bkoganbing In Old Santa Fe has come down to us as the debut film for both Gene Autry and Smiley Burnette both off the Old Barn Dance radio show. But aside from Gene's singing and Ken Maynard's dubbed singing it's not a bad modern day western with a bit of comedy and mystery thrown into the film as a bargain.A pair of villains Kenneth Thomson and Wheeler Oakman arrive at H.B. Warner's dude ranch. Years ago Warner was a crook, but he left the big city and lives quiet and rich due to his dude ranch's popularity and the fact he's got a goldmine on the premises.Which attract Thomson and Oakman. Thomson also has a Snidely Whiplash like interest in Warner's daughter Evelyn Knapp. But of course she can only see cowboy hero Ken Maynard.Big mistake Thomson and Oakman make was setting up a race horse where they trick Maynard's sidekick Gabby Hayes into putting up Maynard's horse Tarzan to cover a bet. You just don't do that to a cowboy hero especially since the race is rigged for them to win.Maynard nails these two with some modern type forensic investigation and all's well that ends well as the Bard put it. This was the kind of plot that you would see a lot of in the Forties in Roy Rogers' westerns.Gene Autry and Smiley Burnette make their debuts in a country dance at the dude ranch. Autry was grateful to Maynard for his big break and helped him out a lot when he was old, broke, and alcoholic. Maynard became his personal charity.In Old Santa Fe holds up quite well for today's viewers.

MartinHafer In the history of B-westerns, no other cowboy star had a worse reputation among those who worked with him. Although Maynard was a top star, he reportedly treated the crew of his films like dirt and frequently argued with his bosses about money. According to IMDb, he was so disagreeable that 'to never have met Maynard was reportedly a blessing'!! But the studio was stuck--he was a top star. However, in the film "In Old Santa Fe", the studio accidentally found an answer to their problems--in the form of Gene Autry and Smiley Burnette. Both were only in the film a few minutes to provide some musical numbers but they did such a nice job--and the executives decided to feature Autry instead of Maynard in an upcoming film. From here on, Maynard's career was in a tailspin--working for smaller and smaller studios for less and less pay until he was pushed out of pictures just a decade or so later. So, "In Old Santa Fe" marks the beginning of the end for Maynard. And, to make things worse, years later some bozos pasted Autry's name at the beginning of the film--even though he's barely in this movie! The sad truth is that "In Old Santa Fe" is a terrific film--one of the best of its kind. If Maynard had only been a nicer person, he could have remained a first tier star--and he is wonderful in this movie. It's far better than his later films and showed that he could appear to be a heck of a guy.The movie begins with Kentucky (Maynard) and Cactus (Gabby Hayes) heading to the Miller (H.B. Warner) ranch. On the way, Miller's daughter is driving pretty recklessly but it gives her a nice chance to meet handsome Maynard. Maynard is smitten and Cactus is wonderfully grouchy both here and throughout the film! However, in the meantime, a nasty piece of work, Chandler (Kenneth Thomson) shows up and begins trying to blackmail Miller and vows to force Miller to give him his beautiful daughter! Naturally, Kentucky is in the way and Chandler and his evil sidekick vow to destroy Kentucky. But, being a cowboy hero, you just know that he'll somehow save himself, sweet Lila Miller and her father! This is a terrific film--probably better than any Roy Rogers or Gene Autry film I've seen (and I've seen a lot). The plot is surprisingly good, the acting very good (I loved Gabby in this one), the musical numbers by Autry and Burnette were excellent and the film SHOULD have been just one more nice film in Maynard's long career! Too bad but I guess this is indeed a case of what goes around, comes around. A must-see for fans of the genre as well as Autry fans.

JohnHowardReid Gene Autry and Smiley Burnette made an auspicious debut in the Ken Maynard vehicle, "In Old Santa Fe" (1934). Although their footage is limited to a couple of musical numbers, they still make quite an impression. Furthermore, the movie is almost in the "A" class. Filled with great action, plus humor, plus excellent acting (particularly from Ken Maynard, Gabby Hayes, Evalyn Knapp, H.B. Warner, Kenneth Thomson and Wheeler Oakman), stylish direction by David Howard, a fast-paced script, class-"A" songs and superb production values, "In Old Santa Fe" is a must-have DVD, especially for fans of Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Gabby Hayes (in full flight here), Ken Maynard (who comes across with far more personality than usual), and even Bob Nolan (who dubs Maynard's comic song, "That's What I Like About My Dog").

dbborroughs The reissue print I saw lists Gene Autry as the star, but the truth is he's only in one scene singing a song at a party. The real star of the film is Ken Maynard, one of the first singing cowboys in one of his last appearances in "musical" western. The Plot has to do with Ken helping out the owner of a dude ranch that is wanted by a gangster. First the gangster fixes a horse race and then he resorts to murder and robbery, framing Maynard in the hope of getting him out of the way. Good action packed film is slowed down by too many songs. The songs aren't bad but it takes up too much room with the result being that the first 40 minutes is rather leisurely while the final 15 or 20 minutes is a race to the wire. I wish things had been more spread out, especially since the film kind of slows to a crawl after the horse race. Still its worth a look, preferably as part of a double feature evening.