Singing On the Trail (1946)

Plot: Curt Stanton is a singer hoping to get a job on the prestigious Circle X Ranch. He is mistaken for a gunman by the Hoosier Hotshots, who unknowingly bought the ranch off two crooks (who themselves purchased it with stolen money). The Hotshots hire Curt, who really can't shoot, to protect them from Dusty King, who was swindled by the bad guys and is convinced that the Hotshots are outlaws, too.

Cowboy Blues (1946)

Plot: It's the old cliche plot in which a father lies to his daughter and tells her he owns the ranch where he actually works as a handyman. When the daughter comes to visit, all of the old man's friends help make it look like he does own the ranch, leading to more and more problems and deception as the real ranch owner comes back.



Starring. . . .

Ken Curtis
Jeff Donnell
Guy Kibbe
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams
The Hoosier Hotshots
      Ken Trietsch
      Hezzy Trietsch
      Gil Taylor
      Charles "Gabe" Ward
Mrs. Uppington (Elizabeth Randolph)
Robert Scott (Mark Roberts)
Peg LaCentra
The Town Criers
Deuce Spriggens & His Band
Carolina Cotton
Andy Parker and The Plainsmen
Al Bridge 
Ruth Herscher 


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Storyline Roundup (note: SPOILERS)


The film opens with scenes around the Bar B Ranch, a vacation spot hopping with people. After performing a song, the Hoosier Hotshots "calm" a complaining guest, and then watch as handyman Dusty (Kibbe) tells a tall tale to another guest (Dick Elliot) and sells him a feather that, he tells him, came from Sitting Bull's war lance. When questioned by the Hotshots, Dusty admits to sending all of his money to his daughter, Susan, who lives back East.

He also tells them that Susan thinks he owns the Bar B Ranch.

Little does Dusty know that Susan (Donnell) is not that far away, even as he speaks. She and her high-society fiance, Jerome Winston (Scott), are a few miles away, trying to locate the ranch. Under less-than-pleasant circumstances, they meet cowboy Curt Durant (Curtis) and Big Boy (Williams). Despite the fact that he saved her from an angry bull, Curt and Susan butt heads.

Susan calls her father from a gas station and informs him that she and her fiance are on their way to see his parents in San Francisco, and they want to stop by and see him. Dusty doesn't want to embarrass Susan in front of Jerome. The Hotshots come up with the idea of Dusty pretending to own the ranch (the real owner, Mr. Peters, is away for a couple weeks). They get all the staff and guests on board, except the assistant manager who is out working with cattle. Dusty is unsure if he will string along with them or not.

The assistant manager doesn't show up until after Susan does, and when he comes, he turns out to be Curt Durant. Susan wants him fired after how rude he was to her and Jerome earlier. Before Curt has a chance to say anything, the Hotshots whisk him away and explain things to him. Finally, he agrees to go along with their plan.

Curt apologizes to Susan and Jerome for losing his temper at them, and although he and Jerome almost get in another argument (Jerome doesn't think Curt was as rude as he claims to have been), everything gets patched up.

That Saturday, Jerome and Susan attend the weekly "rodeo," which Curt rides in. Jerome has his eye on Lucy (LaCentra), who also happens to be Big Boy's girl. After the rodeo, Curt takes Susan on a ride around the ranch, and Jerome takes a ride with Lucy. By the end of the ride, Curt is thoroughly charmed by Susan, and Big Boy is more than a little jealous of Jerome.

Things change quickly when Curt gets word that Mr. Peters (Bridge) is on his way back to the ranch. With lots of creative methods, the Hotshots and Curt manage to keep him from causing trouble. They even kidnap him to keep him from getting to the ranch. After he escapes, Curt convinces him to shave his signature beard, in order to fool some (imaginary) outlaws who are after him, and then calls the sheriff to arrest the "crazy man claiming to be Mr. Peters."

Convincing Peters that outlaws are after him

In between all this, Jerome is spending a lot of time with Lucy, and Susan and Curt are falling in love.

"Too bad you're leaving tomorrow just when we're getting so well acquainted," Curt says gently to Susan. "I thought maybe—"

"Oh, Curt, I . . . I promised to marry Jerry," Susan says, and walks away

.

