Pleasing western fare has Autry and "Frog" holded up in a showboat (a change of scene, which seems to have been the key to Republic's mid period Autrys). They're trying to discover who robbed the bank with all their money in it -- the girl singer (Lee, enchanting as usual) whose father helped the robbers is their only lead, and she's reluctant to help. Some good songs, including the title song by Jule Styne, and some fairly authentic showboat sets liven things up with the usual chases and fistfights.
7 Reviews
Gene Autry adds to the excitement of a showboat.
michaelRokeefe7 May 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Pleasant Autry vehicle. A showboat comes to town and a couple of bad guys use a parade to hide the fact they are robbing the bank. Helping the scoundrels is the showboat clown Pop Evans(Byron Foulger). The loot is left on the boat and Pop wants his daughter Patsy(Mary Lee) to bring him the money on another stop along the river. Gene and Frog(Smiley Burnette)want to stay close to Patsy for hopes she will help solve the crime...good luck...she'll sing and dance, but not willingly rat on her father. Standout songs: "Be Honest With Me" and the title tune "Ridin' on a Rainbow".
The cast also features: Carol Adams, Ralf Harolde, Ferris Taylor and Anthony Warde.
The cast also features: Carol Adams, Ralf Harolde, Ferris Taylor and Anthony Warde.
Gene Autry...spending much of the film on a showboat instead of on his horse!
planktonrules5 August 2020
After watching "Ridin' on a Rainbow" , I felt a bit disappointed. While I liked the change of venue you get in the film, I felt there were just too many songs and the female lead a bit hard to understand. Perhaps it's just me...but I wasn't very impressed by this one.
The story begins with some crooks robbing a bank and killing the bank president. They did this during a show being put on by a showboat and they chose this time for their villainy because so many people in town were at the event. Their accomplice is Pop Evans...and because he lives on the showboat, they give him the money to hold. As for Gene (Gene Autry), he nearly catches the two killers. But he's not going to give up an he decides to join the showboat in order to keep an eye on Evans' annoying daughter (Mary Lee)...as it's obvious she knows more than she's admitting.
There were two major problems with the film. While I enjoy listening to Gene Autry sing, there were just to many other songs by folks on the showboat...such that it felt more like a musical than a western. Second, Mary Lee was often very good in these films (she made quite a few with Autry), here she is confusing....acting petulant and annoying when her father was responsible for a lot of misery. Making her a bit of a sociopath was, in hindsight, a mistake. Overall, not a bad film but clearly a second or third-rate film from Gene...watchable but disappointing.
The story begins with some crooks robbing a bank and killing the bank president. They did this during a show being put on by a showboat and they chose this time for their villainy because so many people in town were at the event. Their accomplice is Pop Evans...and because he lives on the showboat, they give him the money to hold. As for Gene (Gene Autry), he nearly catches the two killers. But he's not going to give up an he decides to join the showboat in order to keep an eye on Evans' annoying daughter (Mary Lee)...as it's obvious she knows more than she's admitting.
There were two major problems with the film. While I enjoy listening to Gene Autry sing, there were just to many other songs by folks on the showboat...such that it felt more like a musical than a western. Second, Mary Lee was often very good in these films (she made quite a few with Autry), here she is confusing....acting petulant and annoying when her father was responsible for a lot of misery. Making her a bit of a sociopath was, in hindsight, a mistake. Overall, not a bad film but clearly a second or third-rate film from Gene...watchable but disappointing.
"And I talked those boys into putting the money where it was safe! "
classicsoncall13 April 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Well "Ridin' on a Rainbow" certainly sounds a lot more romantic than 'Ridin' on a Steamboat'. Right after singing the title song shortly into the picture, Gene explains that that's every cowboy's dream. So I thought that was kind of cool.
With the offbeat venue, this isn't your typical B Western with frequent horse chases and shootouts with the bad guys, although there's a sampling of each. Gene Autry is faced with the prospect of recovering a pile of cash his rancher friends entrusted to him as the head of the Cattlemen's Association, after the bank in which they deposited their money was robbed. Actually, I found it a bit unbelievable that the cattlemen would forego their personal plans just to save it all for a rainy day like Gene suggested. It's a good thing the ranchers' wives weren't around to give Gene the old what for.
