Call of the Canyon
| Call of the Canyon | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Joseph Santley |
| Produced by | Harry Grey |
| Screenplay by | Olive Cooper |
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| Music by | Raoul Kraushaar (supervisor) |
| Cinematography | Reggie Lanning |
| Edited by | Edward Mann |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Republic Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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71 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $129,808 |
Call of the Canyon is a 1942 American Western film directed by Joseph Santley and starring Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, the Sons of the Pioneers, and Ruth Terry. Based on a story by Maurice Rapf and Olive Cooper, the film is about a singing cowboy who leads a group of cattlemen against the corrupt agent of a large packing company looking to swindle them by undercutting the buying price for beef. The film features three songs by Autry and the Sons of the Pioneers, including the classic "Take Me Back to My Boots and Saddle".
Singing cowboy Gene Autry (Gene Autry) and his fellow ranchers in Whippasaw are outraged to learn that the purchasing agent for the Grantley B. Johnson Packing Co., Thomas McCoy (Edmund MacDonald), is only offering them $65 per head of cattle. Unknown to the ranchers, McCoy is a gambler in debt to a bookie who sent his henchmen Horace Dunston and the Pigeon to ensure that McCoy pays up. McCoy plans to raise the money by pocketing the difference between what he is offering the ranchers and what the packing company sent him. Gene encourages the ranchers to stick together and wait while he travels to the city to speak directly with the packing company owner, Grantley B. Johnson (Thurston Hall).
Arriving at Johnson's offices, Gene meets Katherine "Kit" Carson (Ruth Terry) and her friend, Jane Oakley (Dorothea Kent), who want Johnson to sponsor them on a radio show. Kit is unimpressed with Gene's Whippasaw origins, especially after he accidentally breaks her demo record. During her meeting with Johnson, Kit notices he is still a cowboy at heart, and lies to him, saying she intends to broadcast a western show from her ranch—in Whippasaw. Johnson agrees to visit her ranch, and then leaves before Gene has a chance to see him about the cattle prices. Returning to Whippasaw, Gene learns that his sidekick, Frog Millhouse (Smiley Burnette), rented their ranch to Kit and her fellow entertainers. Kit's feelings for Gene warm after he rescues her from a runaway carriage.
Gene convinces the ranchers to move their cattle out of McCoy's holding pens and back to grazing land until they can find a fair price. The conniving McCoy arranges to have a pilot fly over the herd and stampede the cattle. Just arriving in Whippasaw, Johnson attempts to help round up the herds, but falls from his horse and is saved by Gene from being trampled. Believing that McCoy is taking direct orders from Johnson, Gene blames G.B. Johnson for the stampede, not realizing that the stranger he just saved is in fact Johnson. Calling himself Grantley, Johnson persuades the ranchers to fight McCoy. When Kit arrives to bring Johnson back to the ranch, she agrees to pretend he's a radio promoter named "Grantley" while he gets to the bottom of the pricing scheme. Later, after hearing Gene and his friends singing, Johnson offers them a spot on his radio show, thinking they are part of Kit's troupe.
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