Just when Susan and Jerome are in their car ready to leave the ranch, they get a message that his parents are going to meet them at the ranch in a few days and travel with them back East for the wedding.

Curt is happy to have Susan around for longer, but this also means keeping Mr. Peters away longer. Curt decides to give the Winstons a welcome that will "make them want to get out of here in a hurry." The welcome includes a wild stagecoach ride and an fake Indian attack, resulting in much trauma for the strait-laced couple. Susan is furious as Curt.

That night at a party for the Winstons, Susan is maybe starting to miss Curt a little bit, and when he dedicates a song to "a good friend he's very fond of," she expects to be the one he serenades, but he walks right past her and sings to a little girl.

Little Cowgirl

Carolina Cotton and The Plainsmen performing at the party

Soon afterwards, everything comes crashing down. The sheriff has figured out that the man claiming to be Mr. Peters really is Mr. Peters, and they come after Curt.

Curt tries to take the all blame, but to save him, Dusty tells the truth in front of everyone: Susan, Jerome, the Winstons, Mr. Peters, and the sheriff.

The Winstons forbid Jerome to marry the daughter of a handyman, but Susan has decided she doesn't want to marry into that class anyhow. Lucy also decides Jerome isn't her cup of tea, and she proposes to Big Boy.

Mr. Peters drops charges against Curt and even lets him keep his job, knowing that Curt is really a good man. Susan knows that Curt is a good man, too, and they have a happy ending.





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Songs:

Rhythm is Our Business (written by Jimmie Lunceford, Saul Chaplin and Sammy Cahn) (performed by the Hoosier Hotshots)

A Lot of Elbow Room (written by Ken Curtis and Lee Penny) (sung by Ken Curtis)

The First Thing I Do Every Morning (written by Lee Penny) (performed by the Hoosier Hotshots)

When We Put a Radio in the Hen House  (performed by the Hoosier Hotshots)

I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes (credited to A.P. Carter) (sung by Carolina Cotton)

Blue Bonnet Gal (written by Glen Spencer) (sung by Ken Curtis)

The West is as Wild as Ever (written by Andy Parker) (performed by Andy Parker and the Plainsmen, and Deuce Spriggens and His Band)

I've Been Down in Texas (written by Joe Greene and John Criner)  (performed by Deuce Spriggens and His Band, Carolina Cotton, and Andy Parker and the Plainsmen)

Back Home Again in Indiana (written by James F. Hanley and  Ballard MacDonald) (performed by the Town Criers)

Little Cowgirl (written by Ken Curtis and Dink Rogers) (sung by Ken Curtis)

The Coat and the Pants Do All the Work (performed by The Hoosier Hotshots)




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Cowboy Blues is a 1946, Columbia Pictures Production

64 minutes running time

Director: Ray Nazarro

Producer: Colbert Clark

Screenwriter: J. Benton Cheney

Film Editor: Jerome Thoms

Director of Photography: George F. Kelley

Set Decorations: Robert Bradfield

Art Direction: Charles Clague

Musical Director: Paul Mertz  

Throw a Saddle On a Star (1946)

Plot: Curt Walker's father, Andy, bets their ranch against $10,000 that Curt will win the rodeo championship.



Starring. . . 

Ken Curtis
Jeff Donnell
Adele Roberts
Andy Clyde
Guinn "Big Boy" Williams
Frank Sully
The Hoosier Hot Shots
      Ken Trietsch
      Hezzy Trietsch
      Gil Taylor
      Gabe Ward
Foy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage
      Al Sloey
      Darol Rice
      George Bamby
The Dinning Sisters
     Ginger
     Jean
     Lou
Robert Stevens (aka Robert Kellard)
Eddie Bruce
Edward Peil Sr.
Ace Williams
Buck Shaw
Danny Weir  

****************************************************************************

Storyline Roundup: (note: SPOILERS)

"The West is no longer a frontier peopled by two-gun pioneers and alive with lurking danger behind each tree. But the wide-open plains still resound to the thunder of galloping hoofs, as bands of wild horses roam the country. And the modern cowpuncher still lives as dangerously. He still smiles and sings as his forerunners did in frontier days. But now he sings of strawberry roans . . . AND a strawberry blonde."

