Tuesday, October 04, 2016

Overlooked Movies: Riders in the Sky

I saw this movie when I was eight or nine years old, and when I watched it again not long ago, I was surprised by how much of it I remembered.  I was highly impressed as a kid because I already loved "Ghost Riders in the Sky" and thought it was about the greatest song ever.  And I thought the scene in the movie when Gene sang the song to a dying man was about the coolest thing ever.  That's why I included the song and the scene below instead of the trailer that I usually post.

The movie's not bad either.  It's told in flashback, and it involves a romance between Gene and a real estate agent whose father's been framed for murder, along with that great old standard, the water rights to a ranch.  There is, of course, a crooked salon owner, and a lot of shootin', hard ridin', and fightin'.  In fact one of the fights is a comedy scene that works well, coming as it does right after Gene has cheated a cheater in a card game.  It was fun to see this one again, and the very last scene got to me just as much as it did when I was but a lad.  I'm really glad I took the time to watch this one for old times' sake.

3 comments:

Jeff Meyerson said...

I've always liked the song but never saw the movie.

Steve Oerkfitz said...

I loved Autry movies as a kid. Same for Roy Rogers. They were on TV constantly in the 50's. Unfortunately I find them unwatchable now. Bad acting, writing and direction combined with zero production values.

Cap'n Bob said...

Oddly, your Song of the Day is always the one from the previous day for me.