Rodeo Rhythm

Other than the juvenile western act of Roy Knapp's Rough Riders which was a troupe of young trick riders, there's not a whole lot to recommend Rodeo Rhythm. It was shot in the Kansas City area on a more anemic budget than usual from Producer's Releasing Corporation and featured apparently a whole lot of local talent in the cast who look pretty uneasy before the camera.

Three people in the cast had other film credits besides this one. They include Fred Scott former opera baritone turned singing cowboy hero, Loie Bridge playing his sister who runs an orphanage which is populated by the young trick riders and John Frank who plays the mean old skinflint who wants to shut them down.

To keep the wolf away the kids fall back on the old Mickey Rooney/ Judy Garland gambit of let's put on a rodeo. Most of the last quarter of the film is devoted to said rodeo.

One thing I will say, the kids are real kids and not Hollywood kids and their lack of guile in their performances is appealing. But it's not enough to lift the film out of terminal mediocrity.