After this opening narration, the scenes change to a corral that Curt Walker (Curtis) and the Riders of the Purple Sage are preparing for a wild stallion. They are singing, "The Strawberry Blonde on the Strawberry Roan," and after they finish their song, Big Boy (Williams) rides up to tell them that the particular "outlaw" stallion they have been trying to catch is in a valley nearby.

"Okay, boys, let's go!" Curt shouts and everyone scuttles to their horses.

They manage to capture the stallion—Dynamite is his name. The horse has a price on his head, to be paid if delivered safely.

The fellas go back to the ranch house to tell Curt's dad Andy (Clyde) that they got the horse. Before they get there, though, a sheep rancher named Burton (Kellard) comes. He makes a bet with Andy, a habitual gambler, staking the ranch against Burton's $10,000, on Curt winning the rodeo championship. Burton evens draws up an agreement "to keep it legal."

Andy and Burton

When Curt finds out what his father did, he is appalled. He loses his temper, but quickly apologizes, and says that they haven't lost the ranch yet and "given an even break at the rodeo, we won't."

Curt and Big Boy start out for Smoky River, where the roundup/rodeo is being held and where they need to deliver Dynamite. On the way, they meet up with the Hoosier Hotshots, the Hotshots' sister Barbara (Roberts), and Barbara's friend Judy (Donnell). Their run-in is not so pleasant for either group.

The Hoosier Hotshots arrive in Smoky River for their singing engagement, and learn that there are no available hotels or boarding houses. They will have to camp in a barn.

Curt and Big Boy get into town shortly afterwards, and they meet some other rodeo cowboys (Ace Williams and Buck Shaw) who tell them that a man named Burton offered them a thousand dollars each to make sure Curt doesn't win the rodeo. Curt promises he will keep an eye open for trouble.

When Curt and Big Boy deliver Dynamite, the man who offered a reward for him tells them that he's sold Dynamite to the rodeo circuit. "Whoever draws [that horse] might as well kiss the championship goodbye," remarks one of the cowboys.



Meanwhile, the Hotshots and the girls are setting up camp in the barn and they are "arrested" for working during frontier week, on top of using a barn they didn't have permission to use. The penalty is a song, and Andy, who is sort of the judge, demands it from Barbara. Curt listens to her sing and is charmed. But when Barbara learns that it was his dad who sentenced her, she is more angry than ever.


Once again, the Hotshots leave mad, but their attitudes change later that night when they get hungry and cold attempting to camp "on the range," and Curt and his group feed them. Barbara, at first, refuses to stoop so low as to join in. Curt brings her a plate full of food and just leaves it for her. Once he is out of sight, she starts devouring the food. Curt, waiting not too far away, laughs at her. "Tastes good, eh?"

She starts laughing, too, and the wall between them is broken. In fact, they are getting along quite nicely, and the Hotshots, Judy, and Barbara go to stay at Curt and Andy's ranch.

Curt and Barbara become more attracted to each other. They talk about him quitting the rodeo and pursuing a singing career; Andy overhears them.

Next time everyone goes into town, the Hotshots cause trouble by letting a bull escape and run through town. Curt (well, actually stunt double Jock Mahoney) bulldogs the ornery critter, saving a little boy in the street, but he doesn't do as tidy of a job as usual. Barbara takes him to the doctor to because of a ground burn on his arm, and as they walk together down the street, Andy starts worrying.

"That boy's too dang lovesick to be in top rodeo form," he says to Big Boy. "If we don't do something quick, he ain't gonna win."

They hire three women to come flock around Curt, each one claiming to be his wife. Curt calls after Barbara as she stomps off. The Hotshots are indignant:

"You can't break our sister's heart and get away with it, you bigamist!"

"He's a trigamist!"

"When do we see our lawyer?"

Later, Andy and Big Boy realize that Curt is doing much worse now without Barbara—he just goes moping around. Andy tells the Hotshots and Judy that he hired the women to frame Curt, but they have no luck talking to Barbara, who won't even give them the time to explain.

The rodeo events start, and Curt's performance is suffering. Andy wonders who will be the owner of his ranch.

Curt manages to win the bulldogging event, but he is still unhappy. When it comes time to draw horses for the bronc riding event, Curt gets Dynamite.

