Red River Valley (1936)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

B. Reeves Eason

Writers:

Stuart E. McGowan (story) &
Dorrell McGowan (story)

Release Date:

2 March 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

Your Singing Son of the Saddle Braves Dynamite Death to Clear Himself of the Bandit Brand!

Plot:

Gene and Frog set out to find out who has been causing the accidents at a dam construction site.

Plot Keywords:

Horse | Dynamite | Hideout | Gunshot Wound | Gunfire

Cast

Gene Autry	...	Gene Autry
Smiley Burnette	...	Frog Millhouse
Frances Grant	...	Mary Baxter
Boothe Howard	...	Steve Conway
Jack Kennedy	...	Mike - Train Engineer
Champion	...	Gene's Horse
Sam Flint	...	George Baxter
George Chesebro	...	Bull Dural - Conway's Henchman
Charles King	...	Sam - Bull's Dupe
Eugene Jackson	...	Iodine
Edward Hearn	...	Sheriff Ed
Frank LaRue	...	Banker Hartley Moore
Ken Cooper	...	Henchman Long
Frankie Marvin	...	Henchman Becker (as Frank Marvin)

Also Known As:

Man of the Frontier (USA) (TV title)

Runtime:

USA:59 min (2004 restoration) | 54 min (edited version) (re-edited version) | 60 min (original version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor High Fidelity Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #2590) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Laguna Dam, Yuma, Arizona, USA

Company:

Republic Pictures (I)

Trivia:

There are over 100 songs with the title "Red River Valley," virtually all based on the public domain, 19th century version that is often played by country-western artists and in movies. It is almost impossible to pinpoint any one version, but in this case the version used was published in connection with this movie (a picture of Gene Autry and scenes from the movie on its cover) and was written by Nick Manoloff. The music sounds identical to the traditional version, but the lyrics are slightly modified.

Quotes:

Gene Autry: If you walk out now, you'll ruin the valley. Everybody will lose their homes, farms. You'll get your money! Baxter's arranging for a loan now and he'll be here to tell you himself.

Movie Connections:

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

Soundtrack:

Keep Goin' Little Pony

Singing cowboy Gene Autry enlivens an otherwise dull B-grade Western.

Gene Autry is essentially the only reason to watch Red River Valley (aka Man of the Frontier). He's a pretty good actor, an even better singer, and looks good in his cowboy costume. He's an interesting person to watch. Unfortunately, he's about the only thing to recommend this film. I found the whole affair dull and, quite frankly, uninteresting. Granted, the makers of this film weren't trying to create a masterpiece. It's pretty clear that their primary objective was to quickly and cheaply make a picture with a story that would appeal to most people and that would exploit the vocal abilities of their star. Autry doesn't arrive onto the scene until several minutes into the film. When he does, he waits around for twice as long until he gets to sing. Why wait so long to have him get back to doing what he does best? I don't know. As for the rest of the cast, few of them aspire to even slightly memorable portrayals of their roles. Smiley Burnette is probably the only exception to this. The townspeople, the judge, the romantic interest, all of them are totally forgettable in their roles. Not having see any of Autry's other western vehicles, I can't honestly say that I have anything to compare this film to. This is just my first impression. Still, despite it's numerous flaws, it's still fun to watch Autry do his stuff on screen.