Comin' 'Round the Mountain

To my way of thinking both Gene Autry and Roy Rogers made their best movies in the early days before fame and fortune gave them grandiose ideas of Hollywood greatness. So Many of their later movies were not much difference from the gala Hollywood musicals of the day. Then their post-war films lacked the drive and stamina of their early works. Comin' 'Round the Mountain does have a few musical numbers in it, including the title song, but they blend in without too much slowing down taking place. The credits given for the movie by IMDb list the horse El Diablo as Champion, but it looks like a different champion than the one later ridden by Gene. In this movie El Diablo is one of the stars and does an excellent job in his roll to keep the mustangs under Gene's control. Smiley is around with his usual sophomoric humor. This time he does have a few funny moments, for example riding the wrong way in the horse race and coming in first at the starting post. Smiley Burnett was a very talented and gifted musician and songwriter but left a little to be desired in the humor department. I always thought he appealed more to the preschooler set. The lovely Ann Rutherford is around for the romantic interests of Gene and his arch rival Matt Ford. The movie is of interest also because it depicts the brief but colorful attempt to deliver the US mail by pony express. As with most of the B westerns there is also the added attraction of on-location shooting. The scenery of the West with the galloping mustangs is shot in beautiful black and white that should appeal to any naturalist or lover of the picturesque. I highly recommend this movie to any Gene Autry fan or any true lover of the old Saturday matinée cowboy movie.