"Doggone it," Big Boy says. "The way Curt feels, he stands a good chance of being killed by that blasted outlaw."

The Hotshots, Judy, Andy, and Big Boy decide to "tell Barbara what's liable to happen to Curt if she don't make up with him." But when they go to her tent, she is gone. She left a note saying that she is heading back to Los Angeles and will meet her brothers there later.

Hoping to catch her before she finishes packing at the ranch, the Hotshots take off in a race against time. Andy and Judy stay behind to stall the rodeo as long as they can so Barbara can talk to Curt before he rides.

Just in the nick of time, the Hotshots and Barbara show up, and Barbara's apology puts Curt in the mood to win the championship . . . which he does.

Everyone (except Burton) is happy and singing, as the movie ends.





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Songs:

The Strawberry Blonde On the Strawberry Roan (written by Cindy Walker) (sung by Ken Curtis and the Riders of the Purple Sage)

The Dummy Song (written by Lew Brown, Ray Henderson, and Billy Rose) (performed by the Hoosier Hotshots)

Throw a Saddle On a Star (written by Andy Parker and [?] Hank Caldwell) (sung by Adele Roberts)

The Horse's Love Song (performed by the Hoosier Hotshots)

"Let's Be Merry" (performed by the Dinning Sisters)

I'll Take You Home Again (Kathleen) (written by Thomas P. Westendorf) (sung by Ken Curtis)

There's a Rainbow Over the Range (written by Tim Spencer) (performed by the Riders of the Purple Sage)

"The Bonnie Braes of Wyoming" (sung by Jeff Donnell and Andy Clyde)

Once in a While (written by Bud Green and Michael Edwards) (sung by the Dinning Sisters)

"Hillbilly Gaucho With a Rumba Beat" (performed by the Hoosier Hotshots)

Finale: The Strawberry Blonde On the Strawberry Roan





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Throw a Saddle On a Star is a 1946, Columbia studios film.

74+ minutes running time.

Director: Ray Nazarro

Assistant Director: Thomas Flood

Producer: Colbert Clark

Screenwriter: J. Benton Cheney

Cinementography: George B. Meehan, Jr.

Film Editor: Arthur Seid

Set Decorations: George Montgomery

Art Direction: Charles Clague

Sound: Philip Faulkner Jr.

Music: Mario Silva

That Texas Jamboree (1946)

Plot: Sheriff Curt Chambers fights to put the town of Crescent City back on its feet, but gambler Brady has the town, including the mayor, under his thumb, and even manages to turn some of Curt's friends against him. Will Curt be able to win the election and become the town's new mayor, or will Brady succeed in keeping law out of Crescent City? 

Starring. . . 

Ken Curtis
Jeff Donnell
Andy Clyde
Guinn "Big Boy" Williams
Robert Stevens (aka Robert Kellard)
Kenneth MacDonald
The Dinning Sisters
     Ginger
     Jean
     Lou
Dick Elliot
Claire Carleton
Hank Bell
George Chesebro
The Hoosier Hot Shots
      Ken Trietsch
      Hezzy Trietsch
      Gil Taylor
      Gabe Ward
Deuce Spriggens and His band
The Plainsmen
Carolina Cotton


*******************************************************************************

Storyline Roundup: (note: SPOILERS)






In the year of 1890, the town of Crescent City is being controlled by a crooked gambler named Brady (MacDonald). He gets Curt Chambers (Curtis) elected as sheriff, but immediately regrets his decision when he sees that Curt will not be easy to control. Curt chooses his friend, Big Boy (Williams) to be his deputy.

Meanwhile, the Warren family, brothers Hezzy, Ken, Gil, Gabe, sister Jean (Donnell), and father Andy (Clyde), come back to town with their medicine show, selling Andy tonic made with "secret ingredients." Jean and Curt used to know each other before he enlisted in the army, and a romance blooms between them as soon as Curt stops her runaway wagon. He pretends to have been injured in the process, but Jean quickly sees through his ruse, and they both enjoy it.

In one of his first moves as sheriff, Curt closes down all of the gambling joints run by Brady. Chagrined, Brady has the mayor (Elliot) complain to Curt about the Warrens selling their tonic without a license. Curt has no choice but to ask the Warrens to close down. The Warrens are upset by Curt's request, saying that the job of sheriff went to his head, and that he's a turncoat. They all go to work at an outdoor cafe in town, run by Lulu Belle (Carleton), who is Big Boy's girlfriend.

