Riders of the Whistling Pines

This is one of my favorite Gene Autry movies. The action starts when Autry thinks he killed the dad of Helen Carter (Patricia Barry) after missing a shot at a mountain lion. Villains Douglass Dumbrille and Damian O'Flynn are very believable in ruthlessly trying to stop Autry from saving the forest. He's not getting much help from Jimmy Lloyd who finds out drinking and flying don't mix. Great to see Harry Cheshire who played Judge Ben Wiley in the TV series Buffalo Bill, Jr. and Clayton Moore, this time playing a henchman. Leon Weaver of The Weaver Brothers and Elviry even gets some great foot stomping music in along the way.

One of my earliest childhood memories was getting home from school and sitting down in the family kitchen to hear "The Lone Ranger" on our big console radio. Of all my first TV heroes, none were bigger or braver than Davy Crockett, Superman and The Lone Ranger (not to forget his "faithful Indian companion and a fiery horse called Silver.") Until now, I'm sure I'd never seen Fess Parker, George Reeves or Clayton Moore as a bad guy. A few hours before this movie aired on cable, I saw the text of the preview box which read "Pete:Clayton Moore" so I was curious to see what color hat he was wearing. Actually, I later found out from IMDb filmographies that Parker, Reeves and Moore had each played villains more than once. Still, I had to wait until the third reel before I could be sure I was seeing Moore. In the first few scenes, what little dialogue he spoke didn't really identify him. But in the last scene he played with Autry, he spoke long enough that his clear deep voice revealed the familiar one we would grow to recognize from the long-running series which began not many months after the release of this film. There's little else about this oater I'd recommend. There are some good but forgettable songs, by Gene and others, just fair action and cinematography, no real romance, and not even a comical sidekick. It's not a great western by any stretch or even one of Autry's best films. For all that, it's still a passable way to spend an hour and ten minutes, which is about the length of one of my church's Sunday morning worship services. Forgive me, Pastor Mark, but Gene Autry's films haven't yet put me to sleep. Now, Rev, if you're hankerin' to liven up the congregation, I'd reckon you might try to wear a Stetson and fire a six-shooter (blanks-loaded, naturally) now and then. Dale Roloff

This is an unusual Gene Autry film because it really is NOT a western. It is set out in the western United States but aside from that and the presence of a few horses, it's not at all what you'd expect from Autry. This is not really a complaint--just an observation about the type of film it is.

When the film begins, Gene has just left the rangers. No, not the type they have from Texas--FOREST rangers. In recognition of his work, they gave him a rifle and Gene uses it to kill a mountain lion that isn't doing anyone any harm. However, at the same time, a baddie shoots another ranger--and Gene assumes his errant shot killed the guy! Well, this plot actually was resolved reasonably quickly and folks realized Gene wasn't a killer--though they didn't catch the baddie responsible until late in the film.

The same jerk-face that killed the ranger is also trying to take advantage of an outbreak of moths that will destroy the timber industry. So, when Gene comes up with a plan to use crop dusters and the miracle pesticide DDT, this evil jerk starts poisoning animals and blaming Gene! What's next? See the film.

This is a reasonably entertaining B-movie. It's also of particular interest to music historians, as in addition to Gene's contributions to early country music, there also is some very early gospel music in this one. Overall, worth seeing if you are a fan.

Gene Autry works for the Forestry Service. He shoots at a wildcat with his new rifle, but misses. Meanwhile Damian O'Flynn shoots and kills forest ranger Jason Robards Sr, who has been lax in enforcing regulations, but has reached his limit. Gene thinks he killed Robards, until it later turns out that he couldn't have. Time to investigate. Meanwhile, moths are infesting the forest, killing the trees, which suits loggers Douglas Dumbrille, O'Flynn, and company just fine. If the trees are dead, they can harvest them all. When Autry starts supervising dousing everything in DDT, they spread rumors about its deadliness, and poison animals nearby to make the lie look better.

It's a well written episode in Autry's films for Columbia, even if the evidence of DDT's major problems became evident in the decade following. Jimmy Lloyd is on hand as Gene's frequently depressed assistant; his wife, played by a picture of Marilyn Monroe, died while he was at war. Clayton Moore is a henchman, and Leon Weaver is present to please fans who missed his appearances in Republic Pictures movies. Gene sings several songs, including "It's My Lazy Day" and "Hair of Gold", backed by the Cass County Boys, and we can be assured that everything will turn out all right within 70 minutes.

As a huge fan of The Lone Ranger, watching this, I couldn't help saying, "Oh, no, Lone! What made you go wrong?" It was odd to hear Clayton Moore's voice as a baddie. Apparently, this movie was released only months before the Lone Ranger series on TV began in 1949. So, in the end, Lone turned to the good side, and everything was right in the Force.

Gene Autry and Hopalong Cassidy were OK, but The Lone Ranger, Tonto and Roy Rogers were my TV cowboy show heroes. Hi yo, Silver! ... c'mon Bullet.