''Tumbling Tumbleweeds'' is a 1935 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

Joseph Kane Jasper Joseph Inman Kane (March 19, 1894, San Diego – August 25, 1975, Santa Monica, California) was an American film director, film producer, film editor and screenwriter. He is best known for his extensive directorship and focus on Western fi ...

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 ...

, and

Lucile Browne Lucile Ruth Browne (March 18, 1907 – May 10, 1976) was an American film actress. She starred opposite John Wayne in the 1935 films '' Texas Terror'' and '' Rainbow Valley''. Personal life The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harris L. Browne, ...

. Written by

Ford Beebe Ford Beebe (November 26, 1888 – November 26, 1978) was a screenwriter and Film director, director. He entered the film business as a writer around 1916 and over the next 60 years wrote and/or directed almost 200 films. He specialized in B-movi ...

, the film is about a cowboy who returns home after a five-year absence to find his father murdered and his boyhood pal accused of the dastardly deed. ''Tumbling Tumbleweeds'' features the songs "Riding Down the Canyon", "

That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine "That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine" was Gene Autry's first hit record in 1932, written and performed with fellow railroadman Jimmy Long. Thanks to his new career as a singing cowboy in 1935, it became one his biggest. Writing and recording Jimm ...

", and the

Bob Nolan Bob Nolan (born Clarence Robert Nobles; April 13, 1908 – June 16, 1980, name changed to Robert Clarence Nobles in 1929) was a Canadian-born American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was a founding member of the Sons of the Pioneers, and compo ...

classic "

Tumbling Tumbleweeds "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" is a song composed by Bob Nolan. Although one of the most famous songs associated with the Sons of the Pioneers, the song was composed by Nolan in the 1930s, while working as a caddy and living in Los Angeles. Originally ti ...

Plot

Gene Autry (

) returns to his home after a five-year absence as a singing cowboy with a group of strolling players that includes Smiley (

) and Eightball (Eugene Jackson), who sell Dr. Parker's Painless Panacea. Gene's father, a cattle baron and one of the original "nesters" in the West, was recently murdered during a conflict with his landlord. While at an abandoned nester's cabin, the group is held up by Harry Brooks (Cornelius Keefe), whom Gene recognizes as his old friend. Wounded and semi-delirious, Harry induces Gene to hide him from the posse headed by Sheriff Manley (George Burton). The deputy later returns and tries to shoot Harry, but Gene chases him away. In town, the deputy reports to Barney Craven (Edward Hearn), leader of a gang which is trying to silence Harry. Meanwhile, Gene and his friends set up a performance in town, but it is interrupted by Craven's men, who report that Harry is wanted for the murder of Gene's father. Hastening to Harry's home, Gene confronts his former sweetheart Janet, now Harry's wife, and meets Janet's younger sister Jerry (

), whom he had only known as a girl. They assure Gene of Harry's innocence and reveal that Harry and Gene's father were about to sign a settlement over disputed water rights. Now suspicious of Craven, Gene captures Craven, the deputy, and their cohorts by a series of clever ruses that land them in jail, and thereby vindicates Harry. Gene and Jerry marry and join Smiley and Eightball on the departing Parker wagon.Magers 2007, p. 27.

Cast

as Gene Autry *

as Smiley *

as Jerry *

George "Gabby" Hayes George Francis "Gabby" Hayes (7 May 1885 – 9 February 1969) was an American actor. He began as something of a leading man and a character player, but he was best known for his numerous appearances in B-Western film series as the bewhiskered, c ...

as Dr. Parker * Norma Taylor as Janet Brooks * Edward Hearn as Barney Craven * Eugene Jackson as Eightball * Jack Rockwell as McWade * George Chesebro as Henchman Connors * Frankie Marvin as Shorty * Cornelius Keefe as Harry Brooks (uncredited) * George Burton as Sheriff Manley (uncredited) * Bob Card as Deputy (uncredited) * Champion as Gene's Horse (uncredited)Magers 2007, pp. 26–27.

Production

Filming and budget

''Tumbling Tumbleweeds'' was filmed July 6–12, 1935. The film had an operating budget of $15,344 (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 $18,801.

Filming locations

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

, USA *

Barstow, California Barstow is a city in San Bernardino County, California, in the Mojave Desert of Southern California. Located in the Inland Empire region of California, the population was 25,415 at the 2020 census. Barstow is an important crossroads for the I ...

, USA * Monogram Ranch, 24715 Oak Creek Avenue, Newhall, California, USA *

Victorville, California Victorville is a city in Victor Valley in San Bernardino County, California. Its population as of the 2020 census was 134,810. History In 1858, Aaron G. Lane came to what is now known as Victorville and founded a waystation called "Lane's Cro ...

, USA

Stuntwork

Having learned the art of screen fighting from Yakima Canutt, Gene Autry handled all of the fight scenes himself. Ken Cooper doubled for Autry during the dangerous riding sequences.George-Warren 2007, p. 141. * Tommy Coats * Ken Cooper (Gene Autry's stunt double) *

Cliff Lyons Cliff Lyons (born 19 October 1961) is an indigenous Australian former international rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. A Clive Churchill Medalllist and two-time Dally M Medallist, he made 309 first-grade appearances wit ...

Soundtrack

* "I'll Yodel My Troubles Away" (Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette) by Gene Autry * "Cowboy Medicine Show" (Smiley Burnette) by Gene Autry and the Medicine Show troupe * "Corn-fed and Rusty" (Smiley Burnette) by Smiley Burnette (vocals and accordion) * "Riding Down the Canyon" (Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette) by Gene Autry * "That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine" (Gene Autry, Jimmy Long) by Gene Autry * "

" (

) by Gene Autry * "

Oh! Susanna "Oh! Susanna" is a minstrel song by Stephen Foster (1826–1864), first published in 1848. It is among the most popular American songs ever written. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all tim ...

" (

Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known also as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour music, parlour and Minstrel show, minstrel music during the Romantic music, Romantic ...

) by the Medicine Show troupe

Reception

In his review of the DVD release of the film for DVD Talk, Stuart Galbraith IV wrote:

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * *

External links

* * * {{Joseph Kane 1935 films 1930s Western (genre) musical films American Western (genre) musical films American black-and-white films Films directed by Joseph Kane Republic Pictures films Films produced by Nat Levine 1930s English-language films 1930s American films