Search - Gene Autry Collection: Colorado Sunset on DVD

"Gene Autry B-Western Series ... Colorado Sunset (1939) ...

J. Lovins | Missouri-USA | 07/27/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Republic Pictures present "COLORADO SUNSET" (July 31, 1939) (65 mins/B&W)
(Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) --- relive those thrilling days when the "First Singing Cowboy" Gene Autry took us down the dusty trails with hard riding and straight shooting hitting the bull's eye with excitement every time ... the Gene Autry series of B-Westerns were a staple of Saturday matinees in the 1930s and 1940s --- The Following Segments are from the "Melody Ranch Theater", which originally aired on the Nashville Network in 1987 --- Hosted by Gene and longtime sidekick Pat Buttram the program showcased many of Gene's classic motion pictures and featured personal anecdotes about how the films were made --- Information on costars and significant happenings in Gene's personal life and career. --- don't miss any of the Singing Cowboy's features loaded with action and songs that will leave you wanting more of Gene Autry's B-Western Adventures --- The sale of this DVD will further the educational and cultural mission of the renowned "Autry National Center in Los Angeles"

Under George Sherman (Director), Betty Burbridge (Screenwriter), Jack Natteford (Short Story Author), Stanley Roberts (Screenwriter), Luci Ward (Short Story Author), William Nobles (Cinematographer), Raoul Kranshaar (Composer (Music Score),William A. Berke (Associate Producer) - - - - our storyline Gene Autry thinks he has bought a cattle ranch; but it ends up being a dairy farm --- Villainous veterinarian Doc Blair (Robert Barrat) is terrorizing the local dairy farmers --- Besides that, Blair has the sheriff (William Farnum) killed so he can have one of his own crooks (Buster Crabbe)elected to wear the star --- Gene comes to the rescue and wins the election and continues to fight corruption on behalf of the dairy farmers - - - - some wonderful tunes "COLORADO SUNSET", (Studio Singers), "ON THE MERRY OLD WAY BACK HOME Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, and The CBS-KMBC Texas Rangers), "COWBOYS DON'T MILK COWS". (Smiley Burnette), "I WANT TO BE A COWBOY'S SWEETHEART", (Patsy Montana and The CBS-KMBC Texas Rangers), "POOR LITTLE DOGIE Gene Autry), "BEAUTIFUL ISLE OF SOMEWHERE Gene Autry and Extras), "AUTRY CAMPAIGN SONG" (Smiley Burnette and The CBS-KMBC Texas Rangers), "AUTRY CAMPAIGN SONG" (Smiley Burnette and Extras), "SEVEN YEARS WITH THE WRONG WOMAN" (Gene Autry), "COLORADO SUNSET" (Gene Autry, June Storey and Extras) - - - - some fun facts, Gene always preferred his sponsor's product, Wrigley's Doublemint Gum, to smoking.

the cast includes
Gene Autry ... Gene Autry
Smiley Burnette ... Frog Millhouse
June Storey ... Carol Haines
Barbara Pepper ... Ginger Bixby
Buster Crabbe ... Dave Haines (as Larry "Buster" Crabbe)
Robert Barrat ... Doc Blair
Patsy Montana ... Patsy
Purnell Pratt ... Mr. Hall
William Farnum ... Sheriff Glenn
Kermit Maynard ... Rufus Drake
Jack Ingram ... Clanton
Elmo Lincoln ... Dairyman
Frankie Marvin ... Ranch hand
Clarence Hartman ... Band member
Fred Burns ... Radio listener
Budd Buster ... Man who spots outlaws
Ed Cassidy ... Dairyman
Gomer Cool ... Band member
The Texas Rangers ... Musicians (as The CBS-KMBC Texas Rangers)
Robert 'Captain Bob' Crawford ... KCBS-Texas Rangers Band Member
Edward 'Tookie' Cronenbold ... KCBS-Texas Rangers Band Member
Francis 'Irish' Mahaney ... KCBS-Texas Rangers Band Member
Roderic 'Dave' May ... KCBS-Texas Rangers Band Member
Al Taylor ... Henchman
Slim Whitaker ... Cigar recipient
Francis Ford ... The drunk
Jack Kirk ... Townsman

