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The Singing Hill by Lew Landers
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DVD Cover InformationActor: Gene Autry, Mary Lee, Smiley Burnette, Spencer Charters, Virginia Dale Director: Lew Landers Brand: Image Entertainment Cinematographer: William Nobles Editor: Lester Orlebeck Producer: Harry Grey Writer: Jesse Lasky Jr. Writer: Olive Cooper Writer: Richard Murphy DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language) Format: Black & White, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC Picture Format: 1.33:1 Running Time: 75 minutes DVD Release Date: 2007-05-01 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Model: ID3479UQDVD Studio: Image Entertainment
Movie Reviews of The Singing HillMovie Review: "Gene Autry B-Western Series ... The Singing Hill (1941) ... Image Ent." Summary: 5 Stars
Republic Pictures present "THE SINGING HILL" (26 April 1941) (75 mins/B&W) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) --- relive those thrilling days when the "First Singing Cowboy" Gene Autry took us down the dusty trails with hard riding and straight shooting hitting the bull's eye with excitement every time --- the Gene Autry series of B-Westerns were a staple of Saturday matinees in the 1930s and 1940s --- The Following Segments are from the "Melody Ranch Theater", which originally aired on the Nashville Network in 1987 --- Hosted by Gene and longtime sidekick Pat Buttram the program showcased many of Gene's classic motion pictures and featured personal anecdotes about how the films were made --- Information on costars and significant happenings in Gene's personal life and career. --- don't miss any of the Singing Cowboy's features loaded with action and songs that will leave you wanting more of Gene Autry's B-Western Adventures --- The sale of this DVD will further the educational and cultural mission of the renowned "Autry National Center in Los Angeles".
Under Lew Landers (Director), Harry Grey (Producer), Olive Cooper (Screenwriter), Jesse Lasky, Jr. (Screen Story), Richard Murphy (Short Story Author), William Nobles (Cinematographer), Les Orlebeck (Editor) - - - - - - Our story line and plot, head of the Cattlemen's Association is Gene Autry and his saddle pal Smiley Burnette brings some great action, good songs and a good chase scenes --- Gene, with the help of his old friend Judge Starrbottle, has Jo declared incompetent and Gene appointed guardian of her affairs, much to Jo's great indignation --- George Meeker is the head villain trying to grab up all the grazing land --- can Gene and Smiley stop Meeker and help Jo Adams (Virginia Dale) and Patsy, Orphan Girl (Mary Lee) --- don't miss the stampeded cattle, crash trucks into the dam, flooding of the canyon --- will the ranchers lose their homes --- only Gene can bring George Meeker and his henchmen to justice and give this oater the happy ending it deserves ----- some wonderful tunes, "PATSY'S BIRTHDAY ROUTINE" (Mary Lee), "I'LL GO RIDIN' DOWN THAT OLD TEXAS TRAIL" (Gene Autry, Mary Lee, Smiley Burnette, and Cactus Mack), "TUMBLED DOWN SHACK IN HAVANA" (Virginia Dale), "BLUEBERRY HILL Gene Autry), "LET A SMILE BE YOUR UMBRELLA" (Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Mary Lee, and Extras), "SAIL THE SEVEN SEAS" (Mary Lee and Smiley Burnette), "THERE'S NOTHING LIKE A GOOD OLD-FASHIONED HOEDOWN Gene Autry), "LAST ROUND-UP" (Gene Autry and Studio Singers), "THERE'LL NEVER BE ANOTHER PAL LIKE YOU" (Gene Autry), "I''LL GO RIDIN' DOWN THAT OLD TEXAS TRAIL" (Gene Autry, Virginia Dale, Smiley Burnette, Mary Lee and Extras - - - - - - some Autry fun facts, Gene always preferred his sponsor's product, Wrigley's Doublemint Gum, to smoking.
