The best Tom London’s music movies

When asked about the Ghost Riders song he sings, Gene Autry tells this legend: Gene is about to resign as an investigator for the county attorney and go into the cattle business with his pal Chuckawalla Jones but decides instead to help Anne Lawson clear her father, rancher Ralph Lawson, of a false murder charge. He looks for the three witnesses who can testify that Lawson shot only in self defense in killing a gambler, but the witnesses are terrorized by another gambler, town boss Rock McCleary, who shoots witness Pop Roberts Morgan. Fatally wounded, Pop gives Gene the information needed to clear Lawson, then dies crying the "Ghost Riders" are coming for him. Gene then heads for a showdown with McCleary.

A movie company making a film about a famous sheriff hires his grandson as a stand-in for the lead.

Alice Faye plays the title role in this 1940 film biography of the early-20th-century stage star.

Gene and Pokie are on vacation in Mexico when they learn that their buddy Dusty has been bumped off.

Gene Autry and sidekick Frog Millhouse depart Madison Square Garden and NYC heading west for home in their car and a horse trailer carrying Gene's horse, Champion. They discover that Ronnie Willoughby, a young boy just off the boat from school in England, has hitched a ride, thinking that Gene and Frog were sent by his father to meet him. Ronnie thinks his father is a big rancher in the west and doesn't know that his father, Alfred Willoughby, is serving time in San Quentin prison because of a frame-up by the officials of a packing company. To keep the father from testifying against them, the packing company officials, Carter, Jenkins and Martin, have arranged for the boy to be kidnapped. Along the way a runaway bride, Joyce Halloway, and her young sister Patsy join the troupe.

Broadway producer Earl Carroll was a Ziegfeld-like entrepreneur who staged lavish revues featuring attractive young ladies. Carroll's annual "Vanities" provided story material for three Hollywood films: Murder at the Vanities (34), A Night at Earl Carroll's (40) and Earl Carroll Vanities (45). This last film was produced by Republic Pictures, a bread-and-butter studio specializing in Westerns and serials; Republic had made musicals before, but few of them were expensive enough to allow for lavish production numbers. Earl Carroll Vanities is likewise rather threadbare, though some of the individual musical highlights aren't bad. The plot, such as it is, concerns financially strapped nightclub owner Eve Arden, who finagles Earl Carroll into staging one of his revues at her club.

When Moreland's henchman attack Bob Horner the Range Busters break it up. Horner dies but they get the baby Moreland was after. He must have it to become it's guardian and take control of the Horner ranch. When the henchmen catch up with Alibi, they take the baby cradle not realizing Alibi has substituted his dummy Elmer. Crash having evidence Moreland is the one they want, now has a plan to expose him.

Before handing over a large inheritance, a guardian hires three chorus girls to educate his charge about the "underside" of big-city life.

Newcomer Monte Hale is tying to just get a job in western films when he meet young Danny McCoy and his sister Gloria. Danny is trying to get his horse, "Pardner" into films. Monte sings a song and "Pardner" does some tricks and a casting director notices. Monte gets a singing-cowboy role and the horse gets a bit, but there is an accidental explosion, engineered by western star Rod Mason, who is jealous of Monte, and the horse is badly scared and blows his lines.

A singing entomologist (Roy Rogers) acts meek to help a juggling sheriff (George "Gabby" Hayes) solve ranch raids.

A young singer hopes to become a success on Broadway.

A mountain community is thrown into turmoil as the townspeople debate the advantages and disadvantages of having a railroad.

When unscrupulous rodeo promoter Colonel Winthrop gets the idea of capturing "Outlaw" and making him a show horse, his niece Kay North tricks Monte into believing she is a writer assigned to do an article on the real horse.

The story involves a rather odd flashback by Dale who is visiting El Dorado, home of her grandmother. She dreams about her grandmother's adventures including a romance with a cowboy who looks very much like Roy. Roy, of course, also exists in the present for Dale.

To get the Delaney ranch Cole's henchman Anders has started a phony range war between the cattlemen and sheepmen. After killing Delaney, he tries to kill his daughter Jill and then Roy who was sent to investigate the war. But the failed attempts gives Roy the information he needs.

Racketeer Frank Rocci is smitten with Joan Whelan, a dancer at Texas Guinan's famous Broadway night spot. He uses his influence to help her get a starring role in the show, hoping that it will also get Joan to fall in love with him. After scoring a hit, Joan accepts Frank's marriage proposal, more out of gratitude than love. The situation gets even stickier when she falls for a handsome band leader during a trip to Florida. Can she tell Frank she's in love with someone else?