This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1957.
The year 1939 in film is widely considered the greatest year in film history. The ten films nominated for Best Picture at the 12th Academy Awards —Dark Victory, Gone with the Wind, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Love Affair, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Ninotchka, Of Mice and Men, Stagecoach, The Wizard of Oz, and Wuthering Heights—range in genre and are considered classics.
Gail Davis was an American actress and singer, best known for her starring role as Annie Oakley in the 1950s television series Annie Oakley.
Frankie Darro was an American actor and later in his career a stuntman. He began his career as a child actor in silent films, progressed to lead roles and co-starring roles in adventure, western, dramatic, and comedy films, and later became a character actor and voice-over artist. He is perhaps best known for his role as Lampwick, the unlucky boy who turns into a donkey in Walt Disney's second animated feature, Pinocchio (1940). In early credits, his last name was spelled Darrow.
The Phantom Empire is a 1935 American Western serial film directed by Otto Brower and B. Reeves Eason and starring Gene Autry, Frankie Darro, and Betsy King Ross. This 12-chapter Mascot Pictures serial combined the Western, musical and science-fiction genres. The duration of the first episode is 30 minutes, while that of the rest is about 20 minutes. The serial film is about a singing cowboy who stumbles upon an ancient subterranean civilization living beneath his own ranch that becomes corrupted by unscrupulous greedy speculators from the surface. In 1940, a 70-minute feature film edited from the serial was released under the titles Radio Ranch or Men with Steel Faces. This was Gene Autry's first starring role, playing himself as a singing cowboy. It is considered to be the first science-fiction Western.
Richard Percy Jones, known as Dick Jones or Dickie Jones, was an American actor and singer who achieved success as a child performer and as a young adult, especially in B-Westerns. In 1938, he played Artimer "Artie" Peters, nephew of Buck Peters, in the Hopalong Cassidy film The Frontiersman. He is also known as the voice of Pinocchio in Walt Disney's film of the same name.
The Golden Boot Awards were an American acknowledgement of achievement honoring actors, actresses, and crew members who made significant contributions to the genre of Westerns in television and film. The award was sponsored and presented by the Motion Picture & Television Fund. Money raised at the award banquet was used to help finance various services offered by the Fund to those in the entertainment industry.
The Gang's All Here is a 1941 American crime drama film directed by Jean Yarbrough and starring Frankie Darro, Mantan Moreland, Marcia Mae Jones and Jackie Moran in a story about a trucking company targeted by saboteurs. Made by Monogram Pictures it was produced by Lindsley Parsons and is one of several that paired Darro and Moreland. The film is known under the alternative title In the Night in the United Kingdom.
The Singing Hill is a 1941 American western film directed by Lew Landers and starring Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, and Virginia Dale. Based on a story by Jesse Lasky Jr. and Richard Murphy, the film is about a singing cowboy and foreman of a ranch that may be sold to an unscrupulous banker by the young madcap heiress who is unaware that the sale will result in the local ranchers losing their free grazing land and their ranches. In the film, Autry performed the 1940 song "Blueberry Hill", first recorded by Sammy Kaye, which would become a standard recorded by such artists as Louis Armstrong (1949), Fats Domino (1956), and Elvis Presley (1957). The song became one of Autry's best-selling recordings. In 1987, "Blueberry Hill" received an ASCAP Award for Most Performed Feature Film Standards on TV.
Gene Autry's Melody Ranch is a Western variety radio show in the United States. A 15-minute pilot show aired on December 31, 1939. The program ran from January 7, 1940 to August 1, 1943, and from September 23, 1945 to May 16, 1956. The show's entire run was broadcast over the CBS radio network, sponsored by Doublemint gum. The approximately two-year interruption resulted from Autry's enlistment in the United States Army to serve in World War II. Initially titled Doublemint's Melody Ranch, the show's name was changed to Gene Autry's Melody Ranch in early 1941. Episodes were 30 minutes long except for a 15-minute version that ran from September 23, 1945 to June 16, 1946. The theme song was "Back in the Saddle Again".
Saddle Pals is a 1947 American Western film directed by Lesley Selander and written by Robert Creighton Williams and Jerry Sackheim. The film stars Gene Autry, Lynne Roberts, Sterling Holloway, Irving Bacon, Damian O'Flynn and Charles Arnt. The film was released on June 6, 1947, by Republic Pictures.
The Cowboy and the Indians is a 1949 American Western film directed by John English and written by Dwight Cummins and Dorothy Yost. The film stars Gene Autry, Sheila Ryan, Frank Richards, Hank Patterson, Jay Silverheels and Claudia Drake. The film was released on September 15, 1949, by Columbia Pictures.
Cow Town is a 1950 American Western film directed by John English and written by Gerald Geraghty. The film stars Gene Autry, Gail Davis, Harry Shannon, Jock Mahoney, Clark Burroughs and Harry Harvey Sr. The film was released on May 19, 1950, by Columbia Pictures.
Beyond the Purple Hills is a 1950 American Western film directed by John English and written by Norman S. Hall. The film stars Gene Autry, Jo-Carroll Dennison, Don Beddoe, James Millican, Don Reynolds and Hugh O'Brian. The film was released on July 25, 1950, by Columbia Pictures.
Indian Territory is a 1950 American Western film directed by John English and written by Norman S. Hall. The film stars Gene Autry, Gail Davis, Kirby Grant, James Griffith, Philip Van Zandt and G. Pat Collins. The film was released on September 30, 1950, by Columbia Pictures.
Texans Never Cry is a 1951 American Western film directed by Frank McDonald and written by Norman S. Hall. The film stars Gene Autry, Mary Castle, Russell Hayden, Gail Davis, Tom Keene and Don C. Harvey. The film was released on March 15, 1951, by Columbia Pictures.
Whirlwind is a 1951 American Western film directed by John English and written by Norman S. Hall. The film stars Gene Autry, Gail Davis, Thurston Hall, Harry Lauter, Dick Curtis and Harry Harvey Sr. The film was released on April 16, 1951, by Columbia Pictures.
Silver Canyon is a 1951 American Western film directed by John English and written by Gerald Geraghty. The film stars Gene Autry, Gail Davis, Jim Davis, Bob Steele, Edgar Dearing and Richard Alexander. The film was released on June 20, 1951, by Columbia Pictures.
Valley of Fire is a 1951 American Western film directed by John English and written by Gerald Geraghty. The film stars Gene Autry, Gail Davis, Russell Hayden, Christine Larson, Harry Lauter and Terry Frost. The film was released on November 20, 1951, by Columbia Pictures.
Wagon Team is a 1952 American Western film directed by George Archainbaud and written by Gerald Geraghty. The film stars Gene Autry, Gail Davis, Dick Jones, Gordon Jones, Harry Harvey Sr. and Henry Rowland. The film was released on September 30, 1952, by Columbia Pictures.
