Armand Schaefer Movies
- 1955
In this pilot for a proposed "Red Ryder" television series, Allan Lane once again stars in the title role with Louis Lettieri as his young sidekick Little Beaver and Elizabeth Slifer as the Duchess. The latter is preparing the wedding between Perry Cochran (James Best) and Kathy Wayne (Sally Fraser), but Kathy calls off her engagement when Perry appears weak in a confrontation with town bully Bat Kilgore (William Henry). Kilgore, however, has been engaged in various dirty dealings and has earned the enmity of both Red Ryder and his aunt, the Duchess. With Perry's help, Red sets a trap for Kilgore and his henchman Prod (Gregg Barton), and Perry is eventually cleared of any accusation of cowardice. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1953
Gene Autry's second 1953 entry, On Top of Old Smoky casts Autry more or less as himself, a travelling balladeer. The story gets under way when Autry and his back-up vocalists are mistaken for a group of Texas Rangers. Not wishing to disappoint anyone, Gene agrees to help heroine Jen Larrabee (Gail Davis, later TV's "Annie Oakley") protect her toll road against villainous prospectors. The big-money scene occurs during the closing reel, wherein Gene and the bad guys duke it out atop a burning railroad trestle. Smiley Burnette co-stars as Autry's sidekick, while Burnette's wife Sheila Ryan plays a secondary role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1953
The title of this Gene Autry opus is almost as long as the film itself. This time, Autry plays a circuit judge who presides over a murder case in a mining town. The accused, Ed Wheeler (Kirk Riley), has confessed to the killing, and is undeniably guilty, but Autry considers this to be a case of justifiable homicide. The catch: How can Autry exonerate Wheeler without violating his own vow to uphold the law at all costs? The answer is a technicality, so cleverly handled that it can't be repeated here without giving the whole game away. On hand, as ever, are Autry's comic sidekick Smiley Burnette and favorite leading lady Gail ("Annie Oakley") Davis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, (more)
Last of the Pony Riders was also the last theatrical starring feature of singing cowboy Gene Autry. This time, Autry plays a troubleshooter for the Pony Express who hopes to keep the West safe for the mail riders so that a new stagecoach line can be established. He is opposed by crooked banker Clyde Vesey (Howard Wright), who wants to land the mail franchise himself and isn't above murder to accomplish his goals. Vesey enlists the aid of a band of outlaws who disguise themselves as Indians while wreaking havoc on the mail service. Featured in the cast as one of the pony riders is Dick Jones, who starred in such Autry-produced TV shows as Range Rider and Buffalo Bill Jr. While not Gene Autry's best film, Last of the Pony Riders is an immensely satisfying ride into the sunset for this personable western hero. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, (more)
- 1953
Winning of the West was Gene Autry's first western vehicle for 1953. It was also one of Autry's better offerings, with the star cast as a territorial ranger with an uncharacteristically nasty streak. When a local newspaper publisher is slain by an outlaw gang, Gene hesitates to pull his gun because he recognizes his own brother (Richard Crane) as one of the outlaws. As a result, he is relieved of his duties and forced to fend for himself. After a series of hair-raising adventures, Autry is compelled to face his brother in a showdown. Somehow, a happy ending arises from all this, though it wouldn't be fair to tell how. Gene Autry is supported by his usual cohorts Smiley Burnette and Gail Davis; he also offers four musical numbers, of which "Find Me My Trusty .45" is the best. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, (more)
- 1953
Saginaw Trail is a rare "mid-western" from Gene Autry. Set in 1827, the story takes place in the wilds of Michigan. Autry plays an officer in Hamilton's Rangers, determined to bring scurrilous fur-trapper Jules Brissac (Eugene Borden) to justice. To protect his own interests, Brissac has been goading the local Indians into attacking the white settlers. No matter how tense the situation, Autry manages to find time for three songs -- including Stephen Foster's "Beautiful Dreamer", which hadn't been written yet! Smiley Burnette returns as Autry's sidekick, while newcomer Connie Marshall performs the leading-lady duties. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, (more)
