This is one of Gene Autry's most easily obtained films, but if you pick up a recently made copy, you're likely to see Roy Rogers with equal billing on the video or DVD sleeve. It was only one of two times that the cowboy stars appeared in a film together, and since it was Gene's picture for Republic Studios, Roy appears uncredited as one of the Sons of the Pioneers. Actually, he might have been between names as it were. Born Leonard Slye, his name with the Pioneers was Dick Weston before he became Gene's replacement at Republic as Roy Rogers.
Smiley Burnette is on hand as Autry's sidekick here as he often was, his character was named Frog owing to that deep, low falsetto he sometimes uses. Perhaps the most unique casting decision of the film, after the fact of course, was that of Lon Chaney Jr. as a henchman for Martin Simms (Cornelius Keefe). It would be another five years or so before "The Wolf Man" would establish Chaney's name as a horror icon, but you know, he appeared in quite a few Westerns in his career, and some quite good ones at that, including 1952's "High Noon". You'll also catch him as a guest in a handful of classic TV Westerns as his career was winding down.
As far as the story goes, "The Old Corral" is one of those modern Westerns where the Old West meets a developing America with automobiles and electrical appliances in plain sight; I thought it was pretty cool to see a General Electric marquee during an opening traffic scene. I wonder if that was a little bit of early product placement, or just a consequence of being in the right place at the right time.
The plot has a story loosely built around a witness to a murder back East, with singer Eleanor Spencer (Hope Manning) attempting to maintain a low profile in an out of the way town called Turquoise City where Gene is sheriff. Actually, there are two sets of bad guys in the picture, with gangster Scarlotti (John Bradford) chasing Spencer cross country to eliminate her as a witness, while Simms and Garland (Chaney) try to ingratiate themselves with the singer in order to cash in with Scarlotti.
You know, I'll never be able to figure out why the shooting starts in a lot of these early 'B' oaters. For example, when Scarlotti's gang takes off in their car chasing Simms and Spencer, one of the gangsters turns and shoots at Gene during the Turquoise Day festivities. What would have been the motivation for that? - he could have hurt somebody!
Here's something to think about. When Scarlotti arrived at Turquoise City, he had five henchmen along with him. During the final confrontation with the good guys, Smiley shoots the driver, one is run over by the cattle stampede, and another is shown being shot and falling down (Smiley again). Presumably, those villains are as good as dead, but at the very end, all six are shown in jail together! No math majors on this set.
But I guess that's what made up the fun in these early films, with not much thought given to logic and reasoning. That, and a healthy smattering of cowboy crooners belting out the tunes. Gene was actually pretty generous in sharing the singing assignments here. While he handles his share, Roy and the Pioneers knock out a couple as well, and Smiley shows his versatility by playing an accordion and harmonica at the same time, while using his feet to bang a xylophone! Oh yeah, Gene and Roy both yodel too!
Smiley Burnette is on hand as Autry's sidekick here as he often was, his character was named Frog owing to that deep, low falsetto he sometimes uses. Perhaps the most unique casting decision of the film, after the fact of course, was that of Lon Chaney Jr. as a henchman for Martin Simms (Cornelius Keefe). It would be another five years or so before "The Wolf Man" would establish Chaney's name as a horror icon, but you know, he appeared in quite a few Westerns in his career, and some quite good ones at that, including 1952's "High Noon". You'll also catch him as a guest in a handful of classic TV Westerns as his career was winding down.
As far as the story goes, "The Old Corral" is one of those modern Westerns where the Old West meets a developing America with automobiles and electrical appliances in plain sight; I thought it was pretty cool to see a General Electric marquee during an opening traffic scene. I wonder if that was a little bit of early product placement, or just a consequence of being in the right place at the right time.
The plot has a story loosely built around a witness to a murder back East, with singer Eleanor Spencer (Hope Manning) attempting to maintain a low profile in an out of the way town called Turquoise City where Gene is sheriff. Actually, there are two sets of bad guys in the picture, with gangster Scarlotti (John Bradford) chasing Spencer cross country to eliminate her as a witness, while Simms and Garland (Chaney) try to ingratiate themselves with the singer in order to cash in with Scarlotti.
You know, I'll never be able to figure out why the shooting starts in a lot of these early 'B' oaters. For example, when Scarlotti's gang takes off in their car chasing Simms and Spencer, one of the gangsters turns and shoots at Gene during the Turquoise Day festivities. What would have been the motivation for that? - he could have hurt somebody!
Here's something to think about. When Scarlotti arrived at Turquoise City, he had five henchmen along with him. During the final confrontation with the good guys, Smiley shoots the driver, one is run over by the cattle stampede, and another is shown being shot and falling down (Smiley again). Presumably, those villains are as good as dead, but at the very end, all six are shown in jail together! No math majors on this set.
But I guess that's what made up the fun in these early films, with not much thought given to logic and reasoning. That, and a healthy smattering of cowboy crooners belting out the tunes. Gene was actually pretty generous in sharing the singing assignments here. While he handles his share, Roy and the Pioneers knock out a couple as well, and Smiley shows his versatility by playing an accordion and harmonica at the same time, while using his feet to bang a xylophone! Oh yeah, Gene and Roy both yodel too!
