Ranch House Romeo (1939) User Reviews

Doing The Ragtime Romp

[boblipton · 6/10 · 28 December 2021]

Robert McKenzie has just swapped his ranch for Tom Chatterton's fake gold mine. His hands, Ray Whitley and his 6-Bar Cowboys have their horses repossessed. They walk back to the bunk house, to find Mary Parker sleeping in a gold lame dress and fur stole.

Get your mind out of the gutter. The plot involves them getting the ranch back in between four musical numbers. That has to be done simply in a two-reel short. It's one of about a dozen Cowboy Swing shorts that Whitley made for RKO between 1938 and 1942, and pretty good, especially if you like that sort of music, which peaked in 1945.

Pop AND the con-man are both a bit short on intellect!

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 25 January 2022]

"Ranch House Romeo" is a western short starring Ray Whitley and The Six Bar Cowboys. In many ways, it plays like a typical B-western of the era...just a lot shorter. It has a somewhat typical plot and the songs you'd expect in many Bs.

Pop is apparently an idiot. He's sold his ranch for a gold mine that is VERY short on gold. So, his ex-ranch hands get together to try to help Pop get the ranch back...and they do it by tricking the con-man.

The best thing about this film is the music. Whitley and the gang were really good and their music was quite similar to The Sons of the Pioneers--Roy Rogers' singing group that appeared in many of his films. Overall, a very nice short...nothing brilliant but it's well made and fun.