And that's just for starters! There's no doubting only Gabby Hayes could deliver a line like that and he was doing it here when he was still being billed as George Hayes. Still the same old Gabby though, looking like an old codger even though he was still far from his prime as the ultimate Western sidekick.What threw me for a loop was an opening screen intro that stated 'Nat Levine Presents Gene Autry' for this picture when it actually starred Ken Maynard. Gene does make an appearance past the midway point, and I can now say I saw him in his very first picture. Not only that, but he brought Smiley Burnette along for HIS very first picture too, so this film merits entry in the Western movie trivia Hall of Fame.I can't say I've seen Ken Maynard sing in one of his films before, but that's the way the picture starts out with him crooning something along the lines of 'As Long As I Got My Dog'. As far as the story goes, it's a pretty standard one in which the hero outwits the bad guys and wins the pretty female lead (Evalyn Knapp as Lila Miller) by the time the sun goes down. Kentucky Ken and partner Cactus (Hayes) uncover a scheme in which villain Chandler/Korber (Kenneth Thompson) attempts to blackmail pretty Lila's father (H.B. Warner) over his own criminal past.With all that's going on here, I can't help thinking that Maynard, the nominal star wound up playing second fiddle to the characters around him. Autry only appears on screen for a few brief moments, and his voice sounds a little twangy singing 'In Old Wyoming', while Smiley is a hoot introducing his froggy voice with 'My Momma Don't Allow'. You also have to credit Maynard's palomino Tarzan for a major role in the story, what with all the tricky maneuvering around obstacles, over jumps and rugged terrain in that horse race through the canyon. If the story had anything to do with Old Santa Fe you could have fooled me, but then again, it WAS one of the songs done by Gene Autry.

Man snubbing Kentucky who was trying to sell him western gear. "I don't wish to look like a fool." "My mistake, my mistake, but I don't think the clothes would make any difference." I wonder how many horses were lamed filming that. Just horrible. Nobody in his or her right mind would put a horse through the race. But that was some fantastic riding. The plot shows what a trip wire could do to a horse and yet they surely used trip wires for the falls. I got an extra appreciation for the danger of the runaway stage stunt when I learned of a re-creation trail ride a few years ago where the team of a wagon was spooked and one of the horses died after getting entangled backwards in the harness.Odd that someone named Kentucky didn't even try for a KY accent. :) I went to a Ken Maynard film festival in Columbus, IN, put on by a family member. I'd never heard of him before that. We saw some of his silent movies. It's interesting that a boy from Vevay, IN, could perform in carnivals and circuses then go west and become a trick rider with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, a circus rider with Ringling Brothers, and have a career in Hollywood. He also managed to squeeze in a stint with the army in WWI, apparently escaping being crippled or traumatized.It was an exciting time for an adventurous soul. Cole Porter from Peru, IN, born only four years earlier than Ken, went the opposite direction and took NYC by storm. (He, however, wasn't as lucky with his horse, poor guy.) The mingling of the sophistication of the cities with the still fairly primitive conditions of the West and Great Plains made for excellent contrasts in early westerns. It gave the audience the feeling that they could go there and have amazing things happen to them, too. It was part fantasy and part advertisement.

Gene Autry and Smiley Burnette made an auspicious debut in the Ken Maynard vehicle, "In Old Santa Fe" (1934). Although their footage is limited to a couple of musical numbers, they still make quite an impression. Furthermore, the movie is almost in the "A" class. Filled with great action, plus humor, plus excellent acting (particularly from Ken Maynard, Gabby Hayes, Evalyn Knapp, H.B. Warner, Kenneth Thomson and Wheeler Oakman), stylish direction by David Howard, a fast-paced script, class-"A" songs and superb production values, "In Old Santa Fe" is a must-have DVD, especially for fans of Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Gabby Hayes (in full flight here), Ken Maynard (who comes across with far more personality than usual), and even Bob Nolan (who dubs Maynard's comic song, "That's What I Like About My Dog").

The reissue print I saw lists Gene Autry as the star, but the truth is he's only in one scene singing a song at a party. The real star of the film is Ken Maynard, one of the first singing cowboys in one of his last appearances in "musical" western. The Plot has to do with Ken helping out the owner of a dude ranch that is wanted by a gangster. First the gangster fixes a horse race and then he resorts to murder and robbery, framing Maynard in the hope of getting him out of the way. Good action packed film is slowed down by too many songs. The songs aren't bad but it takes up too much room with the result being that the first 40 minutes is rather leisurely while the final 15 or 20 minutes is a race to the wire. I wish things had been more spread out, especially since the film kind of slows to a crawl after the horse race. Still its worth a look, preferably as part of a double feature evening.