Rhythm Round-Up (1945)

This mild musical western was the first starring vehicle for former Sons of the Pioneers member Ken Curtis. The Hoosier Hot Shots, of National Barn Dance fame, co-starred as themselves, a radio country band who buys shares in a dilapidated Western hotel. Arriving in Arizona, the band members discover that the hotel is haunted and that it properly belongs to young Jimmy Benson (Curtis), the nephew of the previous owner. The "ghosts," however, turns out to be a trio of confidence men, Zeke Winslow (Guinn "Big Boy" Williams), Noah Jones (Raymond Hatton) and Slim Jensen Victor Potel, who are hoping to buy the place themselves. Jimmy, who owes $500 in back taxes, befriends the Hot Shots, who plan to turn the hotel into a radio ranch. Together with the band's pretty manager, Mary Parker (Cheryl Walker), Jimmy and the Hot Shots, who have discovered a hidden treasure along the way, convince the crooks to turn legit and give up their plan to scare the hotel's future guests. Curtis and the Hot Shots were joined by The Pied Pipers and Bob Willis and His Texas Playboys, performing such standards as "San Antonio Rose", "Tumbling Tumbleweeds", and "Empty Saddles". ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi