Sunset in Wyoming | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | William Morgan |
Produced by | Harry Grey |
Screenplay by |
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Story by | Joe Blair |
Starring | |
Music by | Raoul Kraushaar (supervisor) |
Cinematography | Reggie Lanning |
Edited by | Tony Martinelli |
Production
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Distributed by | Republic Pictures |
Release date
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Running time
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66 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $78,803 |
Sunset in Wyoming is a 1941 American Western film directed by William Morgan and starring Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, George Cleveland, and Maris Wrixon. Based on a story by Joe Blair, the film is about a singing cowboy who goes up against a lumber company clearcutting the timber from a local mountain causing catastrophic flooding and endangering the lives of valley ranchers. The film features the songs "There's a Home in Wyomin'" and "Sing Me a Song of the Saddle".
The Wentworth Lumber Company has been clearcutting trees on Mount Warner without considering the consequences. After one heavy rain, the ranchers in the valley suffer flood damage to their lands, the result of recent logging activities. The ranchers approach company manager Phipps (John Dilson) and camp foreman Bull Wilson (Stanley Blystone), urging them to plant new trees to prevent the dangerous runoff. Phipps and Wilson ignore the requests, and when confrontations with the ranchers turn violent, singing cowboy and rancher Gene Autry offers to appeal directly to the lumber company's president, Asa Wentworth (George Cleveland).
Gene and his sidekick Frog Millhouse (Smiley Burnette) meet with Asa, who tells them he recently turned control of the company over to his granddaughter Wilmetta "Billie" Wentworth (Maris Wrixon) and general manager Larry Drew (Robert Kent), and he is not happy with the way they've been running the business. Asa is also concerned about Billie's romantic interest in Larry, whom he does not trust. He asks Gene to meet with her at her country club and talk some sense into her.
At the country club, Frog has a difficult time adapting to the fancy surroundings. After Gene accidentally pushes Billie into a swimming pool, they are thrown out of the club. They return to Asa's house where the old man decides to throw a party and introduce Gene to Billie's influential friends. Later he sends out the invitations under Billie's name. At the party, Asa tells Gene to impress animal lover Susannah Hawkins Peabody (Sarah Edwards), whose husband Cornelius (Dick Elliott) is the state lieutenant governor. Hoping to preserve Mount Warner by having it declared a state park, Gene tells Susannah that the mountain is a haven for wild animals. As Gene and Susannah make arrangements for her to inspect the area, two of Billie's other friends grow suspicious of her absence and telephone her at a nightclub. Thinking that Gene and Frog have arranged the party on their own, and unaware of her grandfather's involvement, Billie has them arrested.