''The Old Chisholm Trail'' 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 written and directed by

Elmer Clifton Elmer Clifton (March 14, 1890 – October 15, 1949) was an American writer, director and actor from the early silent days. A collaborator of D.W. Griffith, he appeared in ''The Birth of a Nation'' (1915) and ''Intolerance'' (1916) before giving ...

. The film stars

Johnny Mack Brown John Brown (September 1, 1904 – November 14, 1974) was an American college football player and film actor billed as John Mack Brown at the height of his screen career. He acted and starred mainly in Western (genre), Western films. Early lif ...

Tex Ritter Woodward Maurice Ritter (January 12, 1905 – January 2, 1974) was a pioneer of American country music, a popular singer and actor from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter acting family (son John, grandsons Jason and ...

Fuzzy Knight John Forrest "Fuzzy" Knight (May 9, 1901 – February 23, 1976) was an American film and television actor. He was also a singer, especially in his early career. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1928 and 1967, usually as a cowboy h ...

Jennifer Holt Jennifer Holt (born Elizabeth Marshall Holt; November 10, 1920 – September 21, 1997) was an American actress. Early years She was born in Hollywood, California, to actor Jack Holt and his wife, Margaret Woods. She was the sister of wes ...

Mady Correll Mady Correll (1907 – 1981) was a Canadian-American actress. She made her screen debut in Midnight Madonna after years on Broadway theatre and later starred in Monsieur Verdoux. Career Correll acted in various Broadway theatre shows including '' ...

and

Earle Hodgins Earle Hodgins (October 6, 1893 – April 14, 1964) was an American actor. Career Early in his career, Hodgins was active in stock theater, including working in the Ralph Cloninger troupe of Salt Lake City, Utah, and the Siegel Stock compan ...

. The film was released on December 11, 1942, by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

Plot

Ranch owner Belle Turner (

) owns one of the few properties along the Old Chisolm Trail that has badly-needed water for cattlemen driving their herds to Abilene, but charges exorbitant fees in return. Not willing to pay Belle five dollars a head of steer for water, Dusty Gardner (

) and his fellow cattlemen detour his herd to Lost River, where he meets Mary Lee (

), the blond proprietor of the local trading post, and gambler Montana Smith (

). Since the river mysteriously ran dry, Mary has to ship water in to keep her business alive. Realizing that Belle has illegally diverted the water from the river, Dusty goes into the town of Gunsight to get an injunction against Belle but the town sheriff offers little help and instead recommends that Dusty and Belle meet at Mary’s trading post to work out their differences. During the meeting Belle's men stampede Dusty’s unattended herd onto her land and she informs Dusty that she’s holding the herd hostage until he pays her the fees she originally demanded. Furious at her maneuvering, Mary confronts Belle and the two women fight each other. Belle storms out of the trading post with her men having lost the fight with Mary. Subsequently, Dusty and the other cattlemen decide to leave their herds on Belle’s ranch to "fatten up," while they pursue an attempt to drill for their own water supply. Belle learns of their plans and has her men sabotage the drilling equipment. Realizing the nature of Belle’s ways, Montana double-crosses Belle and helps Dusty buy new equipment. Belle, seeking revenge against Mary, sends her men to attack the trading post. During the ensuing battle, one of Dusty’s men drops a bundle of dynamite down the well and strikes water. Belle and her gang are then captured, and Montana rides off, leaving Dusty and Mary together. During the movie, Montana sings several songs with Mary and his men, including

in the role of Alvin.

Cast

as Dusty Gardner *

as Montana Smith *

as Alvin Pendergast *

as Mary Lee *

as Belle Turner *

as Chief Hopping Crow *

Roy Barcroft Roy Barcroft (born Howard Harold Ravenscroft; September 7, 1902 – November 28, 1969) was an American character actor famous for playing villains in B-Westerns and other genres. From 1937 to 1957, he appeared in more than 300 films for R ...

as Ed Phillips *

Edmund Cobb Edmund Fessenden Cobb (June 23, 1892 – August 15, 1974) was an American actor who appeared in more than 620 films between 1912 and 1966. Biography Cobb was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the son of William Henry Cobb and Eddie (Edmundi ...

as Joe Rankin *

Budd Buster Budd Leland Buster (June 14, 1891 – December 22, 1965), usually credited as Budd Buster (and sometimes Bud Buster), was an American actor known for B western films. He sometimes was credited as George Selk in his later work. Early life Bus ...

as Hank

Production

The Old Chisholm Trail was the third in a series of three Universal films starring Johnny Mack Brown and Tex Ritter, following

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 ...

and

Little Joe, the Wrangler ''Little Joe, the Wrangler'' is a 1942 American Western film directed by Lewis D. Collins and written by Sherman L. Lowe and Elizabeth Beecher. The film stars Johnny Mack Brown, Tex Ritter, Fuzzy Knight, Jennifer Holt, Florine McKinney and ...

. All three films were released by Universal in 1942 and also starred Jennifer Holt, Fuzzy Knight and the Jimmy Wakely Trio. ''The Old Chisholm Trail'' was the only one of the three movies where Tex Ritter sang two songs. "The highlight of the film" wrote one reviewer, "was the

catfight Catfight (also girl fight) is a term for an altercation between two females, often characterized as involving scratching, shoving, slapping, choking, punching, kicking, biting, spitting, hair-pulling, and shirt-shredding. It can also be used to d ...

between the villain and the blond proprietor of the local saloon."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Old Chisholm Trail (film) 1942 films 1940s English-language films American black-and-white films American Western (genre) films 1942 Western (genre) films Universal Pictures films Films directed by Elmer Clifton Films with screenplays by Harry L. Fraser 1940s American films