VALLEY OF FIRE

Gene Autry

VALLEY OF FIRE (1951). Director: John English. Colorized.  

Although Tod Rawlings (Harry Lauter of The Crooked Web) and hard-boiled gal pal Bee Laverne (Christine Larson of Valley of Headhunters) try to fix the election, Gene Autry (Gene Autry of The Phantom Empire) manages to become mayor, appointing buddy Breezie (Pat Buttram of Twilight of Honor) as sheriff. Gene decides to send for a wagon train full of women who want husbands, and one of the gals is the gold-digging Laurie (Gail Davis). Rawlings does his best to shanghai the ladies to the new town where he's taken up residence, while Laurie falls for Steve Guilford (Russell Hayden), who actually shot the driver of a stagecoach and stole the gold on board. Gene and Breezie have their hands full dealing with Rawlings and also trying to prove that Guilford is both a crook and a murderer. 

Autrey with Larson and Lauter

Gene Autry once said of himself: "I'm not a good actor, a good rider or a particularly good singer, but they seem to like what I do, so I'll keep on doing it as long as they want." Autry was also not particularly attractive and was a bit paunchy as well. In spite of all that, he was hugely popular and is still considered by many to be the greatest cowboy star of them all. Valley of Fire has a couple of pleasant and forgettable song numbers, and is, like the star, completely amiable. The film is well-produced when it comes to cinematography and scoring and there is an enthusiastic supporting cast. Teddy Infuhr is amusing as young Virgil, a bratty kid who keeps bedeviling Breezie; he amassed 104 credits! 

Verdict: Minor western comedy-musical-drama is easy enough to take and to forget. **1/4. 

VALLEY OF HEADHUNTERS

VALLEY OF HEADHUNTERS (1953). Director: William Berke.

"The jungle has boiled over into one of the ugliest messes I've ever seen." -- Lt. Barry.

Jungle Jim (Johnny Weissmuller) attends the trial of nasty native M'Gono (Vince Townsend Jr.), but the latter gets off due to the skills of his lawyer, Arco (Robert Foulk). Arco has come up with a plan to turn the peaceful River Valley back into the "valley of the headhunters" by hiring men to raid villages and pretend to be headhunters. This way, Arco figures he will be free to get at the oil reserves in the valley. He also has women kidnapped to serve as slaves. Naturally, with the aid of Lt. Barry (Steven Ritch of The Werewolf) and Ellen Shaw (Christine Larson), as well as some friendly natives, Jungle Jim will rout Arco and his evil henchmen. Lots of smooching goes on in this movie between the lieutenant and Ellen, but poor Jungle Jim gets no lovin' at all, except maybe from Tamba, who in one funny sequence gets drunk on ether. Fair to middling Jungle Jim.

Verdict: Well, there's always Tamba. **.