Loaded Pistols (1948)

Director:

John English

Writers:

Dwight Cummins (story) and
Dorothy Yost (story) ...

Release Date:

18 February 1953 (West Germany)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

The greatest of all western stars brings you his latest thrill-topping adventure!

Plot:

Gene protects young Larry Evans, wrongly accused of murder, while trying to find the real badguys.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Ranch | Sheriff | Horse | Compass

Cast

Gene Autry	...	Gene Autry
Barbara Britton	...	Mary Evans
Chill Wills	...	Sheriff Cramer
Jack Holt	...	Dave Randall
Russell Arms	...	Larry Evans (Mary's Brother)
Robert Shayne	...	Don Mason
Vince Barnett	...	Sam Gardner (Notary Public)
Leon Weaver	...	Jake Harper
Fred Kohler Jr.	...	Randall's crony (as Fred Kohler)
Clem Bevans	...	Jim Hedge (prospector)
Champion	...	Champ, Gene's Horse (as Champion Jr.)

Also Known As:

Red River Valley (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

78 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (Sepiatone)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company:

Gene Autry Productions

Trivia:

This is only film starring Gene Autry where the female lead received equal billing above the title card.

Quotes:

Gene Autry: Say, by the way, if you didn't plug Norton, how come he was killed with your gun?
Larry Evans: I ran out of dough and I put in my gun to stay in the game.
Gene Autry: Like this one?
Larry Evans: Yeah. I *had* a pair of 'em.
Gene Autry: You were out to make yourself a reputation, weren't you? You certainly did. It's too bad - that sort of dime-store hero went out with Billy the Kid.

Soundtrack:

A Boy From Texas, A Girl From Tennessee

Was a unedited version ever released on video

This film was one of Autry's Columbia features that was edited for television. When it opens, Autry is riding Champ in a long shot and you can just barely hear him singing until he gets closer to the camera. I dubbed the song from his soundtrack CD album of movie songs, and right at the beginning, you can hear a gunshot. It probably was like that on the edited film I saw, but the card game is not shown only referred to throughout the film, until Gene recreates the game at the end of the picture, causing the villain to make his escape on a stagecoach conveniently parked outside. When Melody Ranch Theater aired on the Nashville network, I wondered if they ever showed the complete version or just the one that was already available to television. I always did like the song and recall it was used in the background when they did a documentary on the TV westerns of the Fifties, showing Chuck Conners spin his rifle, etc.