BIOS:
1. Gene Autry
Date of Birth: 29 September 1907 - Near Tioga, Texas
Date of Death: 2 October 1998 - Studio City, Los Angeles, California

Special footnote, Orvon Gene Autry was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television --- Discovered by film producer Nat Levine in 1934, he and Burnette made their film debut for Mascot Pictures Corp. "In Old Santa Fe" as part of a singing cowboy quartet; he was then given the starring role by Levine in 1935 in the 12-part serial "The Phantom Empire" --- Shortly thereafter, Mascot was absorbed by the formation of Republic Pictures Corp. and Autry went along to make a further 44 films up to 1940, all B westerns in which he played under his own name, rode his horse Champion, had Burnette as his regular sidekick and had many opportunities to sing in each film --- Autry became the top Western star at the box-office by 1937, reaching his national peak of popularity from 1940 to 1942. His Gene Autry Flying "A" Ranch Rodeo show debuted in 1940 --- Gene Autry is the only celebrity to have five stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one in each of the five categories maintained by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce --- Radio, Films, Recordings, Television and Live Theater.

2. Smiley Burnette
Date of Birth: 18 March 1911 - Summum, Illinois
Date of Death: 16 February 1967 - Encino, California

Second special footnote, Lester Alvin (Smiley) Burnette an American singer-songwriter who could play as many as 100 different musical instruments, was a successful comedy actor in Western films over three decades --- The popularity of Burnette's Frog Millhouse character, with his trademark floppy black hat, was such that when Autry left for World War II service he did sidekicks duties with Eddie Dew, Sunset Carson and Bob Livingston, plus nine other films with Roy Rogers. After leaving Republic Pictures in 1944, Burnette became the sidekick to Charles Starrett at Columbia Pictures in the long Durango Kid series. Starrett starred in the series from 1944 until 1952, and that pairing resulted in more than 50 films. After the Starrett series was over, Burnette joined Autry for his final six films, all released by Columbia Pictures in 1953.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
1. Reminiscing with Gene Autry and Pat Buttram at the "Melody Ranch Theater"
2. "Don't Touch That Dial", Gene Autry is on the air - excerpts from the Original "Melody Ranch Radio Show"
3. Production and Publicity Stills
4. Horseplay
5. Poster and lobby Card Art
6. Trivia and Movie Facts
7. Original Press Kit Material

Check out a new book from Empire Publishing - "GENE AUTRY WESTERNS" (Hardcover) - by author Boyd Magers, like no other book on Gene Autry --- all of Gene's Mascot, Republic and Columbia westerns included, as well as his half-hour TV Episodes --- each segment contains the release date on each film ... major production credits ... complete cast (including character played) ... all songs included, songwriter and who performed them in the film ... running time of each film ... dates of the filming ... bios on the cast and major players (Smiley, Pat Buttram, Cass County Boys, Herbert J. Yates, directors, leading ladies, songwriters and various heavies, etc.) ... locations that were used ... budgets and negative cost ... stunt people involved ... analysis and synopsis on each film ... notes and comments (including film and cast background info, salaries paid, working titles, etc) ... comments from Gene and many other cast members on each film ... theater exhibitors comments at the time of the films release ...this tribute was written from the heart and it shows.

Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc), Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") and Trevor Scott (Down Under DVD Com) as they have rekindled my interest once again for Film Noir, B-Westerns and Serials --- looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s & '40s and B-Westerns ... order your copy now from Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on DVD --- stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with deadly adventure --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out Image Entertainment where they are experts in releasing B-Westerns --- all my heroes have been cowboys!

Total Time: 65 min on DVD ~ Image Video #2181 ~ (4/25/2006)"