- 1953
Gene Autry's summer release for 1953 was the 56-minute Pack Train. In this one, Autry is assigned to safely transport supplies to a band of settlers. The villains, headed by Ross McLain (Kenne Duncan), intend to bushwhack Autry, grab the supplies, and sell them at high prices to a local mining camp. It must needs be that Autry and the bad guy duke it out in the final reel; the climactic fight, which takes place on a speeding train, is the best scene in the film. McLain's partner in crime is played by Sheila Ryan, the real-life wife of Gene Autry's perennial sidekick Pat Buttram (who also appears in the film). The heroine in Pack Train is Autry-contractee Gail Davis, who later in 1953 began filming on her own TV series, Annie Oakley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, (more)
Gene Autry goes undercover once again in this rather pedestrian western from Columbia Pictures. Suspecting jailed youth Dave Weldon (Dick Jones) of complicity in an army payroll heist, special investigator Autry has himself jailed. He quickly discovers that there is more to the case than meets the eye and helps Dave escape and rejoin his father's medicine show, which also includes Dave's sister Connie (Gail Davis) and the singing Cass Country Boys. Meanwhile, nasty Mike McClure (Henry Rowlands and his crew are also after the stolen money and to save young Dave's life, Gene convinces him to turn the loot over to Marshal Taplan (Gordon Jones). Among other selections, Autry and the Cass County Boys perform yet another version of Gene's signature tune, "Back in the Saddle Again". ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, (more)
- 1952
Gene Autry and Pat Buttram are innovatively cast as Gene Autry and Pat Buttram in Night Stage to Galveston. Set during the wild-and-wooly days when the Texas Rangers were supplanted by various local corrupt police officials, the story finds Gene at odds with crooked police chief Gen. Slaydon (Robert Livingston). Our Hero's task herein is to stem Slaydon's underhanded activities, and to restore the Rangers to their former glory. Meanwhile, his sidekick Buttram makes with the comic songs and the slapstick sequences. The feminine interest is provided by Virginia Huston, cast as the daughter of crusading journalist Thurston Hall. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, (more)
- 1952
The "B"-western field of the 1950s was laid low by increasing budgets and decreasing box-office appeal. Gene Autry's series for Columbia was still turning a profit in 1952, but films like Apache Country were a lot stingier-looking than his earlier efforts. Autry plays a government agent who rides into Indian territory to find out who's been selling guns and liquor to the Apaches. Hoping to keep his identity a secret, Autry is betrayed by a "mole" for the crooks, and gunplay ensues. TV and radio soap-opera veteran Mary Scott does an adequate job as the heroine, while movie veteran Francis X. Bushman brings his usual polished professionalism to a disturbingly minor role. And, oh yes, Gene Autry and his traditional cohorts Pat Buttram and Carolina Cotton do a lot of singing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, (more)
- 1952
Gene Autry plays a cattle buyer in the better-than-average formula western Barbed Wire. Investigating a paucity of fresh livestock, Autry returns to his home turf of Texas. Here he discovers that powerful ranch owner Steve Ruttledge (Leonard Penn) has been fencing off valuable grazing land, preventing the cattle men from bringing their stock to market. The trouble is, Ruttledge's methods, while underhanded, are well within the limits of the law. This doesn't stop Autry from finding a legal method to thwart Ruttledge's megalomanic dreams--and, incidentally, to clean the villain's clock in the closing reels. Barbed Wire was produced by Armand Schafer, the man in charge of Gene Autry's "Flying A" TV-production empire. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, (more)
- 1952
