Public Cowboy No. 1

2971. PUBLIC COWBOY NO. 1 (1937-USA). With GENE AUTRY, SMILEY BURNETTE, ANN RUTHERFORD, WILLIAM FARNUM, BOB BURNS (bit part). This action filled western adventure opens as a reign of terror is sweeping Prairie function. Rustlers are using short-wave radios and airplanes, refrigerator trucks and other new-fangled equipment to round-up stolen herds of cattle and prepare them for slaughter. So quickly do the rustlers kill, skin and cart off the cattle that the herds actually seem to be vanishing into thin air! Old Sheriff Matte Doniphon and his head deputy Gene Autry set out to capture the thieving varmints. However, their “horse and buggy” tactics are not sufficiently up-to-date to apprehend these modern criminals. The sheriff and Gene concoct a clever plan which they hope will lead them to the villains. However, their sleuthing puts them in grave danger as they get closer to uncovering the source of the crimes. At the same time, a novice newspaper editor (well-played by pert Ann Rutherford) writes a series of overheated editorials in which she demands “modern” methods for tracking the rustlers. Facing failure, the sheriff and Gene must prove that only guns and nerve can bring law and order to the West! A better than usual Gene Autry film. Recommended. 53 minutes. Western