The Singing Hill

The Singing Hill is a 1941 American Western film directed by Lew Landers and starring Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, and Virginia Dale. Based on a story by Jesse Lasky Jr. and Richard Murphy, the film is about a singing cowboy and foreman of a ranch that may be sold to an unstrupulous banker by the young madcap heiress who is unaware that the sale will result in the local ranchers losing their free grazing land and their ranches. In the film, Autry introduced the song Blueberry Hill which would become a standard recorded by such artists as Louis Armstrong 1949, Fats Domino 1956, and Elvis Presley 1957. N The song became one of Autrys bestselling recordings. In 1987, Blueberry Hill received an ASCAP Award for Most Performed Feature Film Standards on TV.

As the head of the cattlemens association, Gene is accused of betraying the ranchers after they learn that the Circle R is being sold and that their grazing rights, bequeathed to them by Jos late grandfather, will be taken away. Without access to the Circle R pasture lands, most of the ranches in