''Heart of the Rio Grande'' is a 1942 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by William Morgan and starring

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...

Smiley Burnette Lester Alvin Burnett (March 18, 1911 – February 16, 1967), better known as Smiley Burnette, was an American country music performer and a comedic actor in Western films and on radio and TV, playing sidekick to Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and ...

Fay McKenzie Eunice Fay McKenzie (February 19, 1918 – April 16, 2019) was an American actress and singer. She starred in silent films as a child, and then sound films as an adult, but perhaps she is best known for her leading roles opposite Gene Autry ...

, and

Edith Fellows Edith Marilyn Fellows (May 20, 1923 – June 26, 2011) was an American actress who became a child star in the 1930s. Best known for playing orphans and street urchins, Fellows was an expressive actress with a good singing voice. She made her ...

. Based on a story by Newlin B. Wildes, the film is about a singing cowboy and dude ranch foreman who helps a spoiled teenager and her business tycoon father discover what is most important in life. The film features the songs "Let Me Ride Down in Rocky Canyon", "

Deep in the Heart of Texas "Deep in the Heart of Texas" is an American popular song about Texas. The 1941 song features lyrics by June Hershey and music by Don Swander. There were no fewer than five versions in the Billboard charts in 1942. "Deep in the Heart of Texas" s ...

", "Dusk on the Painted Desert", and "Rainbow In the Night" performed by Edith Fellows.Magers 2007, pp. 205–206.

Plot

Spoiled teenager Connie Lane (

) has no desire to join her classmates on a two-month vacation at the Smoke River Dude Ranch. Even her caring teacher, Alice Bennett (

), is unable to persuade her. Connie runs off to her father, business tycoon Randolph Lane (

Pierre Watkin Pierre Frank Watkin (December 29, 1887 – February 3, 1960) was an American character actor best known for playing distinguished authority figures throughout the Golden Age of Hollywood. He is best remembered for his roles of Mr. Skinner the b ...

), and pleads with him not to send her away. Preoccupied with business matters and too busy to notice how spoiled his daughter has become, Lane dismisses her and sends her away to spend the summer with her classmates at the ranch. Meanwhile, Smoke River's ex-foreman, Hap Callahan (

William Haade William Haade (March 2, 1903 – November 15, 1966) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 250 films between 1937 and 1957. He was born in New York City and died in Los Angeles, California. Haade was a construction boss until ...

), is not pleased with the new foreman, Gene Autry (

), and how he turned the place into a dude ranch. Gene reminds him that ranch owner "Skipper" Forbes (

Sarah Padden Sarah Ann Padden (16 October 1881 – 4 December 1967) was an English-born American theatre and film character actress. She performed on stage in the early 20th century. Her best-known single-act performance was in ''The Clod'', a stage pro ...

) hired him because Hap's mismanagement drove the ranch into debt. When the train arrives at Smoke River carrying Alice and the girls, Connie bribes the porter to keep her luggage on the train. In the confusion, no one notices that Connie hasn't disembarked until the train pulls away. Gene races after the train on his horse, Champion, and brings the willful youngster back to the ranch. While Gene and his sidekick Frog Millhouse (

) compete for Alice's attention, Connie complains about being stuck on an unsophisticated ranch. Despite the best efforts of Alice, Connie quickly manages to turn everyone at the ranch against her—everyone except Gene. The next day, after Hap ignores Gene's order to fix the brakes on the ranch truck, Connie steals the vehicle in another attempt to escape. When the brakes fail and Connie's life is endangered, Gene rides to her rescue, but not before the truck crashes. Instead of being grateful, Connie is angry with Gene for preventing her escape. Looking to exact revenge, she uses lipstick to mark up her back so it looks like she's been whipped, takes photographs of her injuries, and then sends them off to her father. Later, when she learns that Gene took responsibility for the truck's destruction, a grateful Connie tells him she wants to reward him for the favor. Gene tells her that people should do favors for each other out of friendship, not for rewards. When Gene and Hap stage a contest to determine the better rider, Connie sees her opportunity to repay the favor—she tampers with Hap's saddle. During his ride, the saddle comes loose and Hap is hurt in a fall. When Gene discovers the sabotage, Connie admits to her mischief. Angered by Connie's actions, Hap draws his gun at Gene, who fires him. Surprised that Gene would come to her defense, Connie is finally won over, and as the weeks pass, the two become good friends. Connie's happiness is short-lived, however, when her father arrives at the dude ranch, enraged by the photographs he received from her. When he demands that she leave with him immediately, she explains that the photos were a prank, but he is unconvinced. After Frog disables his plane and Gene goads him into accompanying them on a roundup, the business tycoon decides to stay. During the roundup, Lane discovers that he enjoys the outdoors and spending time with his daughter. As the group moves through a narrow mountain pass, Hap shoots at Gene and misses, but the sound causes the horses to stampede. Just as Connie is about to be trampled, Gene rides in and saves her. After they return to the ranch, Lane finally acknowledges that his daughter is more important than his business. Sending his secretaries away, he joins the others on a music-filled hayride.

