In "Winning of the West" the plot calls for Gene Autry to have an outlaw brother working for villains Raybold (Gregg Barton) and Selby (Robert Livingston), but it might have been a better idea to have Gene portray both characters. He did that before in 1936's "The Big Show" where he played himself as well as a character named Tom Ford. As Jack Austin/Autry, Richard Crane didn't seem to have much charisma, coming across as just another B Western henchman, even when he decided to join the good guys for the finish.
What bothered me in the early going was that street gunfight outside the Sycamora Gazette office, when Gene recognizes his brother and lays low so as not to have to shoot him. Trouble is, Jack takes aim at publisher Randolph, killing him in the process. Randolph's daughter Ann (Gail Davis) rightly blames Gene for her father's death, and in rather weak fashion, Gene defends himself against the charge. He has Western hero privilege of course, but this was a rather lame attempt to shift blame away from Gene, when he could have winged his brother or distracted him enough to avoid making Randolph a target. For his part, Randolph should have just stayed in the bank.
Another element that was mishandled occurred right before the finale, just as Gene shows up back in town with an arrest warrant on his head. It takes about a second and a quick scene change, and Gene winds up being deputized by Marshal Hackett (House Peters Jr.) to head the posse against the outlaws. I know a lot of thought didn't go into some of these oaters, but this was a bit too obvious.
Aside from the good brother/bad brother scenario, this is a rather standard Autry vehicle, complete with a handful of tunes sprinkled throughout. For many of Gene's films, the title of the picture is often supported by one of the musical entries, but not this time around. Smiley Burnette handles the first ditty, a rather awkward song called 'Five Minutes Late and a Dollar Short'. Gene handles 'Lonesome Cowboy' and 'Cowpoke Pokin' Along', while teaming up with Smiley to offer up 'Fetch Me Down My Trusty .45'.
What bothered me in the early going was that street gunfight outside the Sycamora Gazette office, when Gene recognizes his brother and lays low so as not to have to shoot him. Trouble is, Jack takes aim at publisher Randolph, killing him in the process. Randolph's daughter Ann (Gail Davis) rightly blames Gene for her father's death, and in rather weak fashion, Gene defends himself against the charge. He has Western hero privilege of course, but this was a rather lame attempt to shift blame away from Gene, when he could have winged his brother or distracted him enough to avoid making Randolph a target. For his part, Randolph should have just stayed in the bank.
Another element that was mishandled occurred right before the finale, just as Gene shows up back in town with an arrest warrant on his head. It takes about a second and a quick scene change, and Gene winds up being deputized by Marshal Hackett (House Peters Jr.) to head the posse against the outlaws. I know a lot of thought didn't go into some of these oaters, but this was a bit too obvious.
Aside from the good brother/bad brother scenario, this is a rather standard Autry vehicle, complete with a handful of tunes sprinkled throughout. For many of Gene's films, the title of the picture is often supported by one of the musical entries, but not this time around. Smiley Burnette handles the first ditty, a rather awkward song called 'Five Minutes Late and a Dollar Short'. Gene handles 'Lonesome Cowboy' and 'Cowpoke Pokin' Along', while teaming up with Smiley to offer up 'Fetch Me Down My Trusty .45'.