''Red Garters'' is a 1954 American

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

western film The Western is a film genre defined by the American Film Institute as films which are "set in the American West that mbodythe spirit, the struggle, and the demise of the new frontier." Generally set in the American frontier between the Calif ...

starring

Rosemary Clooney Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me (Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccin ...

, Jack Carson,

Guy Mitchell Guy Mitchell (born Albert George Cernik; February 22, 1927 – July 1, 1999) was an American pop singer and actor, successful in his homeland, the UK, and Australia. He sold 44 million records, including six million-selling singles. His best-kno ...

. It is a musical spoof of Westerns. The director was

George Marshall George Catlett Marshall Jr. (31 December 1880 – 16 October 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army under pres ...

. The film was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

for Best Art Direction ( Hal Pereira, Roland Anderson, Samuel M. Comer, Ray Moyer). :" 'Red Garters''is a costume piece, a roguish, cheeky musical western in which anything goes. All the cliches of every western ever made are examined with humor and high spirits. ..''Red Garters'' has no settings in the ordinary sense; houses, trees, windows and the like are merely suggested, as on a musical stage." It has been distributed on VHS, Laserdisc, and DVD.

Plot

A stranger in town meets pretty young Susan Martinez De La Cruz and accompanies her to a barbecue, where wealthy Jason Carberry is saying a few words for the recently departed Robin Randall, a citizen who got shot. Jason objects to the stranger's presence, being Susan's guardian and protective of her. He challenges him to a shootout, but the stranger pulls his pistol before Jason's can even clear the holster. Calaveras Kate, a saloon singer who's in love with Jason, is relieved when the stranger declines to pull the trigger. Rafael Moreno suddenly rides into town and picks a fight with the stranger. Their brawl continues until the arrival of Judge Wallace Wintrop and his niece, Sheila, who have come to town from back East and deplore all this random violence out West. The stranger is recognized as Reb Randall, the dead man's brother. He is looking for the killer, who could be Rafael, or could be Jason, or could even be Billy Buckett, the coward of the county. The women hold their breath to see if the men they love will survive.

Cast

as Calaveras Kate * Jack Carson as Jason Carberry *

as Reb Randall * Pat Crowley as Susan Martinez De La Cruz *

Gene Barry Gene Barry (born Eugene Klass; June 14, 1919 – December 9, 2009) was an American stage, screen, and television actor and singer. Barry is best remembered for his leading roles in the films '' The Atomic City'' (1952) and ''The War of the Worl ...

as Rafael Moreno * Cass Daley as Minnie Redwing * Frank Faylen as Billy Buckett * Reginald Owen as Judge Wallace Winthrop *

Buddy Ebsen Buddy Ebsen (born Christian Ludolf Ebsen Jr.; April 2, 1908 – July 6, 2003), also known as Frank "Buddy" Ebsen, was an American actor and dancer. One of his most famous roles was as Jed Clampett in the CBS television sitcom ''The Beverly Hillb ...

as Ginger Pete * Richard Hale as Dr. J. Pott Troy * Joanne Gilbert as Sheila Winthrop * Herb Golden as Townsman

Songs

The songs were written by

Jay Livingston Jay Livingston (born Jacob Harold Levison; March 28, 1915 – October 17, 2001) was an American composer best known as half of a composing-songwriting duo with Ray Evans, with whom he specialized in composing film scores and original soundtrack ...

and

Ray Evans Raymond Bernard Evans (February 4, 1915 – February 15, 2007) was an American songwriter best known for being a half of a composing-songwriting duo with Jay Livingston, specializing himself in writing lyrics for film songs. On music Livingston ...

— a team that won three Academy Awards. The soundtrack on Columbia Records was released as a ten-inch Lp combining soundtrack recordings with studio re-creations conducted by

Percy Faith Percy Faith (April 7, 1908 – February 9, 1976) was a Canadian–American bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of instrumental ballads and Christmas standards. He is often credited with popularizin ...

and

Mitch Miller Mitchell William Miller (July 4, 1911 – July 31, 2010) was an American choral conductor, record producer, record-industry executive, and professional oboist. He was involved in almost all aspects of the industry, particularly as a conductor ...

. Selections include: * '' Red Garters'' - Clooney * ''A Dime and a Dollar'' - Mitchell * ''Brave Man'' - Clooney * ''This is Greater Than I Thought'' - Gilbert * ''Good Intentions'' - Clooney * ''Meet a Happy Guy'' - Mitchell * ''Bad News'' - Clooney * ''Man and Woman'' - Clooney and Mitchell After being out-of-print for more than 40 years, Collectables re-released the album on CD paired with Clooney's ten-inch album of songs from '' White Christmas''.

References

External links

* * {{George Marshall 1954 films Films directed by George Marshall Paramount Pictures films 1954 musical comedy films 1950s Western (genre) musical films American Western (genre) comedy films American musical comedy films 1950s Western (genre) comedy films American Western (genre) musical films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films Films scored by Joseph J. Lilley English-language Western (genre) comedy films English-language musical comedy films English-language Western (genre) musical films