Sierra Sue

Plot synopsis:
In Sierra City, George Larrabee (Robert Homans), the president of the Western Stockman's Association, orders the ranchers of the area to burn their land in response to a poisonous "devil weed" that threatens to overgrow the rangeland and kill the cattle. The local bank president Stacy Bromfield (Frank M. Thomas), a long-time supporter of the ranchers, believes the burning has failed to control the epidemic. At a meeting with Larrabee and the ranchers, Bromfield announces that he contacted the Department of Agriculture and requested a weed control specialist be assigned to investigate. Although suspicious of government intervention, Larrabee and the ranchers agree to cooperate.
While riding to Sierra City, singing cowboy and government specialist Gene Autry (Gene Autry) meets Larrabee's daughter Sue (Fay McKenzie) who does not know he is from the Department of Agriculture. Later, Gene and his sidekick Frog Millhouse (Smiley Burnette) rescue a wounded pilot from a crashed plane—a plane carrying a large loan to Bromfield for the ranchers. Gene leaves the pilot with a farmer and heads to the bank with the money. Believing that they have stolen the money, the farmer alerts the sheriff who organizes a posse, tracks Gene and Frog down, and arrests them. Gene's assistant, Jarvis (Kermit Maynard), arrives to identify them, and soon they are freed.
During his investigation, Gene has a confrontation with Larrabee's foreman, Brandywine (Earle Hodgins), who is attempting to burn Larrabee land at his boss' instruction. When Larrabee and Sue arrive, Gene is able to convince them to keep an open mind and that all ranchers must cooperate if they are to solve the problem. Later at the carnival, Gene romances Sue while Frog is seduced by fortune teller Verebel Featherstone (Dorothy Christy), who is paid by Gene to keep Frog distracted and away from Sue. Verebel hypnotizes Frog and convinces him to become a "human cannonball" and be shot from a cannon.
After his investigation, Gene attends a meeting with the ranchers and tells them that burning will not work—that in fact it will only cause regrowth—and that the only way to get rid of the "devil weed" is through chemical spraying. When the ranchers indicate that the chemicals will kill the cattle, Gene assures the ranchers that the cattle will not be harmed if they are moved away from the spraying area. The ranchers agree to follow Gene's recommendations—everyone but Larrabee who threatens to resign if anyone sprays his range.
The next day, Gene instructs the ranchers to move their cattle to a nearby canyon and keep them there until the next rainfall so they will not be harmed by the chemicals. Once again, Larrabee is the only one who opposes the plan and indicates that he will not comply. Meanwhile, in an effort to protect Larrabee's cattle from the spraying, Bromfield has his cattle moved to safety with the other herds. As Larrabee and his men prepare for a showdown, Gene devises a plan to thwart Larrabee's opposition without violence. Gene orders an airplane to spray the rangeland. Later with her father, Sue acknowledges that Gene handled the situation well and avoided a violent confrontation, and Larrabee agrees. Reluctantly he acknowledges that maybe now the problem will be resolved.
Brandywine, however, refuses to accept Gene's solution, and as the plane flies over the rangeland, he shoots the plane, disabling it. Although the pilot is able to bail out safely, the plane crashes near the herds and starts a stampede. As the cattle head toward the sprayed land, Gene creates a firebreak just in time to keep the cattle safely inside the canyon. Afterwards, Larrabee apologizes to Gene for his stubborn opposition, Verebel finally wins Frog's affection, and Gene and Sue ride through the valley together singing a romantic song.

Tags: comedy

Review:
Autry movie with sufficient songs and laughs. Autry and "Frog" are experts on weed control and staunch advocates of herbicide use in this fast-paced oater.  Brought in to help control an epidemic of "devil weed" that's killing cattle, they must overcome opposition to chemical solutions and figure out which one of them gets the girl (Autry, of course).  Along the way there are some pretty amusing scenes, including one where Frog's shot out of a cannon to impress the gal. When one angry ranch hand shoots down the airplane Autry and Co. are spraying with, it's up to Gene to stop the stampede that ensues and save the day for a chemical future.. Air Power to the Rescue. Better than average Autry programmer. Producers are an often overlooked item in the production crew. However, whoever produced this 60 minutes for Republic (not listed by IMDb) deserves real commendation. There are more thoughtful and expensive touches than usual. The location scenes are excellent with a minimum of process shots. The stampede sequence is central to the action and surprisingly is a real stampede with an actual herd on location. No stock shots, although there are a few shots of Gene against a back projection screen. Also, the aerial shots appear real, without the usual shortcuts. Great location photography of mountains, sky, and clouds-- after all, what else do cowboy movies celebrate but the great American outdoors. The plot's an interesting mix of old and new. The appeal of the New Deal's federal government is in evidence here. Autry represents the capacity of the feds with their research labs to help the stubbornly independent ranching industry deal with a menace (killer weeds) beyond their usual skills. None of this is meant to take away from the easy-going humor and charm of this Saturday afternoon special that kept me enthralled as a boy and still does as a gray-beard adult.. "It isn't every man who could double for a rocket"!. This is the second time I've seen Gene Autry in a flick where he could be considered on the wrong side of an environmental issue. The other was "Riders of the Whistling Pines" in which DDT is mentioned by name, and where Gene sounds like an apologist for the chemical industry. DDT was eventually banned, but the offending chemical is never mentioned by name here.Fay McKenzie appeared fairly regularly in Gene's pictures during the early Forties, and she shows up here as well as the daughter of George Larrabee (Robert Homans), one of the ranchers opposed to chemical spraying. However the threat of a poisonous 'devil weed' has him and his neighbors boxed into a system of burning rangeland, only to have the noxious plant return with a vengeance. There didn't seem to be any other solution besides the spraying though, and the Larrabee's fell in line by the end of the story, thanking Gene for his perseverance.Sierra Sue - that would be McKenzie - as well as the title song. Gene gets in a few other tunes, along with 'Ridin' the Range', but Smiley Burnette turns in the best with 'I Got the Heebie-Jeebie Blues' while spending the day in jail with Gene over a robbery misunderstanding. Now that I think about it, nothing ever came of those bags of money the boys found in the crashed plane. What's up with that? For all his effort, Smiley has just the toughest time in the romance department, but he goes the extra mile to impress Sierra Sue with the old cannonball gimmick. The way he sailed through the air was a well done effect, and I'd be curious to know how they did that. Still, Gene gets the title girl at the end of the picture, but Smiley's Frog Millhouse didn't do so bad winding up with the psychic Miss Featherstone (Dorothy Christy). I wonder if she saw it coming?