If you were attentive when the picture opened you would have noticed this was a Twentieth Century Fox film whereas Gene Autry was under contract to Republic Pictures. Having been loaned out to Fox goes a long way to explain how Jane Withers got top billing here even though most viewers would probably consider it an Autry flick. However when you get right down to it, Withers got most of the screen time and her high energy performance as young Jane Pritchard overshadowed just about everyone else in the cast, including Gene.
There's another thing about Withers' character, she was probably the most level headed person in Carson Corners, always trying to find a way to patch things up between the Pritchard's and the Carson's, a long running feud that began in the days of Will Carson's (Autry) granddad, Wild Bill Carson. When Signet Pictures arrives in town looking to produce a film about the town's namesake, Jane finds herself an intermediary to a whole host of competing forces, with her main goal of getting sister Margy (Marjorie Weaver) finally married to Will Carson.
Since this wasn't a Republic film Gene doesn't have any of his usual sidekicks around for comedy relief like Smiley Burnette, or other regulars like Gail Davis or Mary Lee. But the folks at Fox Studios allowed for a fair number of tunes like 'Wanderers of the Wasteland', 'Little Shanty of Dreams', 'Only One Love in a Lifetime' and 'This Little Old Band of Gold'. The romance angle between Margy and Will plays out successfully following a real bank holdup that replaces the movie script, and young Jane couldn't be happier.
Republic must have liked the idea of involving Gene in a film utilizing a movie studio angle because they came up with a couple themselves. There was 1941's "Down Mexico Way" and "Sioux City Sue" in 1946. Probably the biggest surprise for me coming out of the picture was when I looked up Jane Withers' other credits. I knew she looked somewhat familiar but you could have knocked me over with a feather with this one - if you were around in the mid-Sixties and watching nightly TV, you probably saw her just about every night pitching Comet Cleanser as Josephine the Plumber! As I write this she's still alive and will be ninety years old in a couple of weeks - God bless her.
There's another thing about Withers' character, she was probably the most level headed person in Carson Corners, always trying to find a way to patch things up between the Pritchard's and the Carson's, a long running feud that began in the days of Will Carson's (Autry) granddad, Wild Bill Carson. When Signet Pictures arrives in town looking to produce a film about the town's namesake, Jane finds herself an intermediary to a whole host of competing forces, with her main goal of getting sister Margy (Marjorie Weaver) finally married to Will Carson.
Since this wasn't a Republic film Gene doesn't have any of his usual sidekicks around for comedy relief like Smiley Burnette, or other regulars like Gail Davis or Mary Lee. But the folks at Fox Studios allowed for a fair number of tunes like 'Wanderers of the Wasteland', 'Little Shanty of Dreams', 'Only One Love in a Lifetime' and 'This Little Old Band of Gold'. The romance angle between Margy and Will plays out successfully following a real bank holdup that replaces the movie script, and young Jane couldn't be happier.
Republic must have liked the idea of involving Gene in a film utilizing a movie studio angle because they came up with a couple themselves. There was 1941's "Down Mexico Way" and "Sioux City Sue" in 1946. Probably the biggest surprise for me coming out of the picture was when I looked up Jane Withers' other credits. I knew she looked somewhat familiar but you could have knocked me over with a feather with this one - if you were around in the mid-Sixties and watching nightly TV, you probably saw her just about every night pitching Comet Cleanser as Josephine the Plumber! As I write this she's still alive and will be ninety years old in a couple of weeks - God bless her.