The Singing Cowboy Reviews

In this Autry picture, a little girl needs an operation so that she won't be crippled for life. Autry takes off to the big city, where he talks a coffee company into sponsoring a broadcast to raise some money. In order to attract a bigger audience, they decide to use the then-infant medium of television. Audiences of the time must have wondered who would watch, since most people then didn't own a television; nonetheless, and despite the fact that the heroine gets locked in a runaway wagon (forcing the entire ranch out after her), the broadcast is a success and the needed money for the operation is raised. Autry, then nicknamed "Public Cowboy No. 1," once worked on the night shift as a telegraph operator. Legend has it that he bought a guitar to fill in the time and one night was overheard by a stranger who suggested that he try to get on the radio. That stranger was Will Rogers. Autry took Rogers' advice and, after the hit song "That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine" (1929), the rest is history. Autry was known for his high moral standards in his pictures. He almost never kissed the girl and when he did, it was almost always at the nudging of his famous horse, Champion. This picture's songs include: "Rainbow Trail," "My Old Saddle Pal."