The Cherokee Strip (1937)

Wow! Such a good movie.

Wonderful character development!

Blistering performances.

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

"The Cherokee Strip" was another of Dick Foran's "singing Cowboy Westerns for Warner Bros. In this one Dick is a lawyer no less who becomes a cattleman.The film opens with Dick Hudson (Foran) getting shot at by young Barty Walton (Tommy Bupp). Not too much is made of the fact that the boy almost blew Hudson's head off. If fact sister Janie (Jane Bryan) blames Hudson for all the trouble. Turns out all are going to participate in the Oklahoma Land Rush the next day.Using a liberal amount of stock footage, the land rush takes place but Dick's horse has been crippled by an unknown person so that he isn't able to file a claim on the new lands. But bad guy Link Carter (Edmund Cobb) cleans up acquiring several prime claims by one way or another, to become town boss of the new city of Big Rock. Only Tom Valley (David Carlyle) and his wife Ruth (Helen Valkis) oppose him. Dick throws in with them. George Walton (Tom Brower) is the puppet mayor appointed by Carter but is now becoming disillusioned with Carter's methods and walks out.The Valleys acquire a herd of cattle and invite Dick to become a partner in the venture. Carter also has his eyes on the beef. Tom Valley is finally fed up with Carter and his tactics and confronts him in Carter's office. Carter shoots him down and is arrested. At the trial Dick gets Carter to admit his guilt and...................................................................Foran gets to sing his usual three songs and even gets to sing a duet with young Tommy Bupp. Edmund Cobb is as nasty as I have ever seen him as the chief baddie. Frank Faylen in an early role plays Cobb's henchman Joe Brady. Also in the cast are Joseph Crehan as the army officer who fires the opening shot of the Land Rush, Gordon Hart plays the Judge, Glenn Strange is the fiddle player in a band and Bud Osborne is on Foran's side for a change as a cowpoke watching over the herdAlso of interest is that David Carlyle would soon change his name to Robert Paige and enjoy a career as a second string leading man at Universal in the 40s. Helen Valkis would shortly become Joan Valerie..

There's no John Boy or Erin, but there are the parents and their daughter (Jane Bryan) and young son (Tommy Bupp). The family is under the thumb of a ruthless mob determined to control the wagon westward. Then along comes singing cowboy/lawyer Dick Foran, an instant threat to this gaggle of gangsters living on public fear, and you know that their days are numbered.This fast-moving western is less about the west and more about creating a civilization in an unsettled land. The building of a community is documented, even though the head of the mob (Edmund Cobb) is determined to run this himself, not as a democracy, but simply ruthlessly to protect his own interests and control everybody else. Warner Brothers technical team made this extremely enjoyable from the start, tossing in a few gags and even a roll across the range documenting land grabbing where the finders are keepers, the losers are weepers, and a bit of chicanery doesn't hurt in trying to achieve the American dream.

Watched plenty of Classic Cowboy Westerns but somehow I seemed to have missed this Singing Cowboy film with Dick Foran,(Dick Hudson),"The Big Night",'60, who all of a sudden puts up a sign on a tent that says 'LAWYER'. In the opening scene you see a town just starting out with various tents all around with people of different trades starting up a new settlement. However, the so called Bad Guy has taken over the town and his name is Edmund Cobb,(Link Carter),"Requiem For a Gunfighter",'65. The cowgirl sweetheart in town is Jane Bryan (Jean Walton),"Girls on Probation",'38. Jane's father tries to change his ways and will not go along with the evil plans of Link Carter. Dick Hudson decides to take this problem to court and put these people on trial. A young boy has fun putting his two cents into the action and plays around with guns and their bullets and causes the story to have a great ENDING! Great Classic Foran Film!