Stardust on the Sage
Cast & Crew
William Morgan
Gene Autry
Smiley Burnette
Bill Henry
Edith Fellows
Louise Currie
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Influential cattleman Gene Autry opposes the Rawhide Hydraulic Mining Company, and warns his fellow ranchers not to invest in it, for there have been many local mines that have not prospered. Nancy Drew, who runs a radio station that features a show sponsored by the mining co., pesters Gene for his endorsement, but he continues to be unimpressed. The other ranchers are interested, however, especially when the mine is promoted by the packing company manager, Nancy's brother Jeff. Jeff is desperate for their support, because, as he confesses to Nancy, he has embezzled the cattlemen's association payment to the packing company to keep the mine going. If the mine stops production, then the Atlas Equipment Company, which has provided the necessary gear, will take possession of the mine. Wanting to help her brother, Nancy prevents Gene from attending a party at which Jeff tries to persuade the ranchers to buy mining company stock. Nancy further angers Gene when she edits and broadcasts a conversation they had about cattle stock to make it seem as if Gene is endorsing mining stock. Determined to confront Nancy, Gene and his pal, Frog Millhouse, go looking for her. Instead they find three thugs who have just robbed Nancy and mine foreman Dan Pearson of the payroll. Nancy and Pearson soon arrive, and Nancy offers to show Gene the mine to prove that it is a good investment, while Pearson says that he will take the robbers to jail. Unknown to the Drews, Pearson owns Atlas Equipment Company and wants the mine to fail under Jeff's administration so that he will then become the owner. Pearson had hired the thugs to steal the payroll in the hope that the unpaid miners would walk off the job. Gene is suspicious when Pearson, who lets the men go, claims that they escaped, but nonetheless begins pitching the mine to the ranchers by assuring them that he, too, is investing in it. Still determined to sabotage Gene and the Drews, Pearson orders his men to empty the dam supplying the power for the hydraulic equipment, then tells Nancy that the water has dried up. Without Nancy seeing, Pearson switches on the microphone in her radio studio, so that the whole town hears as he asserts that he warned Gene that the water would dry up, but that Gene wanted to sell the stock anyway for his own profit. Angry that they have been double-crossed, Nancy and the townspeople confront Gene, who proclaims his innocence. With Frog's help, Gene blows up an abandoned, water-logged mine to provide the necessary water for the dam. He also obtains a confession from one of Pearson's men that Pearson was behind the sabotage. Soon after, the mine is fully operational, and Gene and Frog broadcast a show from Nancy's radio station.
Director
William Morgan
Cast
Gene Autry
Smiley Burnette
Bill Henry
Edith Fellows
Louise Currie
Emmett Vogan
George Ernest
Vince Barnett
Betty Farrington
Roy Barcroft
Tom London
Edmund Cobb
George Macquarrie
Monte Montague
Ed Cassidy
Rex Lease
George De Normand
Bert Lebaron
Jerry Jerome
Bud Jamison
Jimmy Fox
Franklyn Farnum
George Sherwood
William Nestell
Frank O'connor
Frank La Rue
Lee Shumway
Griff Barnett
Fred Burns
Crew
Gene Autry
George Blair
Betty Burbridge
Smiley Burnette
Nat Burton
James Campbell
Reginald Connelly
Jimmie Davis
Alberto Dominguez
Harry Grey
June Hershey
Dr. Brewster M. Higley
Daniel E. Kelly
Walter Kent
Russell Kimball
Raoul Kraushaar
Milton Leeds
Edward Mann
Dorrell Mcgowan
Stuart Mcgowan
Charles Mitchell
Ray Noble
Fred Rose
Arnold Schwarzwald
Don Swander
Bud Thackery
Jimmy Wakely
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Beyond the Great Divide. At the end of the film, Smiley Burnette asks the audience to sing along as Gene Autry performs "Deep in the Heart of Texas," and the lyrics appear across the bottom of the screen. According to a Hollywood Reporter news item, Fay McKenzie was originally set to play the female lead but was replaced when she appeared instead in Republic's Remember Pearl Harbor. Modern sources include Frankie Marvin, Frank Ellis, and Merrill McCormack in the cast. Stardust on the Sage is a remake of a 1937 Republic film entitled Git Along Little Dogies, which also starred Gene Autry and Smiley Burnette and was directed by Joseph Kane. The screenplay of the earlier film was written by Dorrell and Stuart McGowan, who are credited with "Original Story" for the 1942 film (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.1628).
