Yodelin' Kid from Pine Ridge
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Joe Kane
Gene Autry
Smiley Burnette
Betty Bronson
Le Roy Mason
Charles Middleton
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In Pine Ridge, a large pine forest in the Southeast, cattlemen and "turpentiners," the men and women who harvest pine sap, feud over forest areas that the cattlemen want to burn for grazing land. The cattlemen believe that the turpentiners are rustling their livestock, although the real mastermind of the thefts is Len Parker, a cattleman. Arthur Autry agrees with his fellow cattlemen that they should raid the turpentiners and burn them out, despite the protests of his fair-minded son Gene, who is in love with Milly Baynum, the stepdaughter of the leader of the turpentiners. Gene warns them about the upcoming raid, but his good intentions are ruined when the turpentiners fight back and his father is wounded in the confusion. The cattlemen mistakenly believe that Gene was fighting against them, and his father disowns him. Gene leaves, but returns to Pine Ridge two years later as the star of Colonel Frog Millhouse's Wild West show. Gene is glad to see Milly, but distraught to learn that his father, whose cattle were secretly stolen by Parker during the raid, is now destitute. Gene settles his father's bills and learns from Milly that she has seen Arthur's cattle grazing in a distant meadow. When Gene investigates, he is captured by two of Parker's men. In town, Frog anxiously awaits Gene's arrival so that the show can begin, while Parker's henchman Lloyd tells him about Gene. Parker orders Lloyd to replace Arthur's cattle with his own and take the stolen animals to Fox Canyon. When Frog is forced to start the show and use a double for Gene, Parker, believing that Gene has escaped, orders his right-hand man, Jeff Galloway, to kill him. Galloway shoots the double, after which Gene, who has escaped, arrives and discovers the crime. Gene tells Sheriff Martin to meet him at Arthur's ranch, but when he arrives, Gene discovers that his father is dead. Gene rushes to the Baynum cabin, where he finds that Milly's stepfather Bayliss has also been murdered. Because Bayliss was bludgeoned with Gene's gun, which Parker's men had stolen, Martin arrests Gene for the murder. Gene is taken to jail, where he is visited by Frog and Milly. The turpentiners, who believe that Gene will be set free because he is a cattleman, also arrive at the jail. Frog, Martin and Milly try to prevent them from lynching Gene, and Gene escapes. He goes to Parker's office, where he finds a receipt for the sale of his father's cattle. Gene attempts to take Parker and Galloway to the sheriff, but a gun battle between the cattlemen and turpentiners has broken out in the street. Parker, who killed both Arthur and Bayliss, gets away, while Galloway is shot in the melee. Gene explains to Milly that Parker fueled the feud in order to cover up his rustling, then chases after him. Frog and his entertainers also chase Parker and his men, and while the show people round up the gang, Gene apprehends Parker. Parker is soon put in jail, the feud is ended and a happy Gene and Milly decide to marry.
Director
Joe Kane
Cast
Gene Autry
Smiley Burnette
Betty Bronson
Le Roy Mason
Charles Middleton
Russell Simpson
Tennesse Ramblers
Jack Dougherty
Guy Wilkerson
Frankie Marvin
Henry Hall
Snowflake
Bud Osborne
Jack Ingram
Lew Meehan
Jack Kirk
Champion
Crew
Fleming Allen
Gene Autry
Smiley Burnette
Frank Harford
Terry Kellum
Raoul Kraushaar
William Lava
Dorrell Mcgowan
Stuart Mcgowan
Jack Natteford
Jack Natteford
William Nobles
Bill O'connor
Lester Orlebeck
Armand Schaefer
Murray Seldeen
Jack Stanley
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
This film's working title was The Singing Kid from Pine Ridge. Although a written title following the credits describes the film's setting as "among the turpentine pine forests of Florida and Georgia," the costuming and plot is that of a typical Western. A Los Angeles Examiner news item noted that the picture was filmed on location at Kernville, CA. The Variety review asserted that the film contained stock shots from the film Annie Oakley. According to the MPAA/PCA Collection at the AMPAS Library, PCA Director Joseph I. Breen cautioned Republic about showing too much violence during the mob and chase scenes and stated: "In these days of widespread public disorder, political censor boards, in this country and abroad, are deleting all scenes of mob violence. We recommend that these scenes [as presented in the script] be changed, to get away from the present lynching idea." After the film was completed, the PCA rejected it because of the length of the battle between the cattlemen and the turpentiners, and because of the lynching scene. The picture was approved by the PCA in late May 1937 after it had been re-edited and the offending sequences toned down. Modern sources add the following additional cast members: Bob Burns, Al Taylor, George Morrell, Jim Corey, Art Dillard, Art Mix, Oscar Gahan, Herman Hack, Tom Smith, Charles Brinley, Jack Montgomery, Jack Evans and Bill Nestell. Modern sources also note that the Tennessee Ramblers were: Dick Hartman, W. J. Blair, Elmer Warren, Happy Morris and Pappy Wolf.
