Not to be confused with Gene Autry's 1940 picture "Melody Ranch", this one came at the very start of his career just a couple of pictures after "The Phantom Empire" serial. Much of the opening sequence appears to be utilizing stock footage of rodeo events complete with an announcer's corny attempts at cowboy humor. As in why the bucking bulls have bells on their horns - to keep the riders from falling asleep.
After Gene's contest money of a thousand dollars is stolen by a member of a gypsy band, he and Frog (Smilley Burnette) seek work on a local cattle ranch where cowgirls have replaced the regular ranch hands. This might have given rise to all sorts of romantic entanglements, but the story didn't go very far in that direction, until the final scene (you'll just have to see it). The boys get to investigate a spate of cattle rustling along with a baby kidnapping, while hosting a handful of musical numbers including the title song.
I always love watching these early films for their take on life in simpler times. Back then, eggs were priced at twenty eight cents a dozen, and can you believe it - they were offered for sale on the sidewalk outside the store - without refrigeration!
Gene's horse Champion has a canine rival for your attention in this one, as a Saint Bernard by the name of Souvenir gets a lot of screen time with his mischief. He snatched the baby basket in the first place early on, and I kept wondering when the gypsy camp would go manic over the loss of the little guy, but that never happened. Instead, the father Frantz simply showed up at the Thomas Ranch because he heard the baby might have been there. That just left me completely puzzled. By the way, the role of Souvenir was played by Buck and he got his own credit at the start of the picture - go figure.
It's not unusual to pick up on continuity goofs in these early pictures, and if you stay attentive you'll catch one here. In the scene when Frantz the Gypsy comes to claim the baby from the Thomases, Mr. Thomas (Wade Boteler) calls his daughter Nancy. Her name was Millicent.
After Gene's contest money of a thousand dollars is stolen by a member of a gypsy band, he and Frog (Smilley Burnette) seek work on a local cattle ranch where cowgirls have replaced the regular ranch hands. This might have given rise to all sorts of romantic entanglements, but the story didn't go very far in that direction, until the final scene (you'll just have to see it). The boys get to investigate a spate of cattle rustling along with a baby kidnapping, while hosting a handful of musical numbers including the title song.
I always love watching these early films for their take on life in simpler times. Back then, eggs were priced at twenty eight cents a dozen, and can you believe it - they were offered for sale on the sidewalk outside the store - without refrigeration!
Gene's horse Champion has a canine rival for your attention in this one, as a Saint Bernard by the name of Souvenir gets a lot of screen time with his mischief. He snatched the baby basket in the first place early on, and I kept wondering when the gypsy camp would go manic over the loss of the little guy, but that never happened. Instead, the father Frantz simply showed up at the Thomas Ranch because he heard the baby might have been there. That just left me completely puzzled. By the way, the role of Souvenir was played by Buck and he got his own credit at the start of the picture - go figure.
It's not unusual to pick up on continuity goofs in these early pictures, and if you stay attentive you'll catch one here. In the scene when Frantz the Gypsy comes to claim the baby from the Thomases, Mr. Thomas (Wade Boteler) calls his daughter Nancy. Her name was Millicent.