Home in Oklahoma
Brief Synopsis
A small-town editor and a big-city reporter investigate a wealthy rancher's mysterious death.
Cast & Crew
Read More
William Witney
Director
Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers
Trigger
George "gabby" Hayes
Gabby Whittaker
Dale Evans
Connie Edwards
Carol Hughes
Jan Holloway
Film Details
Genre
Western
Musical
Release Date
Nov
8,
1946
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Republic Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Republic Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 12m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Synopsis
At the Flying T Ranch in Oklahoma, home to a prized herd of Hereford cattle, Jan Holloway, the niece of late owner Sam Talbot, awaits the reading of her uncle's will while Duke Lowery, the twelve-year old ward of ranch foreman Gabby Whittaker, nurses his pet calf, Ricky. In the nearby town of Hereford Heaven, meanwhile, newspaper reporter Connie Edwards arrives from St. Louis and meets Roy Rogers, the editor of the local paper. Connie has come to write a story about the Herefords, and so Roy escorts her to the Flying T. They arrive just in time to learn that Sam has bequeathed the ranch to Duke and has left Jan only a $5,000 stipend. Jan's foreman, Steve McClory, who had anticipated Jan's inheritance of the Flying T, angrily accuses Gabby of manipulating Sam and threatens to contest the will. Sam has bequeathed Roy a prayer book, and when Roy opens the book, he finds a message from Sam, asking him to investigate the circumstances of his death. Against Roy's wishes, Connie phones in the story of foul play to her newspaper in St. Louis. Furious when the story is published, Steve plots to eliminate Duke before the will can be probated. Later that night, gunshots are fired at Duke's bedroom window. Roy pursues the boy's assailants, and shoots one, but the other escapes. When Connie refuses to divulge the source of her story, Sheriff Barclay jails her for refusing to cooperate. The next morning, Roy posts her bail so that she can attend the town's Tuesday morning Breakfast Club meeting. During the meeting, Roy realizes that Sam was killed on a Tuesday morning on his way to the event, and decides to let Sam's horse retrace his footsteps from the day of the murder. As he approaches the creek, the horse rears up and bolts. Searching the area, Connie and Roy finds Sam's watch in the creek, stopped at 9:17. From Devoria Lassiter, Sam's housekeeper, Roy discovers that on the day of Sam's death, his horse arrived back at the ranch just as the 8:45 train whistle blew, implying that the horse came home before Sam was killed. Deciding to question Judnick, the coroner, about Sam's death, Connie and Roy proceed to his office. As Roy starts to rifle through the files, Jud appears, gun in hand, and a fight ensues. After overpowering Jud, Roy threatens to exhume Sam's body. Spotting Roy through the window, Jan waits until he leaves and then enters the office to confer with Jud, her accomplice in Sam's murder. At the ranch, meanwhile, Ricky falls ill and Duke, fearing that the calf will have to be destroyed, runs away with his pet to the cave at Rainbow Falls. Finding them there, Devoria treats Ricky with an herbal cure. As Roy and Gabby search for the missing boy, they meet Devoria along the trail and she directs them to Duke's hideout. At the falls, meanwhile, Duke witnesses a meeting between Jan, Jud and Steve. After Steve shoots Jud in the back, Jan notices Duke hiding in the bushes and pursues the boy. To elude her, Duke plunges into the falls. Spotting Roy and Gabby approaching in the distance, Steve and Jan mount their horses and gallop off to Jan's ranch. When Duke tells Roy that Steve shot Jud, Roy races toward Jan's. Jan has rallied her cowhands to fend off Roy's attack, but with the help of Gabby and the Sons of the Pioneers, Roy routs her men. Now cornered, Steve and Jan quarrel, and after shooting Jan, Steve speeds away in his car to catch the 8:45 train. After confessing that she killed Sam in order to inherit the ranch, Jan dies in Roy's arms. Jumping onto his horse, Roy races to the train and during a daring fight atop the freight cars, apprehends Steve. All ends happily as Ricky recovers and Connie, Roy and Gabby ride off into the sunset singing.
