Cowboy Blues (1946)

Starring Ken Curtis and the hayseed singing group the Hoosier Hot Shots, this musical Western is really Lady for a Day with a switch in gender. Rotund Guy Kibbee is Dusty Nelson, the handyman at the Bar B dude ranch, whose daughter Susan (Jeff Donnell) is arriving with her socialite fiancee, Jerome Winston (Robert Scott). Susan believes her father owns the ranch, and to spare Dusty any embarrassment, the Hot Shots, ranch manager Curt Durant (Curtis) and sidekick Big Boy Stover (Guinn "Big Boy" Williams) agree to continue the deception. The real owner (Al Bridge) turns up at the most inopportune moment, naturally, and when the snooty Winstons learn the truth, Jerome is forbidden to marry Susan. That is fine with the girl, who has fallen in love with Curt and he with her. In between the comedy, Curtis, the Hot Shots, Carolina Cotton and other country & western acts perform "The West is as Wild as Ever," "Blue Bonnet Girl," "Rhythm Is Our Business," and "(Back Home Again in) Indiana." Curtis made eight singing cowboy Westerns for Columbia but never posed any real threat to either Gene Autry or Roy Rogers. The actor turned to supporting roles instead and is best remembered for playing "Festus" on television's Gunsmoke. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi