Sykes "Smith" Ballew is a sometimes overlooked singing cowboy. A studio vocalist for dance bands and jazz records, Ballew formed his own orchestra in 1929 and was one of the earliest singing cowboys of the 1930s, beginning with Western Gold (1937), although he had dubbed singing for John Wayne in 1934's The Man from Utah, and between 1929 and 1935, he made scores of records as Buddy Blue & His Texans and Jack Blue's Texans.
Co-starring with Ballew was baseball great Lou Gehrig, playing a version of himself. Gehrig decides to retire from baseball and become a western cattle rancher, visiting his sister Peggy (Evelyn Knapp, Perils of Pauline, In Old Santa Fe, One Frightened Night) in Rawhide, Montana. Once there, Gehrig discovers that local ranchers are being extorted by a protection racket run by bad guy Ed Saunders (Arthur Loft, The Woman in the Window, Should a Girl Marry?, Charlie Chan in the Secret Service). Joining in the fight against Saunders is local attorney Larry Kimball (Ballew). Gehrig plays his role with charm and humor; in one bar fight scene, he uses billiard balls as baseballs to clock his opponents. It should be noted that researchers have shown that Gehrig showed no sign of ALS while filming this film, although an analysis of photos taken in 1938 indicated that the disease had begun its progression.
Songs include two -- "When a Cowboys Goes to Town" and "Driftin'" -- written by Albert von Titzer, who, appropriately was the man who wrote "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." Other songs in the movies are "A Cowboy's Life" and "That Old Washboard Band."
Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7bQaVq2fKw
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