In this musical western, a rancher sends a man to prevent the marriage of his daughter. When the man arrives he finds a dude ranch and several murders which require solving. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Gene Autry was clearly tiring of the rigors of moviemaking by the time he starred in The Old West. Even so, Autry gives his all to this story of frontier religiosity. Left for dead in an outlaw ambush, Gene is nursed back to health by a travelling parson (House Peters Sr.) Our hero decides to help the parson build a church in the wide-open town of Saddlerock, which does not sit well with local crime kingpin Doc Lockwood (Lyle Talbot). The villain not only tries to drive the parson out of town, but also does his best to ruin Autry's reputation. The good guys emerge triumphant, but it isn't easy. Featured in the cast of The Old West are Autry "regulars" Gail Davis and Pat Buttrum; also appearing is the ubiquitous Louis-Jean Heydt, delivering a superb performance as a stagecoach driver plagued by encroaching blindness, and House Peters Sr's namesake son House Peters Jr. as one of the outlaws. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, (more)
Gene Autry stars in the 1951 sagebrusher Whirlwind. In this outing, Autry plays a frontier postal inspector known for his lightning speed in the saddle (hence the title). Travelling incognito, Autry and his sidekick Smiley Burnette endeavor to get the goods on the "respectable" head of an outlaw empire. It isn't fair to give away the identity of the villain, though seasoned moviegoers will be able to solve this little mystery in the first reel. Gail Davis, TV's Annie Oakley, once more shows up as Gene Autry's leading lady in Whirlwind. As a bonus, Autry performs three songs, including the title tune. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, (more)
- 1951
Hills of Utah casts Gene Autry as a frontier doctor with a predilection for singing. A recent med-school graduate, Autry sets up practice in the midst of a long-standing feud between cattlemen and miners. While patching up the participants of the feud, Gene searches every nook and cranny for the man who murdered his father. Along the way, our hero is himself wrongly accused of murder, but of course the actual culprit is the same villain he's been looking for. Autry's usual leading lady Gail Davis must have been busy elsewhere, inasmuch as Elaine Riley fulfills the heroine duties this time out. For no real reason other than to satiate the demands of his fans, Gene Autry renders his top 10 hit "Peter Cottontail" halfway through the proceedings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, (more)
Texans Never Cry but they sure do sing a lot in this Gene Autry western. Cast as a Texas Ranger, Autry is trying to get the goods on a frontier numbers racket. Perpetrating the crime is Tracy Wyatt (Richard Powers, who'd previously been a western hero himself under the name of Tom Keene). Adding to the fun is the presence of two leading ladies: conventional ingenue Gail Davis (later TV's Annie Oakley) and villainess Mary Castle. At the time Texans Never Cry was first released, critics were amused by the film's sound effects, which seemed more appropriate for a Three Stooges comedy than a Gene Autry vehicle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, (more)
This 1951 Gene Autry vehicle is based on a supposedly true incident. At the close of the Civil War, a band of Southern guerillas disguised themselves as Union soldiers, the better to perform acts of sabotage in Utah. Autry plays a cavalry scout who goes after guerilla leader McQuarrie (Jim Davis). Though heavily outnumbered, Gene manages to come out on top. Hardly plausible, Silver Canyon is enhanced by an excellent supporting cast, including Pat Buttram as Autry's sidekick, Bob Steele as an all-around louse, and perennial Autry leading lady Gail Davis as the spunky heroine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, (more)
Valley of Fire is a fairly gutsy title for this formula Gene Autry western. This time, Autry plays the reform-minded mayor of a wide-open western town. The villain of the piece, Tod Rawlings (Harry Lauter), decides to undermine Gene by convincing a band of disreputable miners to hijack a wagon train which is bringing mail-order brides into the community. Fortunately, the community's "good" miners thwart Rawling's plan and claim the brides for themselves (fear not: the ladies are more than willing to be claimed). One of Rawling's partners in crime is played by Russell Hayden, who only a few months earlier had been the clean-cut hero of Lippert's "Four Star Western" series. Once again, Gene Autry's feminine vis-a-vis in Valley of Fire is Gail Davis, who went on to star in TV's Annie Oakley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, (more)
- 1951
