how to bring a ghost town and a dead gold mine back to life
by Douglas Messerli
Betty Burbridge and Luci Ward (screenplay,
based on a story by Bernard McConville), Joseph Kane (director) Man from
Music Mountain / 1938
Joseph Kane’s 1938 film featuring the handsome
singing cowboy Gene Autry is a rather mindless if charming story about a group
of crooked land developers, headed by John Scanlon (Ivan Miller) who convince
poor dirt farmers, innocent female beauticians, and dozens of other rubes
including Autry’s best friend, Frog Millhouse (Smiley Burnette) to invest and
move into a ghost town near
Autry and his cowhands, who live on a ranch nearby, return from a long
cattle trail to find the area in complete upheaval, realizing that with Scanlon
involved, there is nothing honest about the deal. Autry, indeed, soon uncovers
an article from a newspaper that reports that the Boulder Dam administrators have
no intention of connecting the dead mining town with their water power and
electricity, and he threatens to expose Scanlon; but those who have put their
entire life earnings in this folly refuse to believe him, although they begin
suffering, their shops remaining empty, and no customers rushing through their
doors.
While racing across the rough back roads, the busses bringing in the
newcomers, spook the horses of an older wagon driver with his grandson aboard,
eventually killing the older man. And Autry inherits a son, Buddy (Al Terry),
an event which, strangely enough, is not truly developed. Only early on does
Buddy appear, and then only occasionally, although we’re told that Autry has
adopted him. Presumably he is cared for by Autry’s black servant who we later
meet in a fairly racist scene.
Nonetheless, there are other bigger issues to resolve. How can Autry
help these poor fools get their money back. At first he simply tries to help
them out financially, secretly paying their grocery bills and even patronizing
the beauty shop to get his nails manicured by the lovely, Helen Foster (Carol
Hughes), who runs the shop with her friends Patsy (Sally Payne) and Mirandy
Higgins (Lillian Drew). Spotted in the shop by his cowpoke friends Frog and a
couple of others, they go into a slapstick routine, singing “Love, Burning
Love,” Smiley sashaying and mincing about as the other cowhand’s female lover,
the third playing the guitar. They dance in, mocking their boss with the
lyrics:
Somebody’s branding his heart with love,
Love burning love.
Somebody’s lost on the trail of love,
Love burning love.
He’ll being picking petals of off daisies soon
He’ll go loco as a calf out under the moon.
In
revenge for their antics, he forces one to get a facial, another a permed
hairdo, and Frog to get a manicure complete with painted nails, Autry, in turn,
singing:
You look so handsome with wavy hair,
Love burning love.
Those dainty fingers need lots of care,
Love burning love.
Faces tough as leather don’t amount to much,
Now you’ve got the kind of skin a girl loves
to touch.
Who’d have thought that Gene Autry would have been able to sneak in a
fairly openly gay campy scene in the height of Joseph Breen’s censorial powers?
Don’t take my word for it; this scene is included in the film Gay Gay
Hollywood released by Mizzell Films in 1980.
Back to serious business: in order to trick Scanlon into buying back the
contracts of the numerous rubes, Autry sprinkles the old mine with a sack of
gold nuggets he had in his safe, sending Frog back into town to ostentatiously
belly up the bar, paying from the sack of gold he has supposedly found in the
old mine. Without naming the source, he convinces Scanlon and his men to check
out the Betsy Lee, presuming that finding the traces of gold there they will want
to buy back the contracts. But Autry’s young son, Buddy, who has trailed
Scanlon’s gang there, scurries back to town to tell the citizens that gold has
been discovered, ruining Autry plans as suddenly the new citizens of Gold River
believe the mine will now attract hundreds of prospectors to the area. As Autry
attempts once more to convince them the truth, they again ignore him, now
believing that he’s the scam instead of Scanlon.
People do indeed rush to the small town and the Boulder power people
determine to light up the town and provide running water. But Autry realizes
that once again when they discover there is no real gold in the mine, the
townspeople will be left without any customers.
In
another attempt to trick Scanlon, Autry pretends that he plans to bring the
mine back to life, asking for loan of $50,000 for mining equipment and money to
pay the townspeople for the mining rights. This time, suspecting a trick,
Scanlon sends his men out once more to check out the mine while the town
celebrates its new electrical hookup.
Having rigged up a warning system to the mine, Frog reports to Autry
that Scanlon’s gang must have tripped the wire, and the two rush off to stop
them while Scanlon himself gets ready to buy out the townspeople’s mining
rights. The meetup of Autry and the crooks ends in a shootout with Autry and
Frog taking refuge in the mine, moving off to a space they haven’t visited
before. There they do truly discover a rock with gold lode within. The mine
isn’t dead after all! Now they must rush to town to tell their friends not
to sell out their rights. As a letterboxd commentator (PUNQ) wrote: “There is
gold... No, there isn't... Yes, there is! Maybe....”
Despite several attempted ambushes, Frog and Autry get back to town just
in time to prevent the sale. The townspeople, now provided with utilities and
assured of a real goldmine will be rich! And just maybe Gene can sing another
song or two to Helen before he goes back off to the lonesome trail.
Los Angeles, October 1, 2023
Reprinted from World Cinema Review (October
2023).
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