Given the character of young Patsy Evans (Mary Lee), I'm surprised the story had her father as an accomplice to the bad guys. She and her mentor Sally (Carol Adams) were completely above board in their integrity, and the idea of one big score by Pop Evans (Byron Foulger) to provide for his daughter seemed a bit of a stretch to me. Then, when his fellow bandits wound up killing the bank employee, it appeared that Pop was dug in too deep to have his innocence proclaimed once the bad guys got caught. Which made it just a bit too convenient when the baddies did away with Pop before the story ended.
With the story taking place on a showboat offering a variety of entertainment, the picture has it's usual round of musical offerings for Gene, although Smiley Burnette doesn't get to solo this time out. Carol Adams displays some fancy footwork in a couple of tap dance routines, and Mary Lee gets an opportunity to display her singing talent as well in a couple of numbers. As usual with an Autry film, Gene puts away the outlaws for a happy ending, but the idea that Mary Lee would join in the closing number right after her father's murder seemed like a bit of a disconnect to me.
With the offbeat venue, this isn't your typical B Western with frequent horse chases and shootouts with the bad guys, although there's a sampling of each. Gene Autry is faced with the prospect of recovering a pile of cash his rancher friends entrusted to him as the head of the Cattlemen's Association, after the bank in which they deposited their money was robbed. Actually, I found it a bit unbelievable that the cattlemen would forego their personal plans just to save it all for a rainy day like Gene suggested. It's a good thing the ranchers' wives weren't around to give Gene the old what for.
Given the character of young Patsy Evans (Mary Lee), I'm surprised the story had her father as an accomplice to the bad guys. She and her mentor Sally (Carol Adams) were completely above board in their integrity, and the idea of one big score by Pop Evans (Byron Foulger) to provide for his daughter seemed a bit of a stretch to me. Then, when his fellow bandits wound up killing the bank employee, it appeared that Pop was dug in too deep to have his innocence proclaimed once the bad guys got caught. Which made it just a bit too convenient when the baddies did away with Pop before the story ended.
With the story taking place on a showboat offering a variety of entertainment, the picture has it's usual round of musical offerings for Gene, although Smiley Burnette doesn't get to solo this time out. Carol Adams displays some fancy footwork in a couple of tap dance routines, and Mary Lee gets an opportunity to display her singing talent as well in a couple of numbers. As usual with an Autry film, Gene puts away the outlaws for a happy ending, but the idea that Mary Lee would join in the closing number right after her father's murder seemed like a bit of a disconnect to me.
Better than average Autry vehicle showcases Mary Lee's talent
Tom_Barrister30 October 2011
This isn't your typical Autry movie. This one focuses more on music, comedy, and characterization than on action. The storyline/plot is scant and only makes an occasional appearance to justify its existence; it's there mainly to provide a framework in which to fit everything else. The movie doesn't feature as much action as most of the other Autry offerings; it focuses more on entertainment.
The movie offers plenty of entertainment. There are healthy servings of several songs, the usual Smiley Burnette comedic relief, and even a tap sequence by the talented Carol Adams.
What sets this movie apart from the others is that Mary Lee is given more opportunity to showcase both her singing and acting talents, and she does well with those. If you're a Mary Lee fan, this is the movie you want to see.
This movie is shown occasionally on the Encore Western channel, and you can also find it on Tubi. It's a must-see for Autry fans.
The movie offers plenty of entertainment. There are healthy servings of several songs, the usual Smiley Burnette comedic relief, and even a tap sequence by the talented Carol Adams.
What sets this movie apart from the others is that Mary Lee is given more opportunity to showcase both her singing and acting talents, and she does well with those. If you're a Mary Lee fan, this is the movie you want to see.
This movie is shown occasionally on the Encore Western channel, and you can also find it on Tubi. It's a must-see for Autry fans.
