The Girl of the Golden West (1938)

The Girl of the Golden West (1938) posterJeanette McDonald is pretty Mary Robbins, who heads to California with her uncle. She winds up being the only girl in Cloudy and takes over the Polka saloon when he dies.

Nelson Eddy is Ramirez. Adopted by a Mexican bandit as a young boy, he watches his “father” die, then takes his place as bandit leader, vowing never to love again.

Then he robs the stage Mary is riding is, and forgets all about that vow about love. Mary falls in love, too, with a Lt. Johnson, not knowing that it’s Ramirez in disguise. After all, he was wearing a mask when he robbed the stage.

Rating 4 out of 6Mary has plenty of other admirers, too. There’s Sheriff Rance (Walter Pidgeon), who will do almost anything to win her over. There’s Alabama (Buddy Edsen of future Beverly Hillbillies fame … he even sings here), the local blacksmith, who has a not-so-secret crush on her.

In spite of the frequent breaks for music, a pretty effective little love story with a Western setting.

Buddy Ebsen as Alabama and Jeanette MacDonald as Mary Robbins in The Girl of the Golden West (1938)Directed by:
Robert Leonard

Cast:
Jeanette MacDonald … Mary Robbins
Nelson Eddy … Ramirez / Lt. Johnson
Walter Pidgeon … Sheriff Rance
Leo Carrillo … Mosquito
Buddy Ebsen … Alabama
Leoanrd Penn … Pedro
Priscilla Lawson … Nina Martinez
Bob Murphy … Sonora Slim
Olin Howland … Trinidad Joe
Cliff Edwards … Minstrel Joe
Billy Bevan … Nick
Brandon Tynan … The Professor
H.B. Warner … Father Sienna
Monty Woolley … Governor
Charley Grapewin … Uncle Davy

Runtime: 121 min.

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