514 - Ride 'Em Cowboy, United States, 1942. Dir. Arthur Lubin.

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

514 - Ride 'Em Cowboy, United States, 1942.  Dir. Arthur Lubin.

Forget Bronco Bill.  It's time for Bronco Bob.

Bronco Bob Mitchell, that is.

Bob Mitchell is a writer.  He used to write novels that did not sell.  Then he wrote a Western.  His Western sold.  His publisher took advantage of it.  They had him write more Westerns.  They polished his image.  They sold him to America as a Cowboy.

The only problem is that Bob Mitchell has never ridden a horse.

And a national reporter has sniffed him out.  He published an article in his syndicated column this morning stating that he believes Bronco Bob is a phony.

So Bronco Bob steps up to prove himself.  He shows up at the rodeo in Long Island, mounts a horse, and walks it out to sing to the crowd.

All he has to do is wear his cowboy costume, sit on the horse, and sing.

He sings.  He croons.  He captures the hearts of women in the crowd.  One cowgirl, Anne Shaw, smiles dotingly at him.

So far, so good.

Until the bull escapes.

The horse reacts.  Bucks.  Throws him off.  Anne Shaw, it turns out, knows how to steer wrestle.  She comes to Bob's rescue, wrestles the steer, possibly saves his life.

But her good deed in turn renders her injured enough to be unable to compete in the rodeo for the $10,000 cash prize.

Anne angrily returns home.  To Arizona.

Bob follows her.

And two knuckleheads, Duke and Willoughby, unwittingly follow him.  On the train.  In the cattle car.

Bob is going to get Anne to teach him.  How to be a cowboy.

Then the real cowboy appears.

Enter ALABAM.

Played by the real Alabama halfback.  The National Champion.  The Dothan Antelope.

Johnny Mack Brown.

Winner.  Champion.  Rose Bowl MVP.  This Fall when you sing, "Remember the Rose Bowl / We'll win then," you will be singing about Johnny Mack Brown's two of three touchdown receptions which catapulted the mighty Crimson Tide to victory over the Washington Huskies in the 1925 Rose Bowl and the first of seventeen, so far, National Championships.

Johnny Mack Brown went on to star in Hollywood Westerns beginning with his role as Billy the Kid in King Vidor's Billy the Kid (1930).

There is a supporting story here where Willoughby accidentally shoots an arrow through a heart drawn on a tepee, and is now obligated to marry the woman who resides inside.  She emerges and is determined to collect on his commitment.

As Anne trains Bob, Duke and Willoughby cause havoc at the ranch.

Will Bob develop into enough of a cowboy to convince his fans that he is legitimate?  Will he be able to win the state rodeo championship?

Will these things happen before Duke and Willoughby destroy the ranch?

As they each try to make it as a real cowboy.