the cast includes
Gene Autry ... Gene Autry
Smiley Burnette ... Frog
Virginia Dale ... Jo Adams
Mary Lee ... Patsy, Orphan Girl
Spencer Charters ... Judge Starrbottle
Gerald Oliver Smith ... Mr. Dada, the Butler
George Meeker ... John R. Ramsey
Wade Boteler ... Pop Sloan
Harry Stubbs ... James Morgan
Cactus Mack ... Cactus Mack
Jack Kirk ... Flint
Art Dillard ... Henchman
Sam Flint ... Rancher
Monte Montague ... Rancher
Jack O'Shea ... Rancher
Hal Price ... Rancher
Al Taylor ... Rancher
Forrest Taylor ... Rancher
Dan White ... Rancher
BIOS:
1. Gene Autry
Date of Birth: 29 September 1907 - Near Tioga, Texas
Date of Death: 2 October 1998 - Studio City, Los Angeles, California
Special footnote, Orvon Gene Autry was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television --- Discovered by film producer Nat Levine in 1934, he and Burnette made their film debut for Mascot Pictures Corp. "In Old Santa Fe" as part of a singing cowboy quartet; he was then given the starring role by Levine in 1935 in the 12-part serial "The Phantom Empire" --- Shortly thereafter, Mascot was absorbed by the formation of Republic Pictures Corp. and Autry went along to make a further 44 films up to 1940, all B westerns in which he played under his own name, rode his horse Champion, had Burnette as his regular sidekick and had many opportunities to sing in each film --- Autry became the top Western star at the box-office by 1937, reaching his national peak of popularity from 1940 to 1942. His Gene Autry Flying "A" Ranch Rodeo show debuted in 1940 --- Gene Autry is the only celebrity to have five stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one in each of the five categories maintained by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce --- Radio, Films, Recordings, Television and Live Theater.
2. Smiley Burnette (aka: Lester Alvin Burnette)
Date of Birth: 18 March 1911 - Summum, Illinois
Date of Death: 16 February 1967 - Encino, California
Second special footnote, Lester Alvin (Smiley) Burnette an American singer-songwriter who could play as many as 100 different musical instruments, was a successful comedy actor in Western films over three decades --- The popularity of Burnette's Frog Millhouse character, with his trademark floppy black hat, was such that when Autry left for World War II service he did sidekicks duties with Eddie Dew, Sunset Carson and Bob Livingston, plus nine other films with Roy Rogers. After leaving Republic Pictures in 1944, Burnette became the sidekick to Charles Starrett at Columbia Pictures in the long Durango Kid series. Starrett starred in the series from 1944 until 1952, and that pairing resulted in more than 50 films. After the Starrett series was over, Burnette joined Autry for his final six films, all released by Columbia Pictures in 1953.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
1. Reminiscing with Gene Autry and Pat Buttram at the "Melody Ranch Theater"
2. "Don't Touch That Dial", Gene Autry is on the air - excerpts from the Original "Melody Ranch Radio Show"
3. Production and Publicity Stills
4. Horseplay
5. Poster and lobby Card Art
6. Trivia and Movie Facts
7. Original Press Kit Material
Check out a new book from Empire Publishing - "GENE AUTRY WESTERNS" (Hardcover) - by author Boyd Magers, like no other book on Gene Autry --- all of Gene's Mascot, Republic and Columbia westerns included, as well as his half-hour TV Episodes --- each segment contains the release date on each film ... major production credits ... complete cast (including character played) ... all songs included, songwriter and who performed them in the film ... running time of each film ... dates of the filming ... bios on the cast and major players (Smiley, Pat Buttram, Cass County Boys, Herbert J. Yates, directors, leading ladies, songwriters and various heavies, etc.) ... locations that were used ... budgets and negative cost ... stunt people involved ... analysis and synopsis on each film ... notes and comments (including film and cast background info, salaries paid, working titles, etc) ... comments from Gene and many other cast members on each film ... theater exhibitors comments at the time of the films release ...this tribute was written from the heart and it shows.
Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc), Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") and Trevor Scott (Down Under DVD Com) as they have rekindled my interest once again for Film Noir, B-Westerns and Serials --- looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s & '40s and B-Westerns ... order your copy now from Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on DVD --- stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with deadly adventure --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out Image Entertainment where they are experts in releasing B-Westerns --- all my heroes have been cowboys!
Total Time: 75 min on DVD ~ Image Video #3988 ~ (1/20/2004)
Summary of The Singing HillSINGING HILL - DVD Movie
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