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A Masterpiece!

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Dick Powell and Priscilla Lane sing a cute duet called "Ride, Tenderfoot, Ride": Standing under a tree, Powell strums a guitar while the two trade lines and hardly stop smiling through the whole song. It's a charming highlight of this enjoyable and unassuming comedy.Powell plays a singer on his way west (from Brooklyn) who gets stranded at a Wyoming dude ranch run by Lane and her family. Hired as a ranch entertainer, Powell is quickly discovered by vacationing press agent Pat O'Brien, who immediately gives him a new name ("Wyoming Steve Gibson") and hauls him back to New York to present him as the next big thing—a "genuine" singing cowboy. What will happen if the public learns Powell is a fake? Among the many whimsical elements here are Powell's fear of animals (he turns tail and runs when he sees so much as a bird fly past); Lane's insistence on proper Western pronunciation and terminology (you don't "think," you "reckon"); and Pat O'Brien's lightning fast delivery of virtually every line he speaks.Ronald Reagan is also funny as O'Brien's bemused but enthusiastic assistant. Dick Foran pitches in as a frustrated western crooner himself who butchers "Home on the Range" every time he can corral an audience.Powell and Lane are attractive leads, and both are especially good in the scenes they share. The plot really isn't much….but the songs are fine and the cast make it all very easy to watch.

Warner Brothers really worked Dick Powell. Between 1933 and 1935, he made 17 movies. In 1938, he "only" made four. And they are stinkers. This is the worst of the lot, one of the most silly and sappy Hollywood musicals ever made. The script is dreadful, the music is forgettable, the sets are embarrassing, and the acting is merely passable. Powell deserves an award of some sort for agreeing to appear in this turkey. But then, he was under contract. Moreover, he had worked with Ruby Keeler, so he was capable of great self-sacrifice.The opening scene sets the gravity of the film: three musicians singing on a moving train and being thrown off, piano and all. They find their way to a dude ranch, Powell sings, a visiting New York agent hears him, and he is on his way to New York and fame and glory. But first he has to appear to be an authentic westerner. He is not. And he is mortally afraid of all animals. So a local hypnotist, in New York at the time, gets him to briefly become the world's champion steer slinger. Happy ending.Pat O'Brien plays his stereotyped role. Ann Sheridan, all of 23, makes a very brief appearance. And Ronald Reagan is on hand, playing O'Brien's fast-talking press agent. Priscilla Lane tries to speak with a "western" accent. A disaster for all.

This film is terrible. What makes this all the more unfortunate is that the film has a solid idea and a great cast. The idea was used to much better advantage in Abbott and Costello's 1942 comedy for Universal "Ride 'em Cowboy". Coincidentally Dick Foran also appears in that film although as a character similar to Dick Powell's, the phony cowboy. Pat O'Brien plays his standard fast talking promoter to perfection but adds very little to the proceedings. It's hard to believe that this was the same year that he did both "Boy Meets Girl" and "Angels With Dirty Faces", both co-starring James Cagney. The songs are less than memorable. It's great fun to see a very young Ronald Reagan in a supporting role.

While fairly average as far as musicals go, this movie is noteworthy for me because it is the only film that features my two favorite actresses, Priscilla Lane and Ann Sheridan.While they don't have any scenes together, unfortunately, there is a scene where Priscilla looks at a picture of Ann. It's not much, but I'll take what I can get!It's too bad The Cowboy from Brooklyn does not do a good enough job in showcasing Priscilla Lane in the female lead. And Ann Sheridan is barely featured at all.I can only imagine what could have been...