In 1936, Ritter moved to Los Angeles. His motion picture debut was in "Song of the Gringo" (1936) for Grand National Pictures. He went on to appear in 70 movies as an actor, and 76 on movie soundtracks. He attracted special attention in 1952 for his rendition of "The Ballad of High Noon" over the opening credits of the celebrated film "High Noon", and later sang it at that year's Academy Awards ceremony, where it won Best Original Song.