''Shooting High'' is a 1940 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

film directed by

Alfred E. Green Alfred Edward Green (July 11, 1889 – September 4, 1960) was an American film director. Green entered film in 1912 as an actor for the Selig Polyscope Company. He became an assistant to director Colin Campbell. He then started to direct two-reel ...

and starring

Jane Withers Jane Withers (April 12, 1926 – August 7, 2021) was an American actress and children's radio show host. She became one of the most popular child stars in Hollywood in the 1930s and early 1940s, with her films ranking in the top ten list for b ...

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...

, 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.Magers 2007, p. 159. Gene Autry, known as the "singing cowboy", was then under contract to

Republic Pictures Republic Pictures Corporation (currently held under Melange Pictures, LLC) was an American motion picture production-distribution corporation in operation from 1935 to 1967, that was based in Los Angeles. It had studio facilities in Studio City a ...

. 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 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...

by talking directly to each of the studio heads. ''Shooting High'' was a success.

Plot

The Carsons and the Pritchards have been feuding for generations in the town of Carson's Corners. The budding romance between Will Carson (

) 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 John Elmer Carson (October 27, 1910 – January 2, 1963) was a Canadian-born American film actor. Carson often played the role of comedic friend in films of the 1940s and 1950s, including ''The Strawberry Blonde'' (1941) with James Cagney and ...

), 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 (

), 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.

Cast

Production

Background

is considered responsible for recruiting Gene Autry to

for ''Shooting High''. At the time the thirteen-year-old star was the number 6 box office draw in the country.Magers 2007, p. 160. She called

Joseph M. Schenck Joseph Michael Schenck (; December 25, 1876 – October 22, 1961) was a Russian-born American film studio executive. Life and career Schenck was born to a Jewish family in Rybinsk, Yaroslavl Oblast, Russian Empire. He emigrated to New York City ...

, then head of 20th Century Fox, telling him she wanted to do a film with Gene Autry. Schenck liked the idea, but suspected

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. Autry, who earned $71,000 per year at Republic, earned $25,000 for his work in this film. 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.Magers, pp. 158–160.

Filming

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

Filming locations

* 20th Century Fox backlot,

Calabasas, California Calabasas (from Spanish ''calabazas'' "gourds") is a city in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, between the foothills of the Santa Monica and Santa Susanna mountains.Santa Susana Pass The Santa Susana Pass, originally Simi Pass, is a low mountain pass in the Simi Hills of Southern California, connecting the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles neighborhood of Chatsworth, to the city of Simi Valley and eponymous valley. It ...

, Simi Valley,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

* Corriganville Movie Ranch, Simi Valley, California

Stuntwork

* Foxy Callahan * Frank McCarroll * Henry Wills

Soundtrack

* "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 Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

)

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * * *

External links

* * * {{Alfred E. Green 1940 films 1940 Western (genre) films 20th Century Fox films American Western (genre) films American black-and-white films Films directed by Alfred E. Green Films scored by Samuel Kaylin 1940s English-language films 1940s American films