Search - Song of the Gringo on DVD

The film debut of "America's Most Beloved Cowboy"

Daniel Jolley | Shelby, North Carolina USA | 10/01/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Along about 1936, this fresh-faced cowboy arrived in Hollywood with a guitar, a troubadour's voice, and a manner that epitomized "the good guy." His name was Tex Ritter, and he had already recorded some good old western songs, making him a natural choice for Hollywood's newest singing cowboy. Song of the Gringo was his first film.

Ritter plays a lawman named Tex who is sent out to get to the bottom of a mystery. It seems that miners in a certain locale keep turning up dead, leaving their mines in the hands of a couple of local businessmen. Tex arrives in the guise of a bank robber hiding out from the sheriff and his posse in the home of Don Esteban Valle. There he meets up with Lolita, Esteban's lovely daughter. She takes a shine to him, which doesn't set too well with Esteban's crooked partner, who has already brought Tex into his little gang of hombres. Tex proves himself trustworthy, but things go awry at Lolita's birthday celebration, leaving Tex on trial for killing two men and attempting to kill another. As they say, though, murder will out in the end.

Tex does a lot of singing and strumming in this movie, including a very entertaining version of "Rye Whiskey." It's easy to see how he caught on with audiences and went on to become one of America's favorite singing cowboys. Song of the Gringo is a B-western, of course, but it features a surprisingly good cast (including Joan Woodbury as Lolita and Fuzzy Knight as the constantly comical Slim Zony) and holds itself together pretty well plot-wise. Not only is this a must-see for the simple fact it marks Tex Ritter's film debut, it's a pretty doggoned good Western in its own right."