JohnHowardReid If "The Old Barn Dance" seems somewhat lacking in sympathetic appeal to a modern-day audience, the same cannot be said for McConville's earlier script, "Ride, Ranger, Ride" (1936). In this one, an army martinet (Robert Homans) is the villain - a piece of putty in the hands of super-bad renegade, Monte Blue - while Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette and a remarkably personable Max Terhune (minus "Elmer", I'm glad to say) lead the good guys in this elaborately produced (although helped out with some obvious stock footage) Nat Levine production. Director Kane keeps the movie moving, but Gene himself often seems oddly subdued. It's the other players who have all the good lines and handle most of the action. Even the songs are sparse! (Echo Bridge used to handle DVD discs of the 16mm TV cutdown).

dougdoepke The most interesting part of this sub-par Autry oater is poor Kay Hughes. I don't know what wardrobe put her in, but the frou-frou is eating her alive. Only her head is still visible. Meanwhile, all the white lace, bustles, and brocade have consumed the rest of her. Too bad, because she could easily pass for Elizabeth Taylor's younger sister, if Liz had one. Too bad too, that the script's a mess, that is, if you can keep up with it. Something about Texas Rangers, the US Cavalry, and American Indians, all learning to get along. Well, at least the former two. Already, it seems, Texas hates the Feds since they quarrel over who gets to fight the Indians. That's because from the movie, it seems "the only good Indian is a dead one". After all, this is back when red men were mainly circling targets for cavalry target practice. Then too, if I'm not mistaken, the script manages to slight just about everybody at some point.Meanwhile, the tunes are forgettable, the barroom brawl badly staged, and absolutely no hard riding, while the comedy consists mainly of a scalping wannabe. I will say the stock footage is nicely blended into the film as a whole, which at least lends visual continuity. I don't know what Republic had in mind with this 60-minutes, but as a fellow reviewer remarks, they should have sent the script back for a rewrite. And, for gosh sakes, put poor Hughes in a dress instead of a pile of woman-eating frills and frou-frou. All in all, Autry fans should skip this one.A "4" on the matinée scale.

classicsoncall Best not to pay close attention while watching this one, the longer it goes the less sense it makes. Consider Autry's character for starters - today he would be on the politically incorrect side of things by insisting that the Comanches are getting ready to attack a supply train heading for Fort Adobe. For his part in an altercation with an advance party, Autry is cited for general court martial for disobeying orders, jeopardizing a peace treaty and indirectly causing the death of a trooper. Colonel Summeral (Robert Homans) states that upon his court martial, he'll also be reduced in rank - how does that work? But after a bar brawl in which Gene participates, he's asked to resign the Cavalry!?!? But later, when the Indians actually do attack, the Colonel reminds Autry that even though he was right, he's still scheduled to be shot!?!? Did anyone proofread this script?Apparently I'm not alone, because a handful of other reviewers on this board have similar issues with the picture. There's not a whole lot to recommend here for Western fans in general, or Gene Autry fans in particular. Perhaps you can give the story some credit for supplying Gene with two nominal sidekicks, Smiley as usual doing an early Frog Millhouse, and Max Terhune as Indian scout Rufe Jones. I'd have to say that the comedic nod goes to Max, even without Elmer around. The fact that Smiley had to outrun Chief Thundercloud trying to take his scalp was more surreal than funny to my mind, though I'm sure young matinée fans back in the day got a kick out of it well enough.Another oddity compared to most of Gene's flicks has to do with the musical offerings. Some of his pictures manage up to ten songs in an hour long format, but here there's only two, but they're performed multiple times! Like 'On the Sunset Trail' that gets delivered twice, and the title song that pops up three times in the course of the story. I don't know, I guess even Gene is entitled to a clunker every now and then considering his historic career in film and as a businessman afterward. But "Ride Ranger Ride" is not one of his better ones, and if I had to bet, even Champion knew it because he kept his name out of the credits list.

John W Chance A good Western film is built around the Good Guy- Bad Guy conflict and their eventual Showdown. Here, that showdown is there, but it's not the major focus of the film.It's mainly about how we must fight against Indians. Gene and his Texas Rangers know about Indians; the cavalry does not. ("Make your peace sign with one hand, and keep a gun in the other.") We get that awful 'Tarzan talk' in the way the White Man speaks to the Indians. We get the cliché (it was used in John Ford's 'The Iron Horse' in 1924!) of a white man masquerading as a warlike Indian -- except this time he's a saloon owner.There is the throwaway of a love interest (surprisingly, Gene marries her and rides off into the off screen). There is Republic's 'comic relief' of Smiley Burnette and Mex Terhune (he is actually good in this film!); and the dreadful running gag of Chief Thundercloud, who was so evil in the serial 'Custer's Last Stand' (1934), trying to scalp Frog Millhouse; but there's really nothing of substance going on in this picture. It seems too have been made from the "let's crank out another one" mode as part of the new Republic formula of cheapie B pictures.There are much better Gene Autry films that seem more authentic, such as 'Yodelin' Kid From Pine Ridge' (1937) than this third rate formulaic cranked out film. Gene is genial, but overall this movie is worth only a 3.