Rhythm on the Range

Last updated

Rhythm on the Range
Rhythm on the Range Poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Norman Taurog
Screenplay by
Story byMervin J. Houser
Produced by Benjamin Glazer
Starring
Cinematography Karl Struss
Edited by Ellsworth Hoagland
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date
  • July 1, 1936 (1936-07-01)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Rhythm on the Range is a 1936 American Western musical film directed by Norman Taurog and starring Bing Crosby, Frances Farmer, and Bob Burns. Based on a story by Mervin J. Houser, the film is about a cowboy who meets a beautiful young woman while returning from a rodeo in the east, and invites her to stay at his California ranch to experience his simple, honest way of life. [1] [2] Rhythm on the Range was Crosby's only Western film (apart from the remake Stagecoach , 1966) and introduced two western songs, "Empty Saddles" by Billy Hill and "I'm an Old Cowhand (From the Rio Grande)" by Johnny Mercer, the latter becoming a national hit song for Crosby. [3] The film played a role in familiarizing its audience with the singing cowboy and Western music on a national level. [4]

Contents

Plot

Doris Halliday (Frances Farmer), the daughter of a wealthy New York banker, is engaged to wed a rich man she doesn't love. Her Aunt Penelope (Lucile Gleason), an outspoken Arizona rancher, objects to their marriage, claiming people should only marry for love. Doris sees her point and runs away the night before the wedding. She hides out in a boxcar occupied by traveling cowboy Jeff Larabee (Bing Crosby) and his prize bull, Cuddles. Jeff and Doris take an immediate dislike to one another. Despite a few romantic moments, they fight all night as the train carries them west. The next day, while the train is paused at a station, Cuddles attacks Doris. Jeff jumps from the boxcar to save her. Just then, the train resumes its journey. As a result, Jeff, Doris, and Cuddles are now stranded. They decide to part ways, but later Doris steals a car and gives Jeff and his bull a lift to Arizona and his ranch house.

Meanwhile, Aunt Penelope and one of her cowboys, Buck (Bob Burns), take a train west. While traveling, they encounter Emma Mazda (Martha Raye), an aggressive young woman who flirts with Buck. Despite his not being interested, they get along anyway. In the meantime, Jeff and Doris arrive at his ranch house. While there, they hook up with Buck and Emma, who are now engaged. Buck suggests a double wedding, prodding Jeff, his best friend, to propose to Doris as well, but he is reluctant. And the moment they do fall in love, they are located by Aunt Penelope, who sizes up the situation and accuses Jeff of being a male gold digger. Offended and unaware of Doris's financial position, Jeff walks away. But Doris follows him, re-affirms her love, and that's all it takes. They vow to marry.

Cast

Production

Filming locations

Soundtrack

Bing Crosby recorded some of the songs for Decca Records. [10] "I'm an Old Cowhand", "I Can't Escape from You" and "Empty Saddles" all enjoyed top 10 chart successes. [11] Crosby's songs were included in the Bing's Hollywood series.

Reception

Frank S. Nugent, writing in The New York Times , commented:

"Bing Crosby rides a broncho, milks a wild cow, croons a lullaby to a 2,200-pound Hereford bull and has a box-car romance with a runaway heiress in his new picture at the Paramount. All of which may be interesting and amusing—in fact, it is—but we prefer to think of Rhythm on the Range as our screen introduction to Martha Raye." [12]

Variety 's reviewer thought:

"despite the title, the costumes and the characters, this is no western. There's very little range, but plenty of rhythm, and the latter makes it pleasant entertainment. Bing Crosby shoots par on singing and light comedy but, because of story handicap, he might have had some tough going minus the aid of a pair of new faces (Raye and Bob Burns), clicking on their first picture attempt ... Best musical sequence, and bringing the picture to a corking climax is a jam fest in the ranch house with Crosby and Miss Raye singing and truckin' to "If You Can't Sing It, You'll Have To Swing It" (Sam Coslow) and "I'm An Old Cowhand" (Johnny Mercer). Miss Raye gets in her hottest licks here. There's also some heated trumpeting by Louis Prima at this time." [13]

Los Angeles Evening Herald Express

"Given a good story at last and the best support that has fallen his way in a long time, Bing Crosby hits his stride again in Rhythm on the Range, the new picture at the Paramount." [14]

Writing for The Spectator in 1936, Graham Greene gave the film a mixed review. Observing that Crosby's character spent the majority of the film nostalgically mourning "Empty saddles in the old corral" which "by its nature [should have been portrayed as] a private emotion", Greene found Crosby's portrayal to "represent permanent, if disagreeable, human characteristics of nostalgia and self-pity". Nevertheless he summarized the film as "quite a tolerable picture with a few scenes which do deserve to be called popular cinema". Greene also praised Burns' acting as "excellent". [15]

In his 2002 book, Singing in the Saddle, Douglas B. Green summarized Bing Crosby's impact on western music and the national interest in singing cowboys and the West during the 1930s.

