Cowboy Serenade (1942), Sunset in Wyoming (1941), Roughshod (1949), The Singing Hill (1941), Colorado Sundown (1952), Cow Town (1950), Melody Trail (1935), Let Freedom Ring (1939) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Ranchers movies.
Storyline: Rancher Gene Autry (Gene Autry) heads a Cattleman's Association that appoints young, naive Jimmy Agnew (Rand Brooks) to take the collective shipment to the meat-packing plant and handle the sale of the beef. En route by train, Jimmy is fleeced by professional card-sharps and is forced to pay off with cattle-shipment money. Ashamed, he goes into hiding. It's up to Gene to make good, and accompanied by Frog Millhouse (Smiley Burnette), they get a job on the ranch owned by Asa Lock (Addison Richards) who operates the trunk-line on the railroad on which the crooked gamblers ply their trade. Lock's daughter, Stephanie (Fay McKenzie), ignorant of her father's involvement, assists Gene trying to prove her father innocent. Lock pretends to play along with Gene in seeking the crooks. Gene locates Jimmy and persuades him to give himself up and make a clean breast of the affair so Gene will have a basis for prosecution. Learning this, and knowing he will be exposed as the gang leader, gives orders for Jimmy's elimination in a staged car-wreck but, discovering that Stephanie is also in the car, races to stop his henchmen.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>
Plot Keywords: gene autry, sidekick, gambler, father, daughter, girlfriend, engaging ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Rancher Gene Autry (Gene Autry) is the leader of the valley ranchers being ruined by the stripping of nearby mountain area of the precious timber. The ranchers face flood devastation unless reforestation is adopted by the Wentworth Lumber Company. Gene and Frog Millhouse (Smiley Burnettte) appeal directly to Asa Wentworth (George Clevand), the owner of the company but find him dominated by his impertinent granddaughter Billie Wentworth (Maris Wrixon) who is in love with the ruthless general manager of the company Larry Drew (Robert Kent.) Old Asa doesn't approve of Drew's logging tactics and secretly helps Gene and Frog concoct an elaborate plot to have Mount Warner declared a state park and wildlife refuge. A severe storm washes her grandfather into a mountain torrent and nearly drowned before Billie sees for herself the devastation caused by the over-logging of the mountain and is won over to the plight of the ranchers.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>
Plot Keywords: gene autry, manager, foreman, company president, sidekick, granddaughter, spirited ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Wrangler Clay Phillips and his younger brother Steve are taking horses to their ranch near Sonora when they come across four dance hall girls heading the same way with a wrecked buggy. One of the girls is taken away by a boyfriend who came after her. Clay takes the girls on to the nearest ranch, where it turns out one of the girls is the homesteaders' wayward daughter. As Clay already has an escaped killer and his two fellow convicts after him he is reluctant to have to take the remaining two girls on with him but they are set on getting to Sonora.—Jeremy Perkins {J-26}
Plot Keywords: cattle rancher, younger brother, sheriff, ex-convict, friend, dance hall girl, engaging ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: The free grazing land that the local ranchers have used for years is about to be sold to John R. Ramsey (George Meeker), a greedy, grasping cattle broker. Gene Autry (Gene Autry), as foreman of the Circle R Ranch and head of the Cattleman's Association, tries to make Jo Adams (Virginia Dale), the youthful owner of the ranch, understand that the future of all the ranchers hinges on the sale of her property. But Jo, a frivolous, extravagant heiress to whom sentiment means little, stubbornly refuses to stop the sale. Gene goes to court and has Jo declared incompetent and has himself appointed her guardian. Ramsey has already made a $25,000 down payment to clinch his option to buy within sixty days, and Jo has already spent the money on the debts she owed. Gene's problem is to figure out how to raise the $25,000 to return to Ramsey in order to cancel the sale. He and the other cattleman agree to poll their herds for sale to raise the cash, but Ramsey hires some gunmen to stampede the cattle and also flood the valley, killing kindly old Pop Sloan (Wade Borteler) in the process..—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>
Plot Keywords: gene autry, sidekick, rancher, cattleman, landowner, villain, endearing ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: The Hurley's own a lumber mill and want to harvest all the timber in the valley. They kill the Forester and substitute their brother Dusty in his place. Dusty then says all the trees are infected and must be cut down. But Rex Allen is suspicious and writes to the Forestry Department.—Maurice VanAuken <mvanauken@a1access.net>
Plot Keywords: cowboy, sidekick, heir, villain, brother, love interest, fiery ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: In order to end the cattle rustling, Gene Autry becomes one of the first ranchers in his territory to fence in the open range with barbed wire and he incurs the wrath of small-ranch owner Ginger Kirby. Range warfare, fanned by livery stable owner Sandy Reeves, breaks out between the two factions of ranchers to differ on the use of barbed-wire fences. Reeves hopes the fighting will drive the cattlemen out of business and he can use the range for sheep. Gene and Ginger patch up their differences and with the help of Duke Kirby, her younger brother, Autry discovers that Reeves is responsible for most of the trouble. Cowpunchers, believing that the wire will put them out of work and urged on by Reeves, engage Gene's men in a gun battle.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>
