Video Link: Tex Ritter, "Sam Hall" ("Song of the Gringo", 1936)

Lone Pine Film Festival is Online This Year

 For those of you who don't know, Lone Pine California has a popular filming spot for Hollywood movies since the silent era (for an idea of what films were shot here I direct you to this link). While a wide variety of movies have been shot, it has especially been a favorite spot for shooting westerns. Because of this each year, Lone Pine hosts a film festival of western movies. Because of Covid-19, the festival will be held online this year, but you still have to buy tickets. It will be held October 9-11th. If you get busy this is no trouble as all the films and interviews will be available all day, each day of the festival. 

The list of films is as follows.

MACKINTOSH & T.J. (1975) with Roy Rogers

THREE ON THE TRAIL (1936) with Hopalong Cassidy

PHANTOM OF THE RANGE (1936) with Tom Tyler

GUNSMOKE RANCH (1937) with the Three Mesquiteers

HELLFIRE AUSTIN (1932) with Ken Maynard

DANGER TRAILS (1935) with Big Boy Williams

RIDERS OF THE FRONTIER (1939) with Tex Ritter

WEST OF NEVADA (1936) with Rex Bell

Special guests include: Cheryl Rogers Barnett (daughter of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans), Richard W. Bann, William Wellman Jr., Billy King (Hopalong Cassidy's 12 year old side kick in the movies), Stella Stevens, Geri Jewell, Diamond Fransworth.

For more information and to buy tickets click here. 


-Michael J. Ruhland 

Cowboy Church #8

Hello my friends and welcome back to Cowboy Church.

Our musical selection begins with the Sons of the Pioneers performing Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. This recording is from 1937 when Roy Rogers was still a member of the group before going solo a year later. Next up comes Roy Rogers and Dale Evans performing Just a Closer Walk to Thee off their 1962 album The Bible Tells Me So. After this comes Tex Ritter performing his 1948 single Deck of Cards written by T. Texas Tyler. This is one of the two Tex Ritter songs to reach the top ten on the charts in 1948, the other being Rye Whisky. Next comes Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash performing a great gospel song and love song called Far Side Banks of Jordon. This song always gets me emotional because it reminds me of my grandparents. Following this is Hank Williams performing The Old Country Church on the Mothers Best radio show in 1951. This is one of the earliest songs Hank learned. It was written by James D. Vaughan, one of the earliest country artists and one of the founders of country gospel. Next comes Gene Autry's 1949 recording of an underrated gospel song, Bible On the Table. Last comes Kris Kristofferson and Larry Gatlin performing Help Me. This song was written by Larry Gatlin and hearing it helped bring Kris Kristofferson to Christ. This version is from Kris Kristofferson's 1972 album Jesus Was a Capricorn, one of the best country albums of the 1970's.

Here is a page from a 1937 issue of Boxoffice Magazine advertising the Tex Ritter movie, Sing Cowboy Sing (1937).

And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward. Matthew 10:42Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed. 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 1 John 4:8The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. Exodus 14:14

Thanks for joining me. Happy trails to you until we meet again.



-Michael J. Ruhland 



     

Overlooked Classics: Ridin' the Cherokee Trail (1941)

I have made several posts about Gene Autry and Roy Rogers on this blog. However these were far from being the only singing cowboys in the movies in the 1930's and 40's. One of the best singing cowboys was Tex Ritter. From 1936 to 1945, Tex stared in a whole slew of B westerns that featured fantastic country music, fast paced action and corny humor. A great example of this is Ridin' the Cherokee Trail, a movie that is simply pure fun.

The storyline of this movie like in many of these B westerns is very simple. Tex and Slim Andrews are Texas Rangers. A notorious outlaw (Forrest Taylor) has been hiding in the Cherokee Strip so the law can't catch him. Tex and Slim pretend to be fellow outlaws so that they can lure this man over into Texas where they can legally arrest him.

With this very simple story, this movie gives us all the entertainment we could want from a film like this. This film offers some great songs. As well as Tex performing some of these songs we also get some performed by the country band, The Tennessee Ramblers, who also worked with another singing cowboy in the movies, Gene Autry (in the films Ride Ranger Ride (1936), Yodelin' Kid From Pine Ridge (1937)). They were a very talented band and it is a delight to hear them here. Two of the members of that band (Jack Gillette and Harry Blair) wrote the majority of the songs used in this film. Costar Slim Andrews wrote two of the songs himself and cowrote one with Tex Ritter. This simple story leads to a fantastic action filled climax that is simply a heck of a lot of fun. Another treat in this movie is its sense of humor. Slim Andrews is the comedy relief in this movie (a role he played in quite a few Tex Ritter movies), and he is quite good. For instance him pretending to be a tough guy in the bar definitely made me giggle. One of the best scenes of humor in this movie though is when Tex tries to turn a classic piece played by the villain into a cowboy song (one he claims to have wrote himself).

This movie made its premiere on February 24, 1941 at the Tryon in Charlotte, North Carolina. At this premiere The Tennessee Ramblers gave a live performance before the movie.  

The film's director was the very capable Spencer Gordon Bennett. At this time he was directing many B westerns, and some very fun ones.

No one would ever call this movie high art but it certainly is top notch entertainment.

-Michael J. Ruhland