Hittin' the Trail (1937)

This was one of the earlier uses of Robert Tansey's favorite plot (only the 3rd time he had trotted it out of the stable, but he got six more films out of it in later years) in which a ... See full summary »

Director:

Robert N. Bradbury

Writer:

Robert Emmett Tansey (screenplay)

Stars:

Tex Ritter, Jerry Bergh, Tommy Bupp

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tex Ritter	...	Tex Randall
Jerry Bergh	...	Jean Reed
Tommy Bupp	...	Billy Reed
Earl Dwire	...	James Clark
Charles King	...	Henchman Slug
'Snub' Pollard	...	Bartender (as Snub Pollard)
Ed Cassidy	...	Sheriff Grey (as Edward Cassidy)
Jack C. Smith	...	Dad Reed (as Jack Smith)
Archie Ricks	...	Tombstone Kid
Hank Worden	...	Sidekick Hank (as Heber Snow)
Ray Whitley	...	Guitar Player
The Range Ramblers	...	Ray Whitley's Band
The Phelps Brothers	...	Musicians (as The Phelps Bros.)
Ken Card	...	Banjo Player - Ray Whitley's Range Ramblers
The Texas Tornadoes	...	2nd Band Group (as Tex Ritter's Tornadoes)

Storyline

This was one of the earlier uses of Robert Tansey's favorite plot (only the 3rd time he had trotted it out of the stable, but he got six more films out of it in later years) in which a group of outlaws (wrongly jailed this time) are let out to join up with the good guys against a worse bunch of outlaws. And, not unusual in the B-western genre, most of the production crew wore several hats; director Robert N. Bradbury and supervisor Lindsley Parsons wrote a song for Tommy Bupp, one of the actually good kid actors of the time who proved real quick-like that singing wasn't his strong suit, while Robert Emmett Tansey worked three jobs under three names... Robert Emmett on story and screenplay, Robert Tansey as the production manager and Al Lane as the assistant director. And, for a change, music director Frank Sanucci actually earned a composers' credit as he did write a song, as opposed to the multi-times some source keeps insisting on crediting him as a composer when he was really the ...

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Plot Keywords:

horse | song | henchman | sheriff | jail | 

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Taglines:

THE HARD FIGHTIN', SMOOTH SINGIN' COWBOY STAR RIDES THE PRAIRIE PLAINS FOR THE BIG WILD HORSE ROUNDUP!...With His Pals---Little Tommy Bupp And The Marvelous Police Dog "Smokey."

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Music | Romance | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 April 1937 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hittin' the Trail for Home

Company Credits

Production Co:

Boots and Saddles Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

58 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Edited into Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch (1976)

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Soundtracks

"Blood on the Saddle"
(uncredited)
Written by Everett Cheatham
Sung by Tex Ritter, with Ray Whitley on Guitar

User Reviews

Mercifully short, Old-Tyme Oater

Tex Ritter gets arrested for murder and horse rustling but it's all a case of mistaken identity. The town's big-shot gets him off the hook and offers a horse-trading deal to Tex with the intention of double crossing him just like he did the Tombstone Kid.... the guy Tex was mistaken for. This western has some great old-timey musical numbers by Ray Whitely and his Range Ramblers and some not-so-great ones from Tex. There is also an annoying kid. This really put me off the movie which wasn't all that good to begin with, and yeah.... the kid sings a song. But, at just under an hour in length, it's not much of a commitment and some of the songs and singers make the whole thing delightfully dumb in a "so-bad-it's-marginally bearable" kind of way. You can get the dvd for about $6 from Alpha and the print quality is acceptable. I love that art deco "Grand National Pictures" animated clock logo at the start and finish of the movie. I gave it a 3 out of 10.