Singing Guns

Along around 1950 Herbert J. Yates was starting to lose his bread and butter which were his B picture cowboy stars. The biggest of them was Roy Rogers and he was making noises about going into television as were the others. Yates never recognized that this was the coming trend, so he was looking for more cowboy stars, if they sung so much the better.

Vaughn Monroe was coming off a big hit with Ghost Riders In The Sky so he looked like a good bet. Yates even got him some A list support here with leading lady Ella Raines and Ward Bond as the sheriff and Walter Brennan as the town doctor.

Monroe plays the outlaw Rihannon who has a fabulous store of gold obtained from robbing gold shipments from a mining company who did him dirt and he's getting some literal and figurative payback. Bond trails him successfully, but when they shoot it out Bond is badly wounded. Instead of leaving him to die, Monroe takes him to Brennan and his life is saved. Also a heavy head of hair and beard is shaved off Monroe by Brennan leaving Monroe unrecognizable.

Raines is the local saloon owner and she like what she sees in Monroe. But she also likes money and all three of them have their interest in Monroe.

Singing Guns is a good western though it sure never created a demand for more westerns from Vaughn Monroe. The film even got an Oscar nomination for Best Song when Mule Train was nominated. A whole slew of artists recorded Mule Train back in 1950 and Frankie Laine had the big selling record. But Monroe's version is outstanding.

See if you think Vaughn Monroe could have made it as a western star.

Notorious stagecoach robber Rhiannon (Vaughn Monroe) shoots the new sheriff (War Bond) and then carries him to the doctor/preacher . The doctor cleans up Rhiannon and introduces him to the sheriff as the man who saved his life . A bit later on , Rhiannon is deputized by the judge (Harry Shannon) at the recommendation of the doctor and he becomes torn between his new life and the prospect of robbing the next gold shipment. Along the way , he falls in love for a beautiful Saloon girl (Ella Raines) . The idols of millions ! See and Hear Vaughn sing Mule Train. Max Brand's Famous Adventure Novel! .Greater than ever ! Favorite of millions!

A nice Western with interesting plot and filled with frantic action , pursuits , a family story , betrayal and a lot of shootouts . Notable Western in which singer/actor Vaughn Monroe plays Rhiannon, an outlaw who regularly robs gold from the stagecoach , when he saves the sheriff's life being appointed deputy , then he must wear two hats between his new job that he enjoys and his old occupation that he misses , as Monroe provides the most unusual role of his peculiar career. He sings various attractive songs , such as : ¨Singing My Way Back Home¨ written by Vaughn Monroe (as Wilton Moore) and Al Vann , ¨Mexicali Trail¨ written by Sunny Skylar and Vaughn Monroe and especially the catching ¨Mule Train¨ written by Johnny Lange, Fred Glickman that was one of the biggest hits of 1950 and received an Oscar nomination . The soft-spoken , tall , handsome Monroe delivers a so-so acting as a gunslinger who gets his redemption by posing as a sheriff deputy . Monroe was a famous singer whose signature tune was "Racing With the Moon", was very popular in the 1940s and early 1950s . His band was heard every Sunday on the radio in America and played to full ballrooms everywhere they went .The big band business started losing steam in the early 1950s, and Monroe gave up his band in 1953. For the next 20 years, he worked as a single and on the nightclub circuit . Being accompanied by gorgeous Ella Raines to be followed a successful career particularly in Noir Film . In Singing Guns (1950) stands out a nice support cast with plenty of familar faces , such as : Walter Brennan, Ward Bond , Jeff Corey , Barry Kelley , George Chandler, Rex Lease , Tom Fadden , Harry Shannon , among others .

It has a high level in technician experts , as a thrilling musical score and colorful , adequate cinematography . Being shot on various locations from Sedona, Arizona, USA . The motion picture was well and professionally directed by R. G. Springsteen . This filmmaker made since 1945 for Republic Pictures a number of westerns . As he directed the popular Red Ryder series . After that , he released B Westerns as Cole Younger , Gunfighter , King of the wild stallions , Showdown , He rides calm , Taggart , Bullet for a badman and many others . Subsequently , he made for producer A. C. Lyles and delivered by Paramount Pictures several Western films in low-budget , as follows : Black spurs , Waco , Red Tomahawk , Hostile guns , Johnny Reno . Rating . 6.5/10 . The picture will appeal to Western enthusiasts . Decent and acceptable oater .

'Singing Guns', despite the irrelevant title and the presence in the lead of bandleader & baritone Vaughan Monroe (although he does get to sing), isn't about a singing cowboy, but is instead a good looking, intelligently scripted and well acted psychological western.

With his cold eyes (first seen while holding up a stagecoach with his face covered) Vaughan doesn't look like your typical western hero and he doesn't play one here; but Republic capitalises on his rather unusual presence with another interesting script (from a novel by Max Brand) by siblings Dorrell & Stuart E. McGowan and slick direction from R.G.Springsteen. The Trucolor process not inappropriately makes the film resemble early 20th Century handcoloured postcards, aided by James Sullivan's handsome art direction and Reggie Lanning's atmospheric photography.

Monroe receives reliable support from western veterans Ward Bond and Walter Brennan; and the film also provides a rare opportunity to savour in colour the always fascinating, if here underused, Ella Raines.

Yep, we get a sing-off in this one. Well, it's a sing-off of sorts in that there is only one person doing the singing. But outlaw/interim sheriff Vaughn Monroe (Rhiannon) stands at the bar and holds his ground to sing his song whilst evil town big-shot Jeff Corey (Richards) drinks his whisky. It's a tense situation - this would usually be a gunfight - that is made quite pleasant by Vaughn singing in a seemingly obvious fake baritone. However, this is actually his singing voice. Anyway, the song finishes and, as always in Westerns, there is only one winner!

Monroe plays an outlaw with a stash of gold hidden in a secret mountain hideaway. And he keeps robbing stagecoaches to add to it. Sheriff Ward Bond (Jim) is out to get him brought to justice.

The film has funny moments and benefits from colour, especially when showing off the costumes of Ella Raines (Nan). She is the girl that comes between both our main characters and the story is decided by who she chooses. It's an entertaining film but the ending is somewhat ruined by the Hayes Code rules that cannot portray a crime as going unpunished. I am sure that every viewer can imagine a much better outcome.

So, next time you wander into a bar, square up to some guy and demand that he puts down any weapons and ask him to name a song that he hates. Then just start singing it at him and tell him to stick around to hear the chorus.......

Like tmwest, I saw this when I was a youngster(14), and I was not at all pleased with my absent father after he left my mother, my brother, and I -- just to be with another woman and her baby. So, I was hungry for a hero. I thought Vaughn sang great songs, which I knew well enough to sing along with, and I loved to sing enough that I sang in a couple of choirs, so I latched onto him. My brother sang solos, and I wished I could too. As I recall, the plot was fairly simple, but as I pointed out, it fit the bill of being encouraging entertainment for me, especially since the hero was trying to turn the bad parts of his life around, making me wish my father would, too. He didn't, unfortunately, but I finally did. Wish I had a copy of this film today.