romance, and not even a comical sidekick. It's not a great western by any stretch or even one of Autry's best films. For all that, it's still a passable way to spend an hour and ten minutes, which is about the length of one of my church's Sunday morning worship services. Forgive me, Pastor Mark, but Gene Autry's films haven't yet put me to sleep. Now, Rev, if you're hankerin' to liven up the congregation, I'd reckon you might try to wear a Stetson and fire a six-shooter (blanks-loaded, naturally) now and then. Dale Roloff

New science has made this particular Gene Autry western quite out of date. Seems as though the rumors those outlaws were spreading about DDT was right after all. The government did ban its use many years later.

But for Riders Of The Whistling Pines Gene is cast as a recently discharged forest ranger who is accused of killing another forest service ranger. The death is ruled accidental.

Why he was killed was that he discovered a kind of moth that can devastate the timber. Gene later discovers it and persuades the Interior Department in the form of his forest service buddies to spray DDT and save the timber.

But that doesn't help villain Douglass Dumbrille who wants the moths to kill the trees because he can strip the forest of dead trees and make a real windfall profit.

There's quite a bit more plot to this horse opera than is the case for one aimed at the Saturday Matinée crowd. There's also Jimmy Lloyd who is Autry's pal and drinking a lot because he got through World War II without a scratch and his wife died at home. Lloyd does something you would not see normally in a B picture kid's western.

Sad to say though that science really renders Riders Of The Whistling Pines quite obsolete.

As a huge fan of The Lone Ranger, watching this, I couldn't help saying, "Oh, no, Lone! What made you go wrong?" It was odd to hear Clayton Moore's voice as a baddie. Apparently, this movie was released only months before the Lone Ranger series on TV began in 1949. So, in the end, Lone turned to the good side, and everything was right in the Force.

Gene Autry and Hopalong Cassidy were OK, but The Lone Ranger, Tonto and Roy Rogers were my TV cowboy show heroes. Hi yo, Silver! ... c'mon Bullet.

This is one of my favorite Gene Autry movies. The action starts when Autry thinks he killed the dad of Helen Carter (Patricia Barry) after missing a shot at a mountain lion. Villains Douglass Dumbrille and Damian O'Flynn are very believable in ruthlessly trying to stop Autry from saving the forest. He's not getting much help from Jimmy Lloyd who finds out drinking and flying don't mix. Great to see Harry Cheshire who played Judge Ben Wiley in the TV series Buffalo Bill, Jr. and Clayton Moore, this time playing a henchman. Leon Weaver of The Weaver Brothers and Elviry even gets some great foot stomping music in along the way.