O Cowboy Cantor

1936's "The Singing Cowboy" was a notable early effort from Republic's Gene Autry, with the added dimension of television in its infancy along with its nearly a dozen tunes. Smiley Burnette is back as Frog Millhouse, here distracted by bad luck omens (he carries a horse shoe that's more trouble than it's worth), leading to the opening murder, as Lon Chaney's Martin shoots his partner to gain ownership of the ranch, and the hidden gold mine that only he and his henchmen know about. Unfortunately, the ranch has been left to the dead man's young daughter, Gene her legal guardian, in need of $10,000 for an operation that will enable her to walk again. While Gene and his band become television performers under the banner 'The Covered Wagon Coffee Caravan,' the crooked Martin seeks to make certain that their bank loan is turned down. For Chaney, he remained stuck in an endless rut of villainous roles in his fifth year in Hollywood, preferable to his next two years as a Fox bit player, preceding his breakout success in "Of Mice and Men." Lois Wilde is a fetching heroine, Ann Gillis the child actress just starting out as competition for Shirley Temple.