Back in the Saddle

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Gene Autry battles a crooked mine owner in this his signature western from Republic Pictures. Years earlier, Gene promised to take watch over his employer's son Tom (Edward Norris), a young hothead who enjoys the so-called finer things in life. Tom has to be corralled out of the wicked city after finally inheriting the old homestead but life in the supposedly pastoral Arizona hamlet of Solitude proves less than idyllic when greedy copper miner E.G. Blaine (Arthur Loft) begins poisoning the water supply. Not patient enough to let law abiding Gene handle things, Tom takes matters into his own hands and is promptly slapped with a murder charge. Since the local authorities are controlled by Blaine, Gene has Judge Bent (Edmund Elson secure a change of venue for the upcoming trial but the enemy may have an ace up his sleeve. When not shooting it out with Blaine and his henchmen, Gene, Smiley Burnette, leading lady Jacqueline Wells and girl singer Mary Lee perform "Good Old-Fashioned Hoedown", "Swingin' Sam, the Cowboy Man", "When the Cactus is in Bloom", "I'm an Old Cowhand", "Where the River Meets the Range", "I'm in the Jailhouse Now", "You Are My Sunshine", "Ninety-Nine Bullfrogs" and Ray Whitley's title tune. Back in the Saddle has been restored to its original length by the Westerns Channel and Gene Autry Entertainment. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (Pre-1954 Standard)
• Audio: Dolby Digital Mono
• Screen: Black and White
• Features:
  • • Reminiscing with Gene Autry and Pat Buttram at the "Melody Ranch Theater"
    • Excerpts from the original "Melody Ranch Radio Show"
    • Production and publicity stills
    • Poster and lobby card art
    • Trivia and movie card facts
    • Original press kit material

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Director:

  Lew Landers

• Producer:

  Harry Grey

• Screenwriter:

  Richard Murphy, Jesse Lasky, Jr.

• Cinematographer:

  Ernest W. Miller

• Composer (Music Score):

  Raoul Kraushaar

• Editor:

  Tony Martinelli

REVIEW:

• Although containing no less than nine songs, Back in the Saddle also comes with an unusual amount of violence for a Gene Autry western. In fact, when the dust finally clars, at least four men, including reformed gambler Addison Richards, have bit the dust, a town is more or less burned to the ground and there has been a stampede. Autry usually eschewed such mayhem but this time gentlemanly niceties like shooting the gun out of a villain's hand were abandoned in favor of all out warfare. Despite that -- or perhaps because of it -- Back in the Saddle remains middling Autry at best. Watch for future comedy lead Tom Ewell as a spectator to Gene's city brawl. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi