''Ride, Tenderfoot, Ride'' is a 1940 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 Frank McDonald and starring

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

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 ...

, and

June Storey Mary June Storey (April 20, 1918 – December 18, 1991) was a Canadian-born American film actress who appeared in 45 films during the 1930s and 1940s. She was leading lady to cowboy singer Gene Autry in 10 films. Early years Storey was bor ...

. Written by Winston Miller, based on a story by

Betty Burbridge Elizabeth Burbridge (December 7, 1895 – September 19, 1987) was an American screenwriter and actress, best known for her Western screenplays. Biography Elizabeth Burbridge was born in San Diego, California, on December 7, 1895, the granddaugh ...

and Connie Lee, the film is about a singing cowboy who inherits a meat-packing plant and must face stiff competition from a beautiful business rival.

Plot

Singing cowboy Gene Autry (

) and his sidekick Frog Millhouse (

) work on a ranch owned by Ann Randolph (

). Gene is unaware that he has just inherited the Belmont Packing Company. While Gene and Frog take the cattle to market, Gene has an argument with Ann who fires them both, giving them one of the steers as back pay. Later the local sheriff, seeing a Randolph steer in the possession of the two cowboys, arrests Gene and Frog on suspicion of cattle rustling. Attorney Henry Walker (Forbes Murray), who has been searching for the singing cowboy, finally locates Gene at the jail and informs him of his inheritance. After being released from jail, Gene takes possession of the Belmont Packing Company. Ann, who owns a rival packing company, had plans to merge the two companies under her ownership. Now she is dismayed to learn that the man she just fired is now her main business competitor. Ann's conniving general manager and fiancé, Donald Gregory (Warren Hull), convinces her to feign romantic interest in Gene and sweet talk him into selling his company to her. At first the plan appears to work, and Gene agrees to Ann's offer and signs a contract of sale. Later, when he learns that Gregory plans to close the plant putting all his employees out of work, Gene tears up the contract and decides to stay in the packing business. Gene soon learns that his biggest business challenge is having enough cattle to fill the distribution demands. He initiates a campaign to convince the ranchers to sell their stock to his Belmont Packing Company, and soon the contracts start coming in. Ann responds with her own campaign, however, appealing to ranchers with a "helpless woman" routine. When he notices her success, Gene changes tactics and starts a new campaign, singing to the ranchers and organizing parades in an effort to win their business, and the campaign succeeds. Unable to compete with legitimate business approaches, Gregory orders his men to use violence to stop the singing cowboy. Ann's little sister Patsy ( Mary Lee), who has a crush on Gene, overhears Gregory's men plotting to dynamite the dam and flood the valley. After she warns Gene of Gregory's scheme, Gene rides off and intercepts Gregory's henchmen before they can plant their explosives. Soon after, Gregory is indicted for sabotage, and Gene and Ann form a business alliance as well as a romantic relationship.

Cast

as Gene Autry *

as Frog Millhouse *

as Ann Randolph * Mary Lee as Patsy Randolph *

Warren Hull John Warren Hull (January 17, 1903 – September 14, 1974), known professionally as Warren Hull, was an American actor, singer and television personality active from the 1930s through the 1960s. He was one of the most popular serial actors in t ...

as Donald Gregory * Forbes Murray as Attorney Henry Walker * Joe McGuinn as Henchman Martin * Joe Frisco as Haberdasher * Isabel Randolph as Miss Spencer * Herbert Clifton as Butler Andrews * Mildred Shay as Stewardess * Si Jenks as Sheriff *

Cindy Walker Cindy Walker (July 20, 1917 – March 23, 2006) was an American songwriter, country music singer, and dancer. She wrote many popular and enduring songs recorded by many artists. She adopted a craftsman-like approach to her songwriting, ofte ...

as Singer with The Pacemakers * The Pacemakers as Singers *

Slim Whitaker Charles Orbie "Slim" Whitaker (July 29, 1893 – June 27, 1960) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 340 films between 1914 and 1949. He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and died in Los Angeles, California, from a heart attack ...

as Rancher (uncredited) * Champion as Gene's Horse (uncredited)

Production

Filming and budget

''Ride, Tenderfoot, Ride'' was filmed June 28 to July 12, 1940. The film had an operating budget of $74,965 (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'', can have promotional expenses that are much larger than the ne ...

of $74,443.

Stuntwork

* Joe Yrigoyen (Gene Autry's stunt double) * Jack Kirk (Smiley Burnette's stunt double) * Nellie Walker (June Storey's stunt double)

Filming locations

* Chatsworth Railroad Station,

Chatsworth, Los Angeles Chatsworth is a suburban neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley. The area around the town was home to Native Americans, who left caves containing rock art. Chatsworth was explored and colonized by the Spanish Empire ...

, California, USA *

Corriganville Movie Ranch __NOTOC__ Corriganville Movie Ranch was a working film studio and movie ranch for outdoor location shooting, as well as a Western-themed tourist attraction. The ranch, owned by actor and stuntman Ray "Crash" Corrigan, was located in the foothill ...

, Simi Valley, California, USA * Agoura Ranch *

Lake Hemet Lake Hemet is a water storage reservoir located in the San Jacinto Mountains in Mountain Center, Riverside County, California, with a capacity of of water. It was created in 1895 with the construction of Lake Hemet Dam. Originally built by a ...

, Riverside County, California, USA *

Palmdale, California Palmdale is a city in northern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city lies in the Antelope Valley of Southern California. The San Gabriel Mountains separate Palmdale from the Los Angeles Basin to the south. On August 24, 1962 ...

, USA

Soundtrack

* "Ride, Tenderfoot, Ride" (Richard A. Whiting, Johnny Mercer) by Mary Lee
"Ride, Tenderfoot, Ride"
by Gene Autry, Mary Lee, and June Storey * "When the Work's All Done This Fall" (D.J. O'Malley) by Gene Autry * "Eleven More Months and Ten More Days" (Fred Hall, Arthur Fields) by Gene Autry and Smiley Burnette in jail * " Woodpecker Song" ( Eldo Di Lazzaro, Bruno Cherubini, Harold Adamson) by Gene Autry and Mary Lee * "That Was Me by the Sea" (Smiley Burnette) by Smiley Burnette * "Leanin' on the Ole Top Rail" (

Charles Kenny Charles Francis Kenny (June 23, 1898 – January 20, 1992) was an American composer, lyricist, author, and violinist. He was born in Astoria, New York. His hit songs include "There's a Gold Mine in the Sky", "Love Letters in the Sand", "Laughi ...

, Nick Kenny) by Gene Autry
"Oh! Oh! Oh!"
(Gene Autry, Johnny Marvin) by Cindy Walker, Mary Lee with The Pacemakers and Others * "On the Range" (Gene Autry, Johnny Marvin) by Gene Autry and CowhandsMagers 2007, pp. 169–170.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * *

External links

* * {{TCMDb title, 88216, Ride, Tenderfoot, Ride 1940 films 1940 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films American black-and-white films Republic Pictures films Films scored by Raoul Kraushaar Films directed by Frank McDonald 1940s English-language films 1940s American films English-language Western (genre) films