Though born in the West, Harry Lillis Crosby (1903–1977) was anything but a cowboy. Yet he was one of the most influential performers in the style, for while earnest and sincere Gene Autry was appealing to middle and rural America, the ultrahot Crosby roped in the sophisticates with his frequent performances of western songs on film, on record, and especially on radio, where he was a national sensation. Though Crosby could deliver a western song with sincerity—he introduced "Empty Saddles" in Rhythm on the Range and had the true national hit recording of "Home on the Range"—he was at his best when mocking himself. Urbane and hip, he was no cowboy and he knew it, and when he poked fun at his image in a song like "I'm an Old Cowhand (from the Rio Grande)", he was at his most charming. Urbanites appreciated his cool irony and distancing, and yet while they smirked they could still enjoy the kitschy glamour of the West and the singing cowboy. Although Crosby attracted an audience entirely different from Autry's, both singers contributed enormously to the interest in cowboys, the West, and western music that permeated the country in the middle 1930s. Though the broad scope of Crosby's career extends far beyond western music, it is important to acknowledge his impact on the sudden and sustained interest in the singing cowboy during the formative years of the genre. Rhythm on the Range was a big-budget film and exemplified more than any other easily discerned landmark the embrace of the singing cowboy by Hollywood and by popular culture. [16]

Remake

The film was remade as Pardners (1956), starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, which was also directed by Taurog. [17]

Related Research Articles

The Sons of the Pioneers are one of the United States' earliest Western singing groups. Known for their vocal performances, their musicianship, and their songwriting, they produced innovative recordings that have inspired many Western music performers and remained popular through the years. Since 1933, through many changes in membership, the Sons of the Pioneers have remained one of the longest-surviving country music vocal groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crooner</span> Type of singer

A crooner is a singer that performs with a smooth, intimate style that originated in the 1920s. The style was made possible by better microphones that picked up quieter sounds and a wider range of frequencies, allowing the singer to access a more dynamic range. This suggestion of intimacy was supposedly wildly attractive to women, especially younger ones such as teenage girls, known at the time as "bobby soxers". The crooning style developed out of singers who performed with big bands, and reached its height in the 1940s to late 1960s.

"Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think)" is a popular song published in 1949, with music written by Carl Sigman and lyrics by Herb Magidson.

"Lullaby of Broadway" is a popular song with music written by Harry Warren and lyrics by Al Dubin, published in 1935. The lyrics salute the nightlife of Broadway and its denizens, who "don't sleep tight until the dawn."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Singing cowboy</span> Archetypal cowboy hero of early Western films

A singing cowboy was a subtype of the archetypal cowboy hero of early Western films. It references real-world campfire side ballads in the American frontier, the original cowboys sang of life on the trail with all the challenges, hardships, and dangers encountered while pushing cattle for miles up the trails and across the prairies. This continues with modern vaquero traditions and within the genre of Western music, and its related New Mexico, Red Dirt, Tejano, and Texas country music styles. A number of songs have been written and made famous by groups like the Sons of the Pioneers and Riders in the Sky and individual performers such as Marty Robbins, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter, Bob Baker and other "singing cowboys". Singing in the wrangler style, these entertainers have served to preserve the cowboy as a unique American hero.

<i>Waikiki Wedding</i> 1937 film by Frank Tuttle

Waikiki Wedding is a 1937 American musical film directed by Frank Tuttle and starring Bing Crosby, Bob Burns, Martha Raye, and Shirley Ross. Crosby plays the part of Tony Marvin, a PR man charged with extolling the virtues of the Territory of Hawaii. The female lead, played by Shirley Ross is a local beauty queen who makes unhelpful comments about the islands. Bob Burns, along with Martha Raye, are the "comic relief". Amongst the supporting cast was a young Anthony Quinn. It was made by Paramount Pictures as a rival to the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers films then being made by RKO Pictures.

"Don't Fence Me In" is a popular American song written in 1934, with music by Cole Porter and lyrics by Robert Fletcher and Cole Porter. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time. "Don't Fence Me In" Has also been featured in Bonelab and Fallout

<i>Lawless Range</i> 1935 film

Lawless Range is a 1935 American Western film released by Republic Pictures, directed by Robert N. Bradbury and starring John Wayne. He appears as a "singing cowboy" in the film, with his singing voice dubbed by Glenn Strange.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crazy Rhythm</span> Song by Roger Wolfe Kahn and His Orchestra

"Crazy Rhythm" is a thirty-two-bar swing show tune written in 1928 by Irving Caesar with music by Joseph Meyer and Roger Wolfe Kahn for the Broadway musical Here's Howe.

<i>Pardners</i> 1956 film by Norman Taurog

Pardners is a 1956 American comedy western film starring the comedy team of Martin and Lewis. It was released on July 25, 1956, by Paramount Pictures.

