Melody Ranch (1940)

Cast

Complete credited cast:
	Gene Autry	...	Gene Autry
	Jimmy Durante	...	Cornelius J. Courtney
	Ann Miller	...	Julie Shelton
	Barton MacLane	...	Mark Wildhack
	Barbara Jo Allen	...	Veronica Whipple (as Barbara Allen 'Vera Vague')
	George 'Gabby' Hayes	...	Pop Laramie
	Jerome Cowan	...	Tommy Summerville
	Mary Lee	...	Penny Curtis
	Joe Sawyer	...	Jasper Wildhack (as Joseph Sawyer)
	Horace McMahon	...	Bud Wildhack (as Horace MacMahon)
	Clarence Wilson	...	Judge Henderson
	William 'Billy' Benedict	...	Slim (as William Benedict)

Storyline

With a longer-than-usual running time on original release and booked and sold to the exhibitors as a "Gene Autry Special", which Republic would do once a year from 1939-1943 in order to get higher rates than on the regular series entries from the theatre owners. Hey, Jimmy Durante and Ann Miler cost more than Smiley Burnette and June Storey. This "special",(which alternates between tongue-in-cheek and for-real and hard to distinguish which is which since there was very little for-real in most of the fantasy-land settings Autry's Republic films were laid in), finds Gene returning to his hometown of Torpedo as guest of honor at the Frontier Days Celebraion, Once there, he encounters his childhood enemies, the Wildhack brothers (Barton MacLane, Joe Sawyer and Horace MacMahon in pecking order), now the local gangsters (and playing it with relish.) The Wildhacks own a saloon next door to the school... Written by Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>  

Details

Company Credits

Technical Specs

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