Search - Great American Western V.5, The on DVD

Back In The Saddle With Gene

L. Shirley | fountain valley, ca United States | 02/26/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Gene Autry to the rescue! Not once, not twice, but 4 times on Vol 5 of The Great American Western Series(single volume edition). And he sings his way through it all. Autry fans, kick back and enjoy..you are in for a real treat! Three from the thirties and one from the fourties, has our singing cowboy in all kind of fixes, and fighting all kinds of bad guys...And of course there always a lady to steal his heart as well.

"Riders of the Whistling Pines" from 1949 is up first. Gene stars with "Champion"(yes - Champion gets top billing too!). He's(Gene) a crop duster who gets framed by some mighty bad dudes who claim he is poisoning the cattle as well.Gene must stop the bad guys and prove his innocence. Jimmy Lloyd, and Patricia White co-star. And who's picture is that I spied in the plane, could it be Marilyn? Action packed. Directed by Jon English

From 1937 "The Big Show" finds our guy Gene playing a dual role. He plays a famous cowboy star(what a stretch!), and also himself as his own stunt man. Still with me? Okay, so, when the "star" is no where to be found and is due to make an appearance in Dallas' Texas Centennial, the stuntman reluctantly takes his place. This leads to many complications, especially by some mobsters who mistake him for the real star..uh-oh! Sidekick Smiley Burnette is part of the fun, and Kay Hughes and Sally Payne co-star. Directed by Mack Wright.

Two from Director Joe Kane include "Springtime in the Rockies" from 1937 and "Boots and Saddles" also from 1937. In "Springtime", a lady rancher wannabe has Gene playing a harmless prank, that turns into some real trouble when some dirty mean land grubbers get in on the act. It's up to Gene to get it all worked out. "Boots and Saddles" has a young boy who is an English Earl, traveling to the West to see a ranch he has inherited. The boy is a bit of a snob at first, but Gene fixes that and even convinces him to love the land, but what would the story be if there wasn't some more land grubbers in on the act and causing trouble. But of course, our guy Gene is on the case! Smiley Burnette is there with Gene in both these films.

The films are old, and are not pristine. There are times when they look really good, and times they show their age. There isn't anything to take away from the enjoyment of the view. All four films are on one side(Over four hours of Gene, and you never have to get off the couch!), there's some nice artwork of him on the front of the case. Usually Platinum disc enhances all the films in 5.1, and although the case says it is, my DVD player decoded it in 2.0(I have viewed many of these GAW DVDs, and that is a first). However, the sound was pretty good, considering the age of these films. This single edition Vol 5 is also sold in a 2 pack edition, with a Roy Rogers Volume of GAW called: The Great American Western, Vol. 3: Gene Autry, Roy Rogers. Just enter that name into DVD search to get to it.

So Get Back in the Saddle Again, and sing along and ride along with Gene, as he solves the problems of the West! No frills, but... Lots of fun, Lots of fighting, lots of singing!And Champion too!
Gene..we miss ya!
Saddle Up and Enjoy...Laurie
"