Man from Music Mountain

Not to be confused with the later Roy Rogers film (THE Man from Music Mountain), this is very much a Poverty Row assembly-line oater, yet it's also better than most by far. For one thing, Autrey's foe isn't so much a villainous individual as a corporate usurper trying to suck the lifeblood by duplicitous means from an already-impoverished mining town that might or might not have a still-unmined gold reservoir. FDR would approve! For another, the musical sequences are frequent and often humorously eccentric. (I loved the number partially played on sleigh bells.) The whole thing is pretty tongue-in-cheek, with more singin' and yappin' than ridin' and shootin' until the last reel. I saw fhis on a cheap DVD collection (50 Gunslinger Classics) and it looked fine. I need to fill ten lines, right? Kerfuffle. Kablooey.

Really good early Autry, an expert mix of story, music and action. I also learned what a difference electricity made to rural communities. We tend to take electric power for granted, but the movie is set in 1938, soon after Boulder Dam was built, and the bad guy is using the promise of electrification to scam Depression era folks. It's really worked well into the plot, better than any A-movie I've seen, and even produces a good laugh.

Anyhow, Gene gets to do some hard riding in order to thwart their plans, along with an action-filled mine tunnel finale. Frog has a fairly straight role minus the usual clownish humor. What a fine versatile performer he was. There's also a did-I-really-see-that novelty act that beats out tunes on about everything but rocks. Include too a lovely Carol Hughes as eye-relief from all the ugly guys, and you've got a near perfect package of Autry entertainment.

This Gene Autry western, Man From Music Mountain uses the opening of Boulder Dam, later renamed Hoover Dam as the springboard for the story of this B film. The dam will now provide electric power for the residents of three states and some sharp operators are going to take advantage.

As this film is set in the modern west, it's a 20th century plot we're dealing with. Ivan Miller is the chief villain and he's selling real estate, lots in a ghost town to be precise. But the scam he's working is that with Boulder Dam in operation there will be power lines coming soon and there is a gold mine nearby. Oh, Miller's selling shares in that as well.

As Gene and Smiley Burnette have dealt with Miller before, they smell a rat. But in trying to outsmart him, they nearly outsmart themselves. You'll have to see Man From Music Mountain to know what I mean.

The feminine leads are Carol Hughes and Sally Payne who have traveled west and bought those lots to open a beauty salon. It was nice that Republic Pictures thought of giving Smiley Burnette a girl as well for a change.

The title song is the only new song in the film that was not written by Gene Autry, but it's the best number in the film. It's not a bad B western with a topical event to center the plot around.

A group of scoundrels decide to sell worthless land to naive settlers with promises that the land would be electrified and they'd make tons of money with their businesses. Instead, they know the new dam won't bring electricity there and the mine they sell them is worthless. When Gene Autry discovers this, he tries to help--but no one believes him.

There were a ton of B-westerns made in the 40s and 50s, so it shouldn't be any surprise that the plot to 'Man From Music Mountain" was VERY familiar. In fact, it had been used a year earlier in "Gunsmoke Ranch" and a few years later in "Pioneers of the West"--both Three Mesquiteer films and all three films from Republic Pictures. Still, this Gene Autry outing is quite good and worth seeing.

In this installment, Gene is joined by Smiley Burnett--one of the few sidekicks who could and would often sing in the films as well as the leading man. Smiley's comic songs are nice and I was strangely intrigued by the couple who made music using bells--you just have to hear it for yourself. Additionally, Gene is in his element and it's hard not to enjoy yourself when watching this film.

Great songs by Gene and Ole Frog and a couple of beauty salon beauties in Carol Hughes and Sally Payne provide some great tunes of their own. Autry doing his best to slow down the scoundrels, well played by Ivan Miller and Ed Cassidy grub stakes the patsies until he can figure out what to do. Stalwart performer for Republic, Earle Dwire and some good stunt work make Man From Music Mountain a memorable Autry film.