Search - The Gene Autry Collection: Public Cowboy No. 1 on DVD

"Gene Autry B-Western Series ... Public Cowboy No.1 (1937) .

J. Lovins | Missouri-USA | 07/20/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Republic Pictures present "PUBLIC COWBOY NO.1" (August 23, 1937) (61 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 Joseph Kane (Director), Sol C. Siegel (Producer), Oliver Drake (Screenwriter), Bernard McConville (Short Story Author), Jack A. Marta (Cinematographer), Les Orlebeck (Editor), George Reid (Editor) - - - - our story and plotline has Gene Autry meeting head on the cattle rustlers, support of his friend, the sheriff, he sets out to trap a gang of cattle thieves who employ radios, planes and refrigerator trucks in staging their profitable raids --- can Gene trace the stolen beef to local wholesale meat dealer Jack Shannon --- Frog gets wind of another cattle raid on his short-wave set --- Gene and his pals on horses, and the detectives in a car, head for the trouble spot --- thus a gunfight, the badmen are captured and Gene snags the ringleaders --- some wonderful tunes "WANDERERS (Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, and Extras), "THE WEST AIN'T WHAT IT USED TO BE" (Gene Autry), "HEEBIE JEEBIE BLUES" (Smiley Burnette), "THE WEST AIN'T WHAT IT USED TO BE" (Gene Autry), "I PICKED UP THE TRAIL TO YOUR HEART" (Gene Autry), "DEFECTIVE DETECTIVE FROM BROOKLYN" (Smiley Burnette), "OLD BUCK-A-ROO" (Gene Autry), "WANDERERS" (Gene Autry and Extras) - - - - Little known fact, Gene Autry collected poems and jokes.

the cast includes
Gene Autry ... Deputy Sheriff Gene Autry
Smiley Burnette ... Frog Millhouse
Ann Rutherford ... Helen Morgan
William Farnum ... Sheriff Matt Doniphon
Arthur Loft ... Jack Shannon
Frankie Marvin ... Deputy Stubby
House Peters Jr. ... Jim Shannon
James C. Morton ... Eustace P. Quackenbush
Maston Williams ... Thad Slaughter
Frank LaRue ... Justice (as Frank La Rue)
Milburn Morante ... Ezra - Newspaper Printer
Bob Burns ... Rancher
Champion ... Gene's Horse
Frank Ellis ... Rustler
Jack Ingram ... Larry
Hal Price ... Rancher Bidwell

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 "Those Great Cowboy Sidekicks" by David Rothel, available from Amazon and Empire Publishing. . . Empire Publishing presents "Best of the Badmen", by Boyd Magers, Bob Nareau and Bobby Copeland telling the inside story in depth about some of the bad guys, the heavy and the villain who rode against the law and the heroes of our B-Westerns era --- also a complete account of "Roy Barcroft:King of the Badmen", which is the title of Bobby J. Copeland's book on the life and times of "Republic Pictures Number One Villain" --- pick up your copy today.

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 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: 61 min on DVD ~ Image Video #3477 ~ (2/06/2007)"