Rhythm on the Range

Rhythm on the Range


Paramount, 1936, B/W, 88 minutes, ***

Released July, 1936



America's favorite crooner, Bing Crosby, lassoes up love and laughter as big as the great outdoors when he stars as Jeff Larrabee, a champion rodeo rider heading back West after performing in New York. On the train ride home he discovers a runaway heiress hiding out in his boxcar. Seems gorgeous Doris Halloway (Frances Farmer) is fed up with big city wolves and hankers for romance with a real-life cowboy.



This sweet, swingin' tale is loaded with down-home humor, range-rousing songs (including "I'm an Old Cowhand" from newcomer Johnny Mercer) and many memorable firsts including a peek at the yet unknown Roy Rogers (seen strumming his guitar in the band) and the screen debut of Martha Raye. So saddle up and sit back for a story that will keep your toes tapping on the happy trails ahead.

Adolph Zukor Presents

Produced by: Benjamin Glazer

Directed by: Norman Taurog

Screen Play by: John C. Moffitt and Sidney Salkow, Walter DeLeon and Francis Martin

Based on a Story by Mervin J. Houser

Musical Direction: Boris Morros

Lyrics and Music by: Leo Robin, Sam Coslow, Frederick Hollander, Richard A. Whiting, Ralph Rainger

"Empty Saddles" by Billy Hill and J. Keirn Brennan

"I'm an Old Cowhand From the Rio Grande" lyrics and music by Johnny Mercer

Art Direction by: Hans Dreier and Robert Usher

Interior Decorations by: A. E. Freudeman

Costumes Designed by: Edith Head

Sound Recording: Gene Merritt and Don Johnson

Photographed by: Karl Struss

Edited by: Ellsworth Hoagland



Cast: Bing Crosby [Jeff Larrabee], Frances Farmer [Doris Halloway], Bob Burns [Buck], Martha Raye [Emma], Samuel S. Hinds [Robert Halloway], Warren Hymer [Big Brain], Lucille Webster Gleason [Penelope Ryland], George E. Stone [Shorty], James Burke [Wabash], Martha Sleeper [Constance Hyde], Clem Bevans [Gila Bend, Cowboy], Leonid Kinskey [Mischa, Cowboy], Charles Williams [Gopher, Cowboy], Beau Baldwin, 50th ["Cuddles," the bull], Additional Cast: Emmett Vogan [Clerk], Dennis O'Keefe [Heckler], Duke York [Officer], James Blaine [Conductor], Herbert Ashley [Brakeman], James "Slim" Thompson [Porter], Jim Toney [Oil Station Proprietor], Syd Saylor [Gus], Sam McDaniel [Porter], Harry C. Bradley [Minister], Charles Arnt [Steward], Oscar Smith [Waiter], Bob McKenzie [Farmer], Heinie Conklin [Driver], Frank Dawson [Butler], Otto Yamaoka [Chinese Houseboy], Irving Bacon [Announcer], Eddy Waller [Field Judge], Sons of the Pioneers [Themselves], Louis Prima [Himself]



Musical Program: [0:00] Overture (includes segment of "I'm an Old Cowhand From the Rio Grande," played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:16] Empty Saddles (sung by Bing Crosby at rodeo, partly accompanied by off-screen Chorus); [0:33] Roundup Lullaby (sung by Bing Crosby); [0:52] I Can't Escape from You (sung by Bing Crosby); [1:11] (If You Can't Sing It) You'll Have to Swing It (Mr. Paganini) (sung by Martha Raye); [1:15] Drink It Down (sung by Leonid Kinskey and Ensemble, joined by Bing Crosby); [1:18] I'm an Old Cowhand (From the Rio Grande) (sung by Bing Crosby and Martha Raye and Ensemble with The Sons of the Pioneers); [1:22] Wing Ding (played by The Sons of the Pioneers, including Leonard Slye who was later to become known as Roy Rogers)