You won't be disappointed!

The Worst Film Ever

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Oh, Susanna! (1936). In this unusual but even more ridiculously far-fetched plot, Gene Autry, would you believe, is wanted for murder? Perhaps Republic boss, Herb Yates, firmly believed that Texas lawmen were not only corrupt but incredibly stupid? Never mind, just sit back and enjoy the fast action. Director Joe Kane even has a couple of speeding cars run over the camera! This time, Smiley Burnette teams up with Earle Hodgins to provide not only comedy relief but acting support for Autry's rather stoic hunted man. And railroad buffs will have a ball at the beginning of the movie when the villain's very obvious double boards a moving train from horseback!

Uh Oh, it's Gene who gets thrown from a train, not the bad guy. In fact it's bad guy Wolf who's done it to escape the law and assume Gene's identity. So, our hero spends the rest of the movie getting back his real name and putting Wolf where he belongs.Good Autry mix, with songs, scenery, and flying fists. Some good touches as well, like Gene's scattering walk down Main Street where everybody thinks he's the bad guy. And how about that chase where Gene and the bad guy use roadsters instead of horses. The process photography may be fuzzy but the results are still a hoot. Also, pairing big talker Hodgins with portly Burnette is good for some laughs, but note that neither is mocked in his comedic role. And, wow, I don't think I've seen faster fingers than the '...Crust Boys jamming away on one of their numbers. I guess my only gripe is not seeing more of the Alabama Hills and their rocky spires; only nature's hand can carve such mighty sculptures. Anyway, the hour's a fun slice of old time matinees for us front row geezers, thanks to a rather hefty Gene Autry.

In this early Gene Autry film, Gene's identity is assumed by outlaw Wolf Benson (Boothe Howard) and he spends the rest of the story attempting to clear his name. Helping him out are Smiley Burnette as Frog Millhouse, and Earle Hodgins as Professor Ezekial Daniels, together forming the Millhouse-Daniels Entertainment Company. Smiley's comedy relief efforts go without saying, but having Hodgins around is always a bonus because you never know what his character is going to do. To distract the folks of Sage City while Frog springs Gene from jail, he bites off a chunk of soap and goes into a mad dog act that's just classic.Another bonus for this picture occurs early when the trio first arrive in Sage City, and Gene walks through town with all the citizens thinking he's Wolf Benson. Passing a local general store, the viewer gets a great view of some vintage commercial ads for products like Mobiloil, Morton's Salt, and Lipton's Tea (retaining the 's'). I've seen those before, but was startled to see a couple more for Butterfinger and get this - Champion Spark Plugs! You could have stopped the picture for me right there! There's also a great 'in' joke for folks like me who've been around a while. When Gene insists to the Sage City sheriff that he's really singing star Autry, one of the deputies replies "Yeah, and I'm Bing Crosby". I wonder if Autry had a handshake deal with Crosby to mention each other's names in their pictures; in his 1947 film with Bob Hope, "Road to Rio", Crosby name drops Autry and Bogart while on the run from angry fathers of jilted females the boys have left behind.As far as the story here goes, there's not a lot new for fans who've seen a bunch of B Westerns, with or without Gene Autry. The good guys smoke out the bandits in fine fashion, and manage to throw in at least six songs by my count. Gene does a couple of duets with female lead Frances Grant, and the Light Crust Doughboys send up a spirited rendition of 'Hold That Tiger'. Smiley appears in drag, believe it or not, in a vaudeville type skit with Hodgins while riding a bicycle-like contraption. I could tell what a good idea Hodgins thought it was when I saw him spike his beer with a shot of whiskey from his vest flask.

An outlaw named Wolf Benson escaping from a posse boards a train from horseback. On the train is radio singing cowboy Gene Autry on the way to an engagement. Benson slugs Gene and changes clothes with him and throws the unconscious Gene off the moving train.Fortunately our singing hero doesn't break his neck from the fall and he gets rescued by a couple of itinerant actors played by Smiley Burnette and Earl Hodgins. From then on it's a merry chase through the west as Gene tries to prove who he is and foil the dastardly plans of the man who's stolen his identity.One of the funnier scenes in the film is when all three of them, Autry, Burnette, and Hodgins are locked up in jail with Autry insisting who he is and one of the deputies saying if you're Gene Autry, I'm Bing Crosby. But the plot situations are forced to say the least and I can't believe the folks out west are such a gang of rubes they don't know Gene Autry.But Gene does get to warble a couple of nice, but forgettable cowboy ballads and he even gets a duet partner in the form of co-star Frances Grant. Unlike Roy Rogers who married his regular co-star Dale Evans and sang many a duet with her, Gene was usually a solo act in the musical department.Strictly for those who love Gene and the singing cowboy genre.