Shooting High

1940 film by Alfred E. Green

Shooting High

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Alfred E. Green
Screenplay by|

* Lou Breslow
* Owen Francis

Produced by| John Stone[1]
Starring|

* Jane Withers
* Gene Autry
* Marjorie Weaver
* Frank M. Thomas
* Robert Lowery
* Kay Aldridge
* Hobart Cavanaugh
* Jack Carson
* Hamilton MacFadden

Cinematography| Ernest Palmer
Edited by| Nick DeMaggio
Music by| Samuel Kaylin[1]

Production
company

20th Century-Fox

Distributed by| 20th Century-Fox

Release date

* April 26, 1940 (1940-04-26) (U.S.)

Running time

| 66 minutes[1]
Country| United States
Language| English

Shooting High is a 1940 American Western film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Jane Withers, Gene Autry, and Marjorie Weaver. Written by Lou Breslow and Owen Francis, the film is about a generations-old feud between two families. This feud is revived when the town banker tries to construct a highway through the area where a monument is installed to the frontiersman ancestor of one of the families.[2]

Gene Autry, known as the "singing cowboy", was then under contract to Republic Pictures. Thirteen-year-old Jane Withers was a movie star and powerful box office draw. She wanted to make a movie with him, and arranged for him to be loaned to 20th Century-Fox by talking directly to each of the studio heads.[3] Shooting High was a success.

## Plot

[edit]

The Carsons and the Pritchards have been feuding for generations in the town of Carson's Corners. The budding romance between Will Carson (Gene Autry) and Marjorie Pritchard (Marjorie Weaver) is being threatened by this long-standing feud. Marjorie's father, Calvin Pritchard (Frank M. Thomas), is the bank president and mayor of Carson's Corners. He pretends to support Will's courtship of his daughter because he needs to acquire a piece of Carson property for a proposed highway through the area. When Will learns of Pritchard's motives, he accuses Marjorie of scheming with her father to steal Carson land.

The long-simmering feud between the Carsons and the Pritchards erupts over Will's accusation. Just as the families renew their bickering, Gabby Cross (Jack Carson), a publicity agent for Spectrum Pictures, arrives in town and offers the townspeople $20,000 to use Carson's Corners as a filming location. He is making a movie about Wild Bill Carson, Will's grandfather and the founder of Carson Corners. Still angered by Will's undermining his highway plan, Pritchard refuses Cross's offer. His youngest daughter, Jane (Jane Withers), suggests a compromise that would allow Spectrum Pictures to use the town as a filming location if the highway proposal were approved by the Carsons.

With all parties agreeing to the proposal, the movie company arrives in town and begins production. The star of the film, Bob Merritt (Robert Lowery), begins to court Marjorie. Wanting her sister to marry Will, Jane and the sheriff devise a plan to frighten Merritt out of town, telling him a lynch party is after him. After Merritt leaves town, the head of Spectrum Pictures threatens to sue Pritchard for the defection. Cross suggests giving the part to Will, who agrees on the condition that Pritchard extend the Carson mortgages.

While the movie is being filmed, three gangsters arrive in town. During a bank hold-up scene, the three gangsters put on actors' costumes and steal the money from the bank. Learning of the theft, Will pursues the gangsters on horseback, catches them, and brings them back to Carson Corners with the money. Will's heroic actions wins the respect of the Pritchards, as well as Marjorie's respect and hand in marriage.[2]

## Cast

[edit]

* Jane Withers as Jane Pritchard
* Gene Autry as Will Carson
* Marjorie Weaver as Marjorie Pritchard
* Frank M. Thomas as Calvin Pritchard
* Robert Lowery as Bob Merritt
* Kay Aldridge as Evelyn Trent
* Hobart Cavanaugh as Constable Clem Perkle
* Jack Carson as Gabby Cross
* Hamilton MacFadden as J. Wallace Rutledge
* Charles B. Middleton as Hod Carson
* Ed Brady as Mort Carson
* Tom London as Eph Carson
* Eddie Acuff as Andy Carson
* Pat O'Malley as Lem Pritchard
* George Chandler as Charles Pritchard
* Champion as Gene's Horse (uncredited)[2]

## Production

[edit]

### Background

[edit]

Jane Withers is considered responsible for recruiting Gene Autry to 20th Century-Fox for Shooting High. At the time the thirteen-year-old star was the number 6 box office draw in the country.[4] She called Joseph M. Schenck, then head of 20th Century-Fox, telling him she wanted to do a film with Gene Autry. Schenck liked the idea, but suspected Republic Pictures would never loan the "singing cowboy" to another studio. Withers contacted the head of Republic Pictures, Herbert J. Yates, and suggested that a group of Fox contract players be loaned to Republic in exchange for Autry. The studios agreed and the film became a hit.[5] Autry, who earned $71,000 per year at Republic, earned $25,000 for his work in this film.[6]

This was Autry's first movie as a co-star, his first since 1934 without the comic presence of Smiley Burnette, and his first playing a character other than himself.[3]

### Filming

[edit]

Shooting High was filmed November 18 to December 16, 1939.