Director
William Witney
Director
Cast
Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers
Trigger
George "gabby" Hayes
Gabby Whittaker
Dale Evans
Connie Edwards
Carol Hughes
Jan Holloway
George Meeker
Steve McClory
Lanny Rees
Duke Lowery
Ruby Dandridge
Devoria Lassiter
George Lloyd
Sheriff Barclay
Arthur Space
Judnick
Frank Reicher
Lawyer Cragmyle
George Carleton
Marc Kennedy
The Flying "l" Ranch Quartette
Bob Nolan
Johnny Walsh
Jimmy
Crew
William Bradford
Photography
Joseph Dubin
Music Score
Jack Elliott
Composer
Gerald Geraghty
Original Screenplay
Frank Hotaling
Art Director
Lee Lukather
Assistant Director
Bob Mark
Makeup Supervisor
Tony Martinelli
Film Editor
John Mccarthy Jr.
Set Decoration
Les Orlebeck
Film Editor
Adele Palmer
Costume Supervisor
Morton Scott
Music Director
Glenn Spencer
Composer
Tim Spencer
Composer
Fred Stahl
Sound
Roy J. Turner
Composer
Edward J. White
Associate Producer
Earl Wooden
Set Decoration
Videos
Movie Clip
Film Details
Genre
Western
Musical
Release Date
Nov
8,
1946
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Republic Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Republic Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 12m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Articles
Home in Oklahoma
A small-town editor and a big-city reporter investigate a wealthy rancher's mysterious death.
Home in Oklahoma
A small-town editor and a big-city reporter investigate a wealthy rancher's mysterious death.
Home in Oklahoma - Western Themes
Singing Cowboys
HOME IN OKLAHOMA
Home in Oklahoma is one of more than two dozen Rogers Westerns directed by William Witney, who had worked his way up through the studio system from messenger boy to a director of serials for Republic Studios. After his tenure with the Rogers Westerns, Witney moved on to direct other action films including The Bonnie Parker Story (1958), Master of the World (1961) and Darktown Strutters (1975). In newspaper interviews and at film festivals, writer-director Quentin Tarantino has championed Witney as an unsung and influential master of filmmaking, particularly in his handling of the Rogers Westerns. Tarantino also has great admiration for Trigger, calling him "the greatest animal actor who ever was."
Producer: Edward J. White
Director: William Witney
Screenplay: Gerald Geraghty
Cinematography: William Bradford
Art Direction: Frank Hotaling
Original Music: Joseph Dubin, Jack Elliott (uncredited), Tim Spencer (uncredited)
Editing: Lester Orlebeck
Costume Design: Adele Palmer
Cast: Roy Rogers (Himself), George "Gabby" Hayes (Gabby Whittaker), Dale Evans (Connie Edwards), Carol Hughes (Jan Holloway), George Meeker (Steve) and Bob Nolan and The Sons of the Pioneers
BW-72m.
By Roger Fristoe
Home in Oklahoma - Western Themes Singing Cowboys HOME IN OKLAHOMA
Home in Oklahoma (1946) is considered a typical Roy Rogers musical Western -- and one of his best. As a crusading frontier newspaper editor investigating the murder of a cattle rancher, Rogers is surrounded by his usual support group: soon-to-be wife Dale Evans, playing a visiting big-city reporter; wizened sidekick Gabby Hayes, as a ranch foreman; and the ever-faithful Trigger, billed as "The Smartest Horse in the Movies." Songs include the title tune as performed by Rogers, Bob Nolan and The Sons of the Pioneers; "Miguelto," a novelty tune performed by Roy and Dale; and "Hereford Heaven," a tune written by Oklahoma Governor Roy J. Turner and performed by the Flying L Ranch Quartette.
Home in Oklahoma is one of more than two dozen Rogers Westerns directed by William Witney, who had worked his way up through the studio system from messenger boy to a director of serials for Republic Studios. After his tenure with the Rogers Westerns, Witney moved on to direct other action films including The Bonnie Parker Story (1958), Master of the World (1961) and Darktown Strutters (1975). In newspaper interviews and at film festivals, writer-director Quentin Tarantino has championed Witney as an unsung and influential master of filmmaking, particularly in his handling of the Rogers Westerns. Tarantino also has great admiration for Trigger, calling him "the greatest animal actor who ever was."
Producer: Edward J. White
Director: William Witney
Screenplay: Gerald Geraghty
Cinematography: William Bradford
Art Direction: Frank Hotaling
Original Music: Joseph Dubin, Jack Elliott (uncredited), Tim Spencer (uncredited)
Editing: Lester Orlebeck
Costume Design: Adele Palmer
Cast: Roy Rogers (Himself), George "Gabby" Hayes (Gabby Whittaker), Dale Evans (Connie Edwards), Carol Hughes (Jan Holloway), George Meeker (Steve) and Bob Nolan and The Sons of the Pioneers
BW-72m.
By Roger Fristoe