Cast

as Gene Autry *

as Frog Millhouse *

as Alice Bennett *

as Connie Lane *

as Randolph Lane * Joe Strauch Jr. as Tadpole Millhouse *

as Hap Callahan *

as "Skipper" Forbes *

Jean Porter Bennie Jean Porter (December 8, 1922 – January 13, 2018) was an American film and television actress. She was notable for her roles in ''The Youngest Profession'' (1943), ''Bathing Beauty'' (1944), ''Abbott and Costello in Hollywood'' (1945), ...

as Pudge * Jimmy Wakely Trio as Singing Ranch Hands * Champion as Gene's Horse (uncredited)

Production

Filming and budget

''Heart of the Rio Grande'' was filmed January 9–29, 1942. The film had an operating budget of $86,115 (equal to $ today), and a

negative cost Negative cost is the net expense to produce and shoot a film, excluding such expenditures as distribution and promotion. Low-budget movies, for example ''The Blair Witch Project ''The Blair Witch Project'' is a 1999 American supernatural h ...

of $92,432.

Filming locations

Bronson Canyon Bronson Canyon, or Bronson Caves, is a section of Griffith Park in Los Angeles that has become known as a filming location for many films and television series, especially Westerns and science fiction, from the early days of motion pictures to the ...

, Griffith Park, 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA * Chatsworth Railroad Station,

Chatsworth, Los Angeles Chatsworth is a suburban neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley. The area was home to Native Americans, some of whom left caves containing rock art. Chatsworth was explored and colonized by the Spanish be ...

, USA *

Iverson Ranch A movie ranch is a ranch that is at least partially dedicated for use as a set in the creation and production of motion pictures and television shows. These were developed in the United States in southern California, because of the climate. The fir ...

, 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA * Janss Ranch,

Conejo Valley The Conejo Valley is a region spanning both southeastern Ventura County and northwestern Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States. It is located in the northwestern part of the Greater Los Angeles Area. Communities in the Conejo ...

, California, USA *

Morrison Ranch, Agoura Hills, California Morrison Ranch is a residential district of the city of Agoura Hills, located in the Simi Hills of western Los Angeles County, southern California. The Lake Lindero neighborhood and the Ventura Freeway (101) are to the south, and Westlake Villag ...

, USA * Republic Pictures Backlot, Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Stuntwork

* Yakima Cunutt * Ken Cooper * Evelyn Finley (Fay McKenzie's stunt double) * Bud Geary * Clara Strong (Cecil Cunningham's stunt double) * Ken Terrell * Tex Terry (Smiley Burnette's stunt double) * Bud Wolfe * Joe Yrigoyen (Gene Autry's stunt double)

Propaganda

Like many war-time films, "doing their part for the war", this one includes a short scene wherein Autry suggests to his ranch hands, after he pays them their wages, that instead of losing their money playing poker, that they might want to buy

war bonds War bonds (sometimes referred to as Victory bonds, particularly in propaganda) are debt securities issued by a government to finance military operations and other expenditure in times of war without raising taxes to an unpopular level. They are a ...

Soundtrack

* "Let Me Ride Down in Rocky Canyon" (Gene Autry, Ray Whitley, Fred Rose) by Gene Autry and the cowboys * "Deep in the Heart of Texas" (Don Swander, June Hershey) by Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, and Joe Strauch Jr. * "Dusk on the Painted Desert" (Al Frisch, Don George, Helen Bernard) by Gene Autry * "Oh Woe Is Me" (Smiley Burnette) by Smiley Burnette * "A Rumble Seat For Two" (Johnny Marvin, Frankie Marvin) by Gene Autry * "Rancho Pillow" (Charles Newman, Allie Wrubel) by Gene Autry and the Jimmy Wakely Trio * "Rainbow In the Night" (Sol Meyer, Jule Styne) by Edith Fellows * "Cimarron" (Johnny Bond) by the Jimmy Wakely Trio * "I'll Wait For You" (Gene Autry, Fred Rose) by Gene Autry and Fay McKenzie

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * *

External links

* * * {{allmovie title, 21897, Heart of the Rio Grande 1942 films 1942 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films American black-and-white films Republic Pictures films Films directed by William Morgan (director) Films scored by Raoul Kraushaar 1940s English-language films 1940s American films