Eddy Arnold's name in the credits for this cable TV listing prompted me to tune in and once under way it was pretty obvious that it was Kirby Grant's picture most of the way, even though he's third billed behind Arnold and Gloria Henry, also with less screen time and a smaller role. I'd never seen Arnold before so I'm glad I got to catch him, but oh what a mess of a movie. The story has Ace Lucky (Grant) unwillingly accepting financing from Charles (Dick Elliott) and Lucille Upperworth (Isabel Randolph) in order to transition his brand of country corn-pone from radio to television. If this was what it was really like back in the day, TV might never have gotten off the ground.
I caught this on the Encore Western Channel and although it might marginally be considered a Western, it really takes place in the modern era. Interestingly, a good portion of the cast might have come off a recent Durango Kid flick, since you had players like Carolina Cotton and young Tommy Ivo on hand as that annoying brat Bobby. There's even a reference to the movie cowboy hero when Bobby takes off on a horse and yells "Come on Raider, I'm the Durango Kid". That was kind of interesting.
The story probably would have appealed to me a whole lot better if so much slapstick hadn't been thrown in. At one point Ace Lucky arranges to have his benefactor Lucille 'kidnapped' to get her away from the TV production, but a goof by his partners snatches the local sheriff (George Lloyd) instead. A bumpy trailer ride results in the kind of mayhem you might expect in a Three Stooges short, and it was this kind of stuff you had to endure to finally catch Arnold make his way through three of his songs in the second half. Both he and Carolina do some yodeling as well and I have to tell you, they're about the best I've ever heard. Especially Carolina once she gets going, she's really something.
So if there's a way to see this picture without the peripheral nonsense I'd say go for it. There's even a couple of characters here called Mustard and Gravy who manage a tune and do one routine in black-face. Politically correct it's not, so don't say I didn't warn you.
I caught this on the Encore Western Channel and although it might marginally be considered a Western, it really takes place in the modern era. Interestingly, a good portion of the cast might have come off a recent Durango Kid flick, since you had players like Carolina Cotton and young Tommy Ivo on hand as that annoying brat Bobby. There's even a reference to the movie cowboy hero when Bobby takes off on a horse and yells "Come on Raider, I'm the Durango Kid". That was kind of interesting.
The story probably would have appealed to me a whole lot better if so much slapstick hadn't been thrown in. At one point Ace Lucky arranges to have his benefactor Lucille 'kidnapped' to get her away from the TV production, but a goof by his partners snatches the local sheriff (George Lloyd) instead. A bumpy trailer ride results in the kind of mayhem you might expect in a Three Stooges short, and it was this kind of stuff you had to endure to finally catch Arnold make his way through three of his songs in the second half. Both he and Carolina do some yodeling as well and I have to tell you, they're about the best I've ever heard. Especially Carolina once she gets going, she's really something.
So if there's a way to see this picture without the peripheral nonsense I'd say go for it. There's even a couple of characters here called Mustard and Gravy who manage a tune and do one routine in black-face. Politically correct it's not, so don't say I didn't warn you.