Brady gets a special charter with the town mayor to open the gambling joints up again as private clubs, undoing all of Curt's work. Curt realizes that the mayor is completely controlled by Brady, and that he himself will have to run for mayor in the upcoming election if the town will ever get cleaned up.

He starts his campaign against Smith, the old mayor whom Brady wants re-elected, and things are going good . . . until Jean decides to run, too.

Jean gets all the women voters on her side, and all the women get their husbands on their side, and Jean is pulling ahead in the campaign. Brady starts to worry that Jean could be elected, so he launches the story that her father has been cheating the townsfolk by selling them tonic that is nothing more than spring water and bitters.

The town abandons Jean, and the Warrens blame the story on Curt. Curt goes to talk to the Warrens, and Big Boy finds one of Brady's men and "convinces" him to tell the Warrens the truth. That puts Curt and the Warrens—especially Jean—on good terms again, and Curt thinks that the story about Andy's tonic may be less true than even Andy thinks.

Racing against the time because they need to be back before everyone votes, Curt and Big Boy ride into a neighboring town to have the tonic tested by a chemist. They are ambushed at along the way, but manage to lose their attackers and make it to town, unharmed. The chemist says that the tonic actually contains a mineral element "of great medicinal value," and that he will ride back to Crescent City to tell the folks there about the tonic.

Meanwhile, the Warrens, Lulu Belle, Deuce and his gang, and the Dinning Sisters are stalling for time. Just when they can't hold out any longer, and people start filing into the polling place, Curt, Big Boy, and the chemist ride up. They had a little trouble on the way in, but lost their assailants with the help of some nitrous oxide—aka laughing gas—and they are just in time to save the day.

The town turns against Brady, and Jean withdraws from the election. "I can't very well run against my future husband, who I'm sure will make you a very good mayor!" she says.

Curt gets sworn in as mayor, and the movie closes in song.

Curt being sworn in as sheriff

Bad guys, Brady and Tom

"Injured" Curt

Hoosier Hotshots

Lulu Belle and Big Boy

Cleaning out a saloon

The Dinning Sisters

Curt singing during his campaign

The End

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Songs:

Some Days You Can't Make a Nickel (performed by the Hoosier Hotshots)

Never Tangle With Old John Law (written by Ken Curtis) (performed by Ken Curtis with Deuce Spriggens and His band, and the Plainsmen)

"Wait At the Gate For Me Katie" (performed by the Hoosier Hotshots)

Prairie Serenade (written by Ken Curtis and Lee Penny) (sung by Ken Curtis)

I Still Remember (sung by the Dinning Sisters)

Down the Trail to San Antone (written by Deuce Spriggens) (performed by Ken Curtis, Deuce Spriggens and His band, and the Plainsmen)

There'll Be Some Changes Made (written by Benton Overstreet and Billy Higgens) (performed by the Hoosier Hotshots)

When Payday Rolls Around (written by Bob Nolan) (performed by Deuce Spriggens and His band, the Plainsmen, and Carolina Cotton)

Valley of the Sun (written by Ted Grouya and Donald Kahn) (performed by the Dinning Sisters)

I'd Like to Be a Cowgirl But I'm Afraid of Cows (written by Mac Boyle and Van Ness) (performed by Carolina Cotton with Deuce Spriggens and His band)

"He Swung a Senorita" (performed by the Hoosier Hotshots)

Finale: Down the Trail to San Antone/ He Swung a Senorita (performed by Ken Curtis, Deuce Spriggens and His Band, the Plainsmen, and the Hoosier Hotshots)




*Songs titles in quotations marks are just guesses; the songs might be called something else.


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That Texas Jamboree is a 1946, Columbia studios film.

67 minutes running time.

Directed by: Ray Nazarro

Produced by: Colbert Clark

Screenwriter: J. Benton Cheney

Story by: Paul Gangelin

Director of Photography: George B. Meehan, Jr.

Film Editor: Aaron Stell

Set Decorations by: George Montgomery

Art Direction by: Charles Clague

Musical Director: Mischa Bakaleinikoff