JohnHowardReid Australian release: 26 September 1936. Sydney opening at the Prince Edward: 26 September 1936 (ran only two weeks on a double bill with Big Brown Eyes). 87 minutes. SYNOPSIS: Cowboy en-trains from New York to Green Pastures, Arizona, with his prize bull, "Cuddles". He finds a stowaway in the box car who passes herself of as Lois Hall, a cook. In actual fact, she is a runaway heiress. NOTES: Crosby made only two westerns in his entire screen career. The other: "Stagecoach" (1966). Domestically, one of the top twenty box-office successes of 1936. Oddly, the movie failed to draw anything like similar crowds overseas.Film debut of Martha Raye. Also the "official" screen debut of Bob Burns, although he had in fact appeared in ten or eleven films beforehand.COMMENT: Despite many slight imperfections, "Rhythm on the Range" impresses as an absolutely delightful musical comedy. Let's get the piffling problems out of the way first: It's obvious the screenplay was re-written on the run, which accounts for the various names attributed to the Frances Farmer character, the inconsistent spelling of Jeff's surname, the introductory "Narrow Gage" for James Burke who is addressed in the following scene as "Wabash" and the fact that two different players (one a hobo, the other a ranch-hand) bear the confusing name, "Shorty". Different synopses of the plot appear in various books (in the earlier scenario, Martha Raye was a society woman), and one of the subsidiary story threads involving the three hobos comes to a sudden dead end. Lovely Martha Sleeper plays an agreeably acidic society girl in the opening reel, but then disappears. We keep waiting for her to come back. Viewing the wonderful trailer, you can actually see some great shots which are not in the film at all. At least two additional song numbers were captured on film by energetic director Norman Taurog but left on the cutting-room floor. That's a pity, but it's an even greater shame the cutter didn't also delete a muffed encounter between Martha Raye and Samuel S. Hinds in which the veteran actor fails dismally as a straight man. Fortunately, the scene only runs two minutes, but that boring and embarrassingly inept little interlude blots an otherwise perfectly scintillating piece of lavishly-produced, merrymaking entertainment. It's the main reason I'd give Rhythm on the Range only 90% instead of 100%. (Another, but less important point, is that I don't like Leonid Kinskey's loudmouth impression of a Russian ranch-hand).Now for the good news: Bing not only plays the cowboy as if to the saddle born but sings (and can he sing!) four great numbers, including the haunting "Empty Saddles", the wistful "Round-up Lullaby", the lilting "I Can't Escape from You", and the rousing production number, "I'm an Old Cowhand" which must be counted one of the top novelty tunes of all time. It was Bing Crosby (and no-one else) who propelled it on to the charts. It's also nonsense to say (as some critics have done) that Crosby is upstaged by his co-stars. He is always in charge, always the lead. Supporting him are gloriously radiant Frances Farmer (who was never more attractively photographed and costumed), "pioneer woman" Lucille Gleason, plus "the newcomers", Martha Raye and Bob Burns.Admittedly, Miss Raye does have some sidesplitting lines and bits of business. But so does James Burke (and I've not read anywhere that Burke put the Bing in the shade). One of Burke's funniest lines: "I just had to conk somebody!" I also loved this exchange: PORTER: "Want a Redcap, lady?" EMMA: "What? With a brown jacket and a checkered skirt? Are you kiddin'?"

DKosty123 Considering the folks involved making this movie, I expected a much better movie. Maybe it is because it is 1936, this film is a big let down. There are several older Crosby films I want to see, but after seeing this one I understand why late night comedians used to make jokes about it.Martha Raye does a lot of singing in this one, but the songs are very forgettable. Even Crosby's songs are lacking in this one. The story is the predictable romance and this movie looks like a "relic" gotten from the cutting room floor.I am not sure why Roy Rogers pops in on a short cameo and they do not ask him to sing, but considering the songs in this one, maybe he got lucky. Frances Farmer is the main female lead here, and the story really gets little traction and often the music is just put in to break up the songs.Norman Taurog does some much better direction in later films, do not judge him on this one. Der Binger does ride a horse and look like a cowboy, though he sure does not talk like one. I was glad when this ended as even the ending left something to be desired.

jmk56 Several of the preceding comments have gone into great detail about the film and its pleasures. "Rhythm on the Range" is, to our modern jaded eyes and ears, obviously dated, but it has a charm and sly humor that are abundant enough that even 21st century sophisticates can enjoy it. I concur that the major reason to watch the film is for the wonderful performance of Frances Farmer, here somewhat eschewing her early haughty characterizations for an almost subversive comedic performance. This was Frances' first "A" production, after receiving top billing in two very well received Paramount "B"'s, "Too Many Parents" and "Border Flight." Frances went straight from this film to her legendary role(s) in Goldwyn's "Come and Get It," so from late summer, when "Rhythm" was released, through the end of 1936, when "Come and Get It" premiered, she was arguably the hottest, and certainly one of the most talked about, new stars of that era.The duet one of the previous commenters mentioned, "The House Jack Built for Jill," was in fact filmed but was not, as that commenter stated, slated for the end of the film, but rather for the scene where Bing and Frances escape the rainstorm and find shelter in the farmhouse. I have Norman Taurog's original shooting script and the scene is still extant in the script, including Taurog's blue line through the pages indicating it was filmed.One of the previous commenters repeated some unfortunately commonly believed misinformation about Frances. Though Frances' institutionalization was certainly no picnic (to say the least), the most horrifyingly sensationalized allegations about her treatment (found in both her ghost-written autobiography and the largely fictionalized "Shadowland") never happened, including the spurious claim that she was lobotomized. My article detailing the truth about these allegations, "Shedding Light on Shadowland," is linked under the Miscellaneous section on the IMDb listing for Frances Farmer. Or you can find it by using a search engine and searching for "Shedding Light on Shadowland."

scoopr9 This is one of my absolute favorites of Bing Crosby movies. It not only has an amusing and romantic story line, it features some great songs, like "I'm an Old Cowhand", which went on to be a huge hit. The movie also introduces a very young Roy Rogers (with a spot in the song segment of "I'm an Old Cowhand"), as well as Martha Raye and Bill Burns.By today's standards, it may be considered outdated or corny. But for those who like decent movies with no violence, language, sexual or suggestive content, it is a great movie and I know they will enjoy it.