Spoonixel Amateur movie with Big budget

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Mehdi Hoffman There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

weezeralfalfa This 70 min. rather low budget offering from Columbia has a bit of everything. There are typical elements of westerns: Indians chasing a stagecoach, a local gang of desperados led by one of the leading citizens in disguise as 'Killer Pete', whose main goal seems to be to expand his holdings from a large ranch to businesses in town. He already has a big lean on the town saloon the Crystal Palace, which he periodically robs. As expected, Pete has a secret moll in Lola(Ann Miller), who is the chief entertainer for the Crystal Palace. Lola is contrasted with the prim classy blond Belinda or Bill for short(Penny Singleton), newly arrived from the East. She may look harmless, but she packs a mean pistol, as demonstrated in the Indian attack on the stage she and the new sheriff Tex Miller(a young Glen Ford) were riding in. Strangely, the town elders didn't seem to know about Tex, and were planning to offer 'Bill' the hazardous vacant position of sheriff. The last 4 sheriffs had been killed by Killer Pete. Bill might be a better shot than Tex, but she had no desire to take Tex's job away from him. Instead, she was satisfied keeping house for her uncle Jim, who owned the Crystal Palace, until such time that she might get married. Tex and Bill soon became romantically involved, although their initial meeting in the stage was hardly cordial, until they were forced to cooperate in fighting off the Indians. Their courtship was set back a few times when Bill accidentally hit Tex in the face with a freshly baked pie. This running gag was modified the 3rd time by Bill accidentally hitting Bill in the face with the frying pan she was using to subdue the members of Pete's gang.......The simmering relationship between Lola and Bill finally erupted into a notable cat fight, which some reviewers say was the highlight for them. ......Charles Ruggles was charismatic as Jim: Bill's uncle, reminding me of Walter Brennan, in speech and style. Onslow Stevens was tall and handsome, when his kerchief was pulled down, as Killer Bill. Allen Jenkins was appropriately humorous as the flaky deputy, who usually ran from trouble.....In the music department, Ann Miller and Penny Singleton are both decent stage singers and dancers, although their dancing styles were quite different, with Ann being a specialist in tap dancing: a skill that would be filmed many times in the future. Ann, at 18, was so young, I barely recognized her. She usually was included in films as a musical specialist or as 'the other woman', as in this film. She sings and dances to the title song, including a segment where she tap danced up and down the bar counter. Worth a second look. Later, she joins Allen Jenkins in a humorous song and dance to "I Wish I Could be a Singing Cowboy". Allen much reminded me of the dancing style of Ray Bolger(the scarecrow in "The Wizard of Oz"). Penny stepped out of her usual role, in the "Blondie" series, to participate in this film. She would lead a sing along, while on horseback, to "Dogie, Take Your Time". Later, Penny led a classy stage song and dance to "Most Gentlemen Don't Prefer a Lady", with The Foursome as backups. Unlady-like, she dropped her skirt to dance in her bloomers half way through, giving her freedom to do some more athletic maneuvers. Unfortunately, her uncle Jim was not pleased, and wanted to ship her back East, until Tex expressed a marriage interest. The Foursome did a barber shop quartet-styled sing to "Somewhere along the Trial". All of the above songs were composed by the team of Sid Chaplin and Sammy Cahn. In addition, a revised "Ida Red" was sung and played by Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys.....See it at YouTube.

dougdoepke Delightful slice of western slapstick from Columbia Studios. The humor is pretty broad, the musical numbers frequent, and the cast especially appealing. It's a really young Glenn Ford showing why a big, versatile career lay ahead; a tomboyish Penny Singleton showing why she was more than just Blondie; and bad girl Ann Miller (!) still tap dancing her way into our hearts. And mustn't overlook an outstanding supporting cast, e.g. Ruggles, Jenkins, Waffles. I especially like that Miller-Jenkins tap dancing number with her in cowboy boots and him tripping the light fantastic. Oh yeah, the plot's something about a masked bad guy terrorizing the town. Turns out it's a town bigwig, just like in a kid's western. But who cares since that's just a way of stringing together the other, better elements. I'm not sure who the intended audience was since the result is neither a kid's matinée nor an A-production (the guys ride around greater LA). I doubt that the audience was ever found since the release date was right before Pearl Harbor! Anyway, for me the 70-minutes came as a pleasant surprise, though that opening stagecoach chase seems an unnecessary body-count. Nonetheless, the music's delightful and the acting appealing, so there's a lot to like in this unheralded Columbia production.

Neil Doyle PENNY SINGLETON gets top billing in this diverting little programmer made at the height of her fame as "Blondie". This film, directed by the same man who did that series, has Singleton in her "Blondie" mode, as a prim and proper but ditsy blonde who acquits herself well when Indians are shooting at the carriage she's riding in during the opening scene.She's so prim and proper that she refuses to even engage in conversation with the man sitting opposite her in the coach--GLENN FORD--on his way to the town of Headstone to become its new sheriff.Ford has one of his rare comedy roles and plays it to the hilt. He's continually getting in the way of Singleton's pie-throwing finesse or taking a crack on the head with a pan, accidentally of course.ALLEN JENKINS, as a cowardly interim sheriff, ANN MILLER, as a dance hall gal, and CHARLIE RUGGLES, as Singleton's uncle, all give fresh and funny performances. Miller is especially good in a couple of her dance routines, including a sing-and-dance number with Jenkins that comes as a delightful surprise.Very enjoyable romp, it seems to borrow a lot of its material from other similar westerns. It features at least a half a dozen unpretentious musical numbers that make for easy listening.Summing up: One of Columbia's better programmers.

Alan Hale (alanco) A Fun movie that will leave you wishing it had been another 45 minutes. The fight between Ann Miller and Penny Singleton is astounding! Ann Miller's Dance scenes are very good, and there is even an appearance by Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys. Penny was a great talent and her vaudeville experience shows. This movie even includes Glenn Ford.