Moonlight on the Prairie

It was sometimes said that, contrary to the popular view, Hollywood consisted of western movies with a thin layer of 'A' pictures and almost all of the major studios had a western unit or sometimes two. For Warner Brothers from 1935-1937, they had a series of Dick Foran starring in singing cowboy westerns -- a kitchen sink genre if there ever was one, with western action for the boy and singing for the girls.

This one, the first of the series, has a plot with something for everyone, as Dick helps a small boy and his pretty widowed mother make good his claim to his father's ranch. Dick is a bit stagy for the movies at this point, but the direction by Ross Lederman is typically efficient and the cinematography by Fred Jackman Junior -- he started out at the Roach studio -- is exceedingly handsome. It's the pictures that make this one worthwhile, not Foran's deep baritone.

Dick Foran is "Ace", in this typical western from 1935. and Smoke the wonder horse gets second billing! Galloping, galloping. mistaken identity. false accusations. and singing cowboys. we did say this was a typical western. Ace is trying to get the widder Roberts (Sheila Bromley) back to her property, but has to dodge his accusers to do it. Filmed in the beautiful rocky hills of Lone Pine. Check out the old western filming sets and the western film museum if you haven't been to the Alabama Hills. Beautiful country. George Stone is supporting role Zeno in a comic role (sort of). There seems to be no law in this corner, so even when they think they have things worked out, troubles keep popping up! Joe Sawyer is the bad guy here, and keeps bouncing back to cause more trouble. It's all pretty okay. moves along. ends kind of corny. more singing cowboys. Directed by old pro Ross Lederman.

Warner Bros. Trying to get in on some of that "singing cowboy" popularity that Republic was succeeding at with Gene Autry. The filmmakers seem to have more craft skills--some nice camera placement & moves (particularly when he finally breaks out in song), & decent back-screen projection.

But the plot is literally all over the place, makes no logical sense, and requires a lot of expository dialogue. Supposedly, Foran's wanted for murder--but that's conveniently forgotten. The kid and his Mom are under threat of physical violence by guys trying to take their ranch away--except when they aren't. Foran's sidekick is an expert escape artist...except not always. WTF? Republic knew how to craft a simple yet workable story--this is all over the place...

And the kid is obnoxious--showing up at the wrong time, saying the wrong things, etc. By the end, I was hoping Foran would side with the villains & let them take the ranch away from the brat...

Moonlight On The Prarie marked the debut of Dick Foran as Warner Brothers singing cowboy, their answer to Republic and Gene Autry. Foran had a really nice singing voice and I always thought he should have done more musicals, his tenor was far more suitable to those roles. In fact he eventually did star on Broadway in a revival of A Connecticut Yankee.

In this film Foran is accused of murder and we meet him performing in a wild west show as he is a fugitive on said charge. But when he hears of the widow of the deceased Sheila Bromley going to claim her inheritance with son Dick Jones, Foran and sidekick go back to clear his name and set things right for her. The sidekick was George E. Stone who is clearly more suitable to urban type films.

A couple of real bottom feeding villains in Robert Barrat and Joe Sawyer are the folks responsible and of course they're brought to justice. Another cowboy hero to be, Wild Bill Elliott, has a small role as another friend of Foran's.

Foran sings the title song and the much better known Covered Wagon Days and does them well. The plot is a little silly however, especially when Dick Jones almost turns the tables on the good guys by going out to 'help'.

Not a bad film and certainly better than the B westerns coming from poverty row outfits, still could have used a little improvement.