I used to love westerns when I was a boy. Still have an affection for them as a greying-out senior. I happened upon Western Jamboree and was surprised to see a story based on a Damon Runyon story, "Madame La Gimp" which was made into two films: Lady for a Day, and Pocketful of Miracles. What surprised me more was that the writers of this western—Gerald Geraghty and Patricia Harper—failed to credit Runyon at all. Shame, shame, shame. Yes, they added to the story by adding the plot of a bunch of badies trying to steal helium by tapping into a supply with their own pipeline. Given the period the film was produced, the need for helium by the Army Air Corp for WW II was real so the plot was timely. The "chemistry" was inventive but who in an audience of preteens would know that. Pretty entertaining overall and only a couple of songs; some nice riding and shooting which is why boys loved the genre.

Those scenes in the saloon are little musical gems. I especially liked "Cielito Lindo" and "When the Bloom is on the Sage". And catch that clever novelty act where Joe Frisco does some amazing dance contortions. Plot-wise, Gene helps out Dad by pretending that his ranch is a dude ranch belonging to Dad. It's all done to impress Dad's daughter and her snooty eastern fiancé. Plus, there's helium, of all things, under a weird trapdoor that bad guys are trying to steal. Worse, I think they want to sell it to Hitler. A big highlight is when Frog Millhouse takes an unscheduled ride in a 98-cent balloon that actually looks kind of scary—I kept looking to see how they did it. Also, Frog does some neat trick riding that others are too busy to notice. Looks to me like old Smiley Burnett (Frog) was a man of many unsung talents. There're also a spectacular wagon crash, some hard riding, and a big shootout where surprise, surprise, nobody gets hurt. Anyway, Gene's got to untangle all of this and still get in a few more songs and he's only got 50-some minutes to do it. I'm just sorry they don't make 'em like this anymore.

The science behind the plot of "Western Jamboree" is probably somewhat suspect, dealing as it does with the discovery of helium on land that Gene Autry ramrods for an absentee owner. Additionally, Gene and his hired hands agree to cover an old timer's tall tale to his daughter that he's the owner of a thriving dude ranch. Most of the story wouldn't hold up under a strong magnifying glass, but Gene makes it work with the help of his sidekick Frog Millhouse (Smiley Burnette) and a whole passel of tunes throughout the picture. Gene even goes for a traditional Mexican ballad sung in Spanish - "Cielito Lindo" - making me wonder if I've ever heard him do that before; I don't think so.Without even trying, Gene also manages to move in on Dad Haskell's (Frank Darien) daughter Betty (Jean Rouverol). She arrives on the scene with high society fiancé Walter Gregory (George Walcott) and his mother (Margaret Armstrong) in tow, precipitating one of the flick's genuine insightful moments from one of Gene's partners - "The only difference between us and society is they wash more often". I had to think about that for a while.Most of Gene Autry's pictures have their share of run ins with the outlaws, but this one wound up truly creative. When Gene and Smiley finally discover the location of the helium reserve, Smiley uses a gas pipe that the villains engineered to turn a standard kid's toy into a miniature hot air balloon. From his vantage point aloft, Smiley manages to gun down a couple of the charging outlaws before they figure out where all the shooting is coming from. One thing about Smiley, he always had that hot air thing going for him.Autry fans will take it all in stride, made entertaining by the liberal use of tuneful melodies and the light hearted give and take between Gene and Betty through a number of misunderstandings. Gene even uses the old rope across the trail trick to inadvertently knock her off her horse. That seemed a little rough, but she handled it pretty well, making me wonder how a girl from 'back East' ever got to be so accomplished trading her society duds for Western gear.