Plot Keywords: gene autry, neighbor, rancher, sheriff, brother, partner, spirited ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: After Gene has his watch stolen by the Gypsy he takes a job on the Thomas ranch. Thomas' dog has brought home the cradle with the Gypsy's baby and when the Gypsy retrieves his baby, Gene thinks he is a kidnaper. But as he chases after him he now sees that Thomas' cattle are being rustled.—Maurice VanAuken <mvanauken@a1access.net>
Plot Keywords: gene autry, sidekick, daughter, rancher, bandit, gypsy, lighthearted ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Railroad owner Jim Knox uses everything to get the land he needs for his new railroad cheaply. Everybody hopes, that Steve Logan ends his regime, but he allies with Jim Knox. Nobody knows, that he's actually a government agent. But when Jim finds out, he tries to kill Steve.—Stephan Eichenberg <eichenbe@fak-cbg.tu-muenchen.de>
Plot Keywords: tycoon, rancher, son, love interest, henchman, spirited, uplifting ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: In this Roy Rogers entry, featuring a song written by Oklahoma Governor Roy J. Turner (making him and Louisiana's Jimmie Davis and Texas' W.E. "Pappy" O'Daniel possibly the only state governors to write songs used in a western), Flying T ranch owner Sam Talbot is killed by a fall from a horse. St. Louis reporter Connie Edwards comes to check a rumor that he might have been murdered. She goes to Roy Rogers, editor of the local newspaper, and he takes her to the reading of Talbot's will. The ranch is left to Talbot's 12-year-old ward, Duke Lowery, much to the dismay of Talbot's niece, Jan Holloway. After some attempts on Duke's life, Roy finally proves that Jan, Steve McClory and coroner Jim Judnick had Talbot killed and are conspiring to do the same for Duke, making Jan the last heir.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>
Plot Keywords: roy rogers, reporter, foreman, ward, niece, editor, engaging ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Ann and Tom Howard arrive from the east to take up ranching. But Tom wants to return and forges his sister's name to the deed and sells it to Larson. Eddie knows there is silver ore in the area and that Lawson, who killed the Sheriff, is out to get all the ranches. When Lawson appoints himself the new Sheriff, Eddie organizes the ranchers to fight Lawson and his men.—Maurice VanAuken <mvanauken@a1access.net>
Plot Keywords: cowboy, sidekick, rancher, younger brother, sheriff, saloon owner, spirited ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Eddie Dean, under orders as a U.S. Land Office agent, is trying to prevent a range war from being started between homesteaders and ranchers when a caravan of the so-called 'Nesters', start to take over land acquired by the homesteaders by a government lease. Quirt Thayer, working both sides against the middle, has his gang join with the ranchers seeking revenge against the settlers for raids on the ranchers by Quirt's henchmen. Eddie uses his friendship with Mary King, daughter of the leading rancher, to pin the guilt on the correct culprits.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>
Plot Keywords: rancher, daughter, homesteader, son, sidekick, u.s. marshal, tense ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: When Gene's boss is murdered, the boss's daughter is seriously injured. To raise money for her operation, Gene and the ranch hands enter the new medium of television as singers. When they do well, the bank agrees to lend them the needed money. Martin, who is the murderer, is after the ranch. Now he has to make sure the daughter doesn't get the operation so he sends his henchmen out to wreck Gene's equipment.—Maurice VanAuken <mvanauken@a1access.net>
Plot Keywords: gene autry, daughter, partner, sidekick, boss, singer, positive ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: When John Stewart gives refuge to Wick Campbell's girl friend, Campbell turns against him. He rustles Stewart's cattle, murders his brother, and brings in hired guns. Then he and his men pin Stewart and a few others down in a house apparently killing them. But Stewart has escaped and returns alone to rid the town of Campbell and his men.—Maurice VanAuken <mvanauken@a1access.net>
Plot Keywords: rancher, sheriff, nephew, mistress, mercenary, leader, melodramatic ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Curley Thompson purchases a ranch near the town of Douglas and is surprised to find that his inherited, happy-go-lucky foreman, Sam Hawkins, can't even ride a horse. Freight owner Hatch Bolton is boss of the town and is out to ruin the local ranchers in order to get their ranches and sell to a Chicago grain combine. After Sheriff Tom Gordon is ambushed, his brother Walter and Alice Rhodes join Curley in his fight against Bolton. A rancher is murdered and Bolton tries to frame Curley, but Gordon lets him out of jail. Curley learns that the murdered man had been trying to tell him that a pair of steer horns over the bar contain the evidence needed against Bolton.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>
Plot Keywords: rancher, foreman, sheriff, deputy, murder victim, henchman, tense ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Maxwell is trying to bring in an oil well and Wilkens is out to stop him. When his attempted robbery of Maxwell's payroll fails, he tells the ranchers who invested on Autry's advise that the well is dry. But Gene knows there is oil there and with everyone after him he heads for the well to try and bring it in with dynamite.—Maurice VanAuken <mvanauken@a1access.net>
Plot Keywords: gene autry, rancher, oil driller, businessman, villain, banker, rousing ...
Movie Details Click Here!