The Old West (1952) watch online HD

In this later film from Gene's Columbia days, he does battle with ruffians diverting his much-needed horse supply. The action, script and casting here are quite good. Fans of less music/more action in their B-westerns should like this one.

Pat Butram provides several funny gags and both House Peters Sr AND Jr. appear in this one! The great Lyle Talbot is at his villainous best, (worst ?).

In many ways , this film was a departure from the song-filled light entertainment that Gene provided in the '40's. He did both well, but I feel this was one of the best of his later films ! Enjoy, pardners ...

"The Old West" offers a few curious elements for Gene Autry fans; for one, it looks like he learned a few judo throws for that stable fight against the bad guys. The other was seeing Dick Jones in the role of a villain, something I hadn't seen before. Jones doesn't really have the face for a villain, nor the voice or body language to be a nasty henchman. As a pair, Jones and House Peters Jr. had me going WHAT!?!? when they agreed to come back to Saddle Rock after the mob that wants to hang them cools down. And they came back!!!

The story is told in somewhat of a flashback style, though it needn't have since the action looks like it all might have happened just the day before. It's always curious to me why these old Westerns from the 1930's and '40's often had a father of a youngster who looked more like they should have been the grandfather. In fact, stage driver Jeff Blecker looked like he could have been Gene's father, even though the actor playing his character, Louis Jean Heydt, was only two years older than Autry.

The story itself contains a fairly common plot element, with bad guy town boss Doc Lockwood (Lyle Talbot) challenging Gene for the right to supply horses to the Southwestern Stage Lines. Doc feels his ranch raised horses are superior to Gene's trained wild mustangs, but it turns out there will be a ringer in the outcome. Gene's pal Pat Buttram is on hand as Panhandle Gibbs, and when the two main opponents fall out of the race with complications, (read that as their wagons got wrecked), Panhandle comes up the winner by default.

Even as a kid, I could never understand why as the noose starts to tighten for the film's main heavy, he winds up shooting the guy who starts to spill the beans, and with a room full of witnesses including the story's hero. That's exactly what happens here, with Doc Lockwood plugging his boy Pinto (Dick Jones), who's behind bars! How does he figure he'll get away with that one?

I guess that's why you have to take a lot of these old oaters with a shaker full of salt, and focus on the entertainment value, not the credibility of the story. A couple of years later in 1953, Republic Pictures put out a film starring Rex Allen in a picture that also had a competition at it's center to decide on a winner for a government mail contract. It's called "Iron Mountain Trail" and would be of interest to anyone who enjoyed this picture.

Gene's clearly trying new movie mixes as TV's co-axial cable crosses the continent in 1952, bringing service to the entire nation. In The Old West there's not as much music, while what comedy there is is non-buffoonish. In fact, Pat Buttram is far down the cast list in what looks like a cut-back, at least in terms of screen time. Then too, leading lady Davis has little to do but stand around and look pretty. At the same time, boyish Dick Jones plays a henchman, though not an irredeemable one. And catch little Judie (Johnson) who's got a fairly big role, as if girls might be joining boys among Gene's Front Row kids. Good to see that fine utility actor Louis-Jean Heydt getting an unusual role and hopefully a big payday.

Anyhow the story's got some surprises, among which Gene gets badly shot—good thing he heals quickly. Otherwise, who would we root for among all those flying fists. There's lots of action as Gene competes with sneaky Doc Lockwood (Talbot) to get the contract for stagecoach horses. Autry thinks mustangs will work better than broke ones, so they have a thundering stage race. And catch those impressive wild horse herds.

All in all, it's an action-filled hour with Gene and a performing Champion who gets to show us his many four-legged tricks.

A "7" on the Matinée Scale

(In Passing-- Can't help noticing the unusual religious overlay with the parson {Peters Sr.} and the gospel hymn that gets repeated into a big production number. Judging from the release date, Jan. 1952, I expect the programmer was produced at the height of the Korean War, when patriotic feelings were uppermost. Nothing hangs on this— just a surmise, since I don't recall anything like the over-lay before, though I could be mistaken.)