Autry Off The Trail On The Showboat
frank412221 June 2020
Ridin' The Rainbow you'll find plenty of great tunes by Gene Autry and Mary Lee. Ol' Frog and Jimmy Conlin give the great comic relief and Carol Adams showcases her song and dance skills with amazing tapdancing. The action starts when the villains rob the bank with the show's clown, who is prolific performer Byron Foulger. Autry is in hot pursuit from the range to the showboat. The action heats up with George M. Cohan's favorite, Georgia Caine and Captain 'Lijah Bartlett (Ferris Taylor). As the plot thickens, there's wonderful music and dance numbers which makes a very entertaining show.
Deeper than most B-Westerns
corporalko23 February 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This 1941 Gene Autry Western deals with a more detailed and complicated plot than most, and the climactic scene may disturb you, and even make you cry. There are moments in the film that reveal the genuine emotion of a young girl over her dad's being in mortal danger that you seldom see in movies of this genre.
Having said that, I'll add that in my opinion it's one of the best Westerns that Gene ever starred in, just a year or so prior to his leaving Hollywood to enlist in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II.
Gene and Frog (Smiley Burnette) are watching the parade through their Western town of the performers from a showboat that has landed in town, when two evil men rob the local bank, taking $140,000, which includes money Gene had encouraged some of his fellow ranchers to invest there instead of wasting it on things they didn't really need.
The two thieves not only rob the bank, but they also kill the owner. And the down-on-his-luck father of a young, talented singer from the showboat cast, played by Mary Lee, foolishly has gone in with them, feeling that he needs money so bad that he has to.
The thieves escape (Mary's father doesn't go with them), despite Gene's chasing them unsuccessfully on Champ. Gene and Frog then talk the owner of the showboat into hiring them as entertainers in the cast, so they can keep an eye on the foolish father and his daughter.
Of course the young girl singer is loving and protective of her father, even after he flees with the loot that the thieves have left in his hands. She is hostile to Autry for being suspicious of her father, until one evening she accidentally falls overboard from the boat, and Gene has to dive in and rescue her. It's obviously him (and her) in the water, too, despite the fondness of some who review his movies on here of implying that Gene had stuntmen to fake being him for anything more difficult than walking across the room.
Anyway, the climax of the movie includes some very hard riding, a big gunfight, Gene fighting it out with the two bank robbers (and doing his own stunts there, too), and finally the crooks shooting and killing poor Mary's father. Mary's weeping and screaming as Gene tries to comfort her sounds very genuine. Mary Lee was a fine actress.
As I said before, I enjoyed this movie tremendously. There was a lot of great music included in it, too. I highly recommend it.
Having said that, I'll add that in my opinion it's one of the best Westerns that Gene ever starred in, just a year or so prior to his leaving Hollywood to enlist in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II.
Gene and Frog (Smiley Burnette) are watching the parade through their Western town of the performers from a showboat that has landed in town, when two evil men rob the local bank, taking $140,000, which includes money Gene had encouraged some of his fellow ranchers to invest there instead of wasting it on things they didn't really need.
The two thieves not only rob the bank, but they also kill the owner. And the down-on-his-luck father of a young, talented singer from the showboat cast, played by Mary Lee, foolishly has gone in with them, feeling that he needs money so bad that he has to.
The thieves escape (Mary's father doesn't go with them), despite Gene's chasing them unsuccessfully on Champ. Gene and Frog then talk the owner of the showboat into hiring them as entertainers in the cast, so they can keep an eye on the foolish father and his daughter.
Of course the young girl singer is loving and protective of her father, even after he flees with the loot that the thieves have left in his hands. She is hostile to Autry for being suspicious of her father, until one evening she accidentally falls overboard from the boat, and Gene has to dive in and rescue her. It's obviously him (and her) in the water, too, despite the fondness of some who review his movies on here of implying that Gene had stuntmen to fake being him for anything more difficult than walking across the room.
Anyway, the climax of the movie includes some very hard riding, a big gunfight, Gene fighting it out with the two bank robbers (and doing his own stunts there, too), and finally the crooks shooting and killing poor Mary's father. Mary's weeping and screaming as Gene tries to comfort her sounds very genuine. Mary Lee was a fine actress.
As I said before, I enjoyed this movie tremendously. There was a lot of great music included in it, too. I highly recommend it.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