Gene Autry is back in the saddle again, albeit North of the Border. Montana marshal Autry and another lawman pursue a bank robber into Canada. Teaming with a straight-arrow Mountie, Autry tracks down the criminal in the Canadian wilderness, taking time out once in a while to sing one of his host's national songs. Running 70 minutes, Gene Autry and the Mounties was promoted by Columbia Pictures as a western "special". While on location in Canada, the Autry unit decided to quickly make another film for next season's western schedule, and the result was Blue Canadian Rockies (52). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, (more)
At first glance, Cow Town seems to be a documentary, as an unseen narrator describes the changes made in the Old West by the advent of barbed wire. Before long, however, the audience is assured that this will be a typical Gene Autry western. Autry plays a ranch owner who incurs the wrath of his neighbors by placing barbed wire around his turf. The local cowboys are certain that the new "invention" will mean the end of their jobs, since there will no longer be a need for ranch hands to keep the cattle from roaming free. Feeding into these fears is a group of "concerned citizens," who turn out to be a band of cattle rustlers. Autry manages to round up the baddies, smooth the ruffled feathers of the cowboys, and sing several old favorites. The supporting cast includes Gail Davis, who'd later star in the Autry-produced TV series Annie Oakley, and ace stunt men Jock Mahoney and Ted Mapes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Gail Davis, (more)
- 1950
Aired originally on September 3, 1950, and restored by Gene Autry Entertainment in 2000, this The Gene Autry Show series entry features Stanley Andrews as Carl Meachem, the owner of the "Flying M" cattle ranch. Determined to keep the range free of fences, Meachem bars a right of way for neighbor Tim Carson (Francis McDonald) when the latter puts his part of the valley up for sale to settlers. The feud leads to murder, and Meachem is arrested. But foreman Gene Autry knows that his boss is innocent and puts his own life on the line to catch the real culprit. In between duking it out with a vicious land grabber, Gene sings his own "That's My Home." Leading lady Gail Davis went on to star in the 1954-1956 series Annie Oakley, also produced by Gene Autry's Flying "A" Productions. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1950
Gene Autry sings his own and Ray Whitley's "Back in the Saddle Again" in the opening sequence of this, the fifth episode of his 1950 television series. A sheriff this time, Gene takes on ten-year-old Jimmy Foster (Billy Gray), whose father, Ben (George J. Lewis), has been jailed for bank robbery. "An ornery little cuss," according to Gene's sidekick Pat (Pat Buttram), Jimmy repays the gesture by smuggling a gun into the jail. A deputy (Wes Hudman) and Ben's partner, Reynolds (House Peters Jr.), are killed as a result of this piece of juvenile delinquency, but little Jimmy sees the error of his ways after an inspirational lecture from Autry. Billy Gray's real-life mother, 1940s starlet Beatrice Gray, appears in an unbilled bit. Restored by Gene Autry Entertainment in 2000, "The Star Toter" premiered originally on August 20, 1950. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1950
Gene Autry is back in the saddle again in The Blazing Sun. On this occasion, Autry plays a lawman in pursuit of two bank robbers. Adding novelty is the fact that the film is set in the contemporary West, with Pat Buttram co-starring as a conceited radio actor Mike. Weaving in and out of the proceedings is enigmatic heroine Kitty (Anne Gwynne), whose curious behavior is explained in full at fadeout time. Blazing Sun is capped by an exciting runaway-train sequence, pitting Autry against principal heavy Kenne Duncan. Featured in the cast is future Gilligan's Island co-star Alan Hale Jr. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, (more)
Though the hit song "Mule Train" is most closely associated with Frankie Laine, it was Gene Autry who first sang the tune on film, in a picture titled ... what else? .... Mule Train. This time, Autry plays a federal marshal who comes to the aid of a grizzled old prospector who has been framed for murder. The villain, Sam Brady (Robert Livingston), wants to appropriate the prospector's land, and he isn't particular as to how he achieves that goal. Leading lady Sheila Ryan plays a female sheriff who is on Brady's side at first, but who later realigns herself with Autry. Ryan later became the wife of Pat Buttram, who also appears in Mule Train in his usual role as Gene Autry's comical sidekick. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, (more)