<i>Double or Nothing</i> (1937 film) 1937 musical comedy film

Double or Nothing is a 1937 American musical comedy film directed by Theodore Reed and starring Bing Crosby, Martha Raye, Andy Devine, Mary Carlisle and William Frawley. Based on a story by M. Coates Webster, the film is about a dying millionaire who instructs his lawyer to drop twenty-five purses on the streets of New York City, which are found and returned by four honest people. According to the will, each of them is given five thousand dollars, which they must double within thirty days in order to claim one million dollars. Greedy relatives, who were cut from the will, try to thwart each one's plans. The film features the popular song "The Moon Got in My Eyes".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Hope filmography</span>

This is a selection of films and television appearances by British-American comedian and actor Bob Hope (1903-2003). Hope, a former boxer, began his acting career in 1925 in various vaudeville acts and stage performances

<i>Rhythm on the River</i> 1940 film by Victor Schertzinger

Rhythm on the River is a 1940 American musical comedy film directed by Victor Schertzinger and starring Bing Crosby and Mary Martin as ghostwriters whose songs are credited to a composer played by Basil Rathbone. Crosby and Martin sang "Only Forever", for which James V. Monaco (music) and Johnny Burke (lyrics) were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I'm an Old Cowhand (From the Rio Grande)</span> 1936 song by Johnny Mercer

"I'm an Old Cowhand (From the Rio Grande)" is a comic song written by Johnny Mercer for the Paramount Pictures release Rhythm on the Range and sung by its star, Bing Crosby. The Crosby commercial recording was made on July 17, 1936, with Jimmy Dorsey & his Orchestra for Decca Records. It was a huge hit in 1936, reaching the No. 2 spot in the charts of the day, and it greatly furthered Mercer's career. Crosby recorded the song again in 1954 for his album Bing: A Musical Autobiography.
Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time. It has also been covered by numerous jazz musicians, including Sonny Rollins, Monty Alexander, Joshua Redman, and John Scofield.

<i>Rootin Tootin Rhythm</i> 1937 film by Mack V. Wright

Rootin' Tootin' Rhythm is a 1937 American Western film directed by Mack V. Wright and starring Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, and Armida. Based on a story by Johnston McCulley, the film is about two cowboys who assume the identities of dead outlaws in order to stop a bunch of cattle rustlers, later discovering that the outlaws are far from dead.

<i>Doctor Rhythm</i> 1938 film by Frank Tuttle

Doctor Rhythm is a 1938 American musical comedy film directed by Frank Tuttle and starring Bing Crosby, Mary Carlisle, Beatrice Lillie, and Andy Devine. Based on the 1907 short story The Badge of Policeman O'Roon by O. Henry, the film is about a doctor who pretends to be a policeman assigned as the bodyguard of a wealthy matron, whose beautiful niece becomes the object of his affections. The film features the songs "On the Sentimental Side" and "My Heart Is Taking Lessons".

Drink It Down is a traditional American drinking song found in many variants. The drink varies from stanza to stanza but the common refrain is "Drink it down ! Drink it down !"

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Empty Saddles (in the Old Corral)</span>

"Empty Saddles (in the Old Corral)" is a classic American cowboy song written by Billy Hill. Hill based the song on a poem by J. Keirn Brennan grieving for lost companions. The song became widely known to the public in July 1936, when Bing Crosby sang it with deep emotion in the Paramount musical Rhythm on the Range, and his Decca recording of it, made on July 14, 1936, with Victor Young and His Orchestra, reached the Top 10 that September.

<i>Cowboy Songs</i> (Bing Crosby album) 1939 compilation album by Bing Crosby

Cowboy Songs is a compilation album of phonograph records by Bing Crosby released in 1939 featuring Western songs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giulio Panicali</span> Italian actor and voice actor

Giulio Panicali was an Italian actor and voice actor.

References

Citations
  1. "Rhythm on the Range". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
  2. Bookbinder 1977, pp. 77–79.
  3. Green 2002, p. 71.
  4. Green 2002, p. 156.
  5. "Full cast and crew for Rhythm on the Range". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
  6. Bookbinder 1977, p. 77.
  7. "Locations for Rhythm on the Range". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
  8. "Soundtracks for Rhythm on the Range". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
  9. Reynolds, Fred (1986). Road to Hollywood. John Joyce. p. 79.
  10. "A Bing Crosby Discography". A Bing Crosby Discography. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  11. Whitburn, Joel (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954 . Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p.  105. ISBN   0-89820-083-0.
  12. Nugent, Frank S. (July 30, 1936). "The New York Times".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. "Variety". August 5, 1936.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  14. "Los Angeles Evening Herald Express". July 31, 1936.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  15. Greene, Graham (August 14, 1936). "Rhythm on the Range". The Spectator . (reprinted in: Taylor, John Russell, ed. (1980). The Pleasure Dome . Oxford University Press. pp.  93–94. ISBN   0192812866.)
  16. Green 2002, p. 156.
  17. "Rhythm on the Range". IMDB. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
Bibliography