Blue Montana Skies...

Blue Montana Skies (1939)

With nearly one hundred movies to his credit and over ninety episodes of a TV series that bore his name, Gene Autry was one of the biggest movie stars that the b-western genre ever produced. Not only was he a movie star, he was also a singing star, a radio star, and his stage shows played to sold out crowds all over this country.

In nearly all of his screen appearances Autry played Gene Autry, not always the same Gene Autry though, sometimes he’s Autry the lawman, sometimes he was Gene Autry the rancher, sometimes he was radio singing star Gene Autry, he was even Congressman Autry once. It didn’t matter what the setting was, or when the action was taking place, Gene was always essentially just playing himself. This formula worked very well and it made Autry the king of the singing cowboys.

Autry’s first starring role was in a cliffhanger serial from 1935, the serial was called the Phantom Empire, and it was directed by B. Reeves Eason. Blue Montana Skies was also directed by B. Reeves Eason, Autry and Eason only paired up five times, but all of the movies they made together, or at least the ones I’ve had the opportunity to see, turned out to be rather above average for the singing cowboy genre.

Blue Montana Skies is no exception either, it’s very exciting, and it’s a whole lot of fun as well. Smugglers are carrying illegal fox furs across the Canadian border into the US and when rancher Gene Autry’s partner catches them in the act, he’s murdered by one of the smugglers. As he lies dying, he leaves a clue; he uses his un-fired gun to scrape a rancher’s brand into the rock in front of him. The brand belongs to the Double H Ranch and Gene takes it upon himself to solve his friend’s murder.

Like many of Autry’s movies this one also features Smiley Burnette. Comedic sidekicks are very common in b-westerns, Gabby Hayes was probably the most popular of all them, but for my money, Smiley Burnette was the best of all of them. He was genuinely funny and his musical numbers are among some of my favorites ever.

As Autry movies go, this one is certainly a fun ride, and it’s also one of his more underrated movies. Seek it out, you might be pleasantly surprised.

-William J. White