The Old Corral (1936/I)

Director:

Joseph Kane

Writers:

Bernard McConville (story)
Sherman L. Lowe (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

21 December 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Musical | Western

Tagline:

AN EASTERN GANG MEETS A WESTERN SHERIFF (original ad - all caps)

Plot:

As the sheriff of a small western town, Autry sings his way into a relationship with Eleanor, a singer...

Plot Keywords:

Sheriff | Murder | Gangster | Saloon | Singer

Cast

Gene Autry	...	Sheriff Gene Autry
Smiley Burnette	...	Deputy Frog Millhouse
Irene Manning	...	Eleanor Spencer, aka Jane Edwards (as Hope Manning)
Sons of the Pioneers	...	O'Keefe Brothers
Champion	...	Gene's Horse
Cornelius Keefe	...	Martin Simms
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Garland - Simms Henchman
John Bradford	...	Mike Scarlotti
Milburn Morante	...	Clem Snodgrass
Abe Lefton	...	Abe - Rodeo Announcer
Merrill McCormick	...	Joe (Scarlotti henchman)
Charles Sullivan	...	Frank - Scarlotti Henchman
Buddy Roosevelt	...	Tony - Scarlotti Driver
Lynton Brent	...	Dunn - Gambler
Frankie Marvin	...	Wife-beating Prisoner

Also Known As:

Texas Serenade (UK)

Runtime:

54 min (edited version) | 57 min (original version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #2806)

Company:

Republic Pictures

Trivia:

Just 16 months after this film was released, Roy Rogers , who appeared here as one of "The Sons Of The Pioneers", would star in his first feature Under Western Stars (1938).

Movie Connections:

Featured in Gene Autry: White Hat, Silver Screen (2007) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Mexican Hat Dance

A Historic Cowboy Meeting

The Old Corral starts out a whole lot like the Bing Crosby Paramount classic, She Loves Me Not. If you'll remember chorus girl Miriam Hopkins witnesses a gangland murder and flees from the mob. Here it's Irene Manning who's a nightclub entertainer who sees John Bradford do the same thing and flees out west.

Well, those big city gangsters are way out of their element when they're tangling with Gene Autry. Of course not everyone in the west is as friendly as Autry. There's Cornelius Keefe and Lon Chaney, Jr. who recognize who Manning is before Autry does. They own the local saloon and under the guise of giving her a break, hire Manning to entertain, but in the mean time call Bradford hoping to curry favor with the gangland boss.

If that's not enough sheriff Gene has to contend with the Sons of the Pioneers and their lead singer, one Leonard Slye who play a brother singing group who take to being outlaws as a way to gain notoriety and a radio contract. Of course in two years that lead singer left the group and started putting out his own westerns for Republic and Herbert J. Yates under the name of Roy Rogers.

I agree with a previous reviewer that Manning's soprano and Autry's western twang don't exactly mesh. It might be why Gene mostly didn't go in for singing co-stars throughout his career, unlike his famous rival at Republic. Of course Gene didn't marry a co-star the way Roy did.

The scene where Manning is trying to make a go of saloon singing and falling on her derrière until Gene helps out is reminiscent of Jeanette MacDonald trying to sing for her supper in Rose Marie. Jeanette had a co-star though who was more suitable to her voice.

The Old Corral is kind of dopey, especially the bit about The Sons of the Pioneers. Still it's a great bit of history, an historic meeting between Gene Autry and Roy Rogers.