### Filming locations

[edit]

* 20th Century Fox backlot, Calabasas, California, USA
* Santa Susana Pass, Simi Valley, Los Angeles
* Corriganville Movie Ranch, Simi Valley, California[2]

### Stuntwork

[edit]

* Foxy Callahan
* Frank McCarroll
* Henry Wills[2]

### Soundtrack

[edit]

* "Wanderers" (Felix Bernard, Paul Francis Webster) by Gene Autry and Jane Withers
* "Shanty of Dreams" (Gene Autry, Johnny Marvin) by Gene Autry and Jane Withers
* "Only One Love in a Lifetime" (Gene Autry, Johnny Marvin, Harry Tobias) by Gene Autry
* "Little Old Band of Gold" (Gene Autry, Charles Newman, Fred Glickman) by Gene Autry
* "On the Rancho with My Pancho" (Harry Akst, Sidney Clare)
* "Bridal Chorus (Here Comes the Bride)" (Richard Wagner)[2]

## References

[edit]

Citations

1. ^ a b c Magers 2007, p. 158.
2. ^ a b c d e f Magers 2007, p. 159.
3. ^ a b Magers, pp. 158–160.
4. ^ Magers 2007, p. 160.
5. ^ Fitzgerald & Magers 2006, pp. 311–315.
6. ^ George-Warren 2007, p. 187.

Bibliography

* Fitzgerald, Michael G.; Magers, Boyd (2006). Ladies of the Western: Interviews with Fifty-One More Actresses from the Silent Era to the Television Westerns of the 1950s and 1960s. McFarland. ISBN 9780786426560.
* George-Warren, Holly (2007). Public Cowboy no. 1: The Life and Times of Gene Autry. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195177466.
* Green, Douglas B. (2002). Singing in the Saddle: The History of the Singing Cowboy. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press. ISBN 978-0826514127.
* Magers, Boyd (2007). Gene Autry Westerns. Madison, NC: Empire Publishing, Inc. ISBN 978-0944019498.

## External links

[edit]

* Shooting High at IMDb
* Shooting High at the TCM Movie Database

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Alfred E. Green

Silent films|

* The Princess of Patches (1917)
* Silk Husbands and Calico Wives (1920)
* A Double-Dyed Deceiver (1920)
* Through the Back Door (1921)
* Little Lord Fauntleroy (1921)
* The Bachelor Daddy (1922)
* Our Leading Citizen (1922)
* The Ghost Breaker (1922)
* The Man Who Saw Tomorrow (1922)
* Back Home and Broke (1922)
* The Ne'er-Do-Well (1923)
* Woman-Proof (1923)
* Pied Piper Malone (1924)
* In Hollywood With Potash and Perlmutter (1924)
* Inez from Hollywood (1924)
* The Talker (1925)
* Sally (1925)
* The Man Who Found Himself (1925)
* The Girl from Montmartre (1926)
* Ladies at Play (1926)
* Irene (1926)
* It Must Be Love (1926)
* Ella Cinders (1926)
* Two Girls Wanted (1927)
* Is Zat So? (1927)
* The Auctioneer (1927)
* Come to My House (1927)
* Honor Bound (1928)

Sound films|

* Disraeli (1929)
* Making the Grade (1929)
* The Green Goddess (1930)
* The Man From Blankley's (1930)
* Sweet Kitty Bellairs (1930)
* Old English (1930)
* Men of the Sky (1931)
* The Road to Singapore (1931)
* Smart Money (1931)
* Union Depot (1932)
* It's Tough to Be Famous (1932)
* The Rich Are Always With Us (1932)
* The Dark Horse (1932)
* Silver Dollar (1932)
* Parachute Jumper (1933)
* Grand Slam (1933)
* Baby Face (1933)
* Central Airport (1933)
* I Loved a Woman (1933)
* The Narrow Corner (1933)
* Dark Hazard (1934)
* Side Streets (1934)
* Housewife (1934)
* The Merry Frinks (1934)
* As the Earth Turns (1934)
* A Lost Lady (1934)
* Gentlemen Are Born (1934)
* Sweet Music (1935)
* Here's to Romance (1935)
* The Girl From 10th Avenue (1935)
* The Goose and the Gander (1935)
* Dangerous (1935)
* Colleen (1936)
* They Met in a Taxi (1936)
* The Golden Arrow (1936)
* Two in a Crowd (1936)
* More Than a Secretary (1936)
* The League of Frightened Men (1937)
* Mr. Dodd Takes the Air (1937)
* Thoroughbreds Don't Cry (1937)
* Let's Get Married (1937)
* Ride a Crooked Mile (1938)
* The Duke of West Point (1938)
* The Gracie Allen Murder Case (1939)
* King of the Turf (1939)
* 20,000 Men a Year (1939)
* Flowing Gold (1940)
* Shooting High (1940)
* South of Pago Pago (1940)
* East of the River (1940)
* Adventure in Washington (1941)
* Badlands of Dakota (1941)
* The Mayor of 44th Street (1942)
* Meet the Stewarts (1942)
* Appointment in Berlin (1943)
* There's Something About a Soldier (1943)
* Mr. Winkle Goes to War (1944)
* Strange Affair (1944)
* A Thousand and One Nights (1945)
* The Jolson Story (1946)
* Tars and Spars (1946)
* The Fabulous Dorseys (1947)
* Copacabana (1947)
* Four Faces West (1948)
* The Girl from Manhattan (1948)
* Cover Up (1949)
* Sierra (1949)
* The Jackie Robinson Story (1950)
* Two Gals and a Guy (1951)
* Invasion U.S.A. (1952)
* The Eddie Cantor Story (1953)
* Paris Model (1953)
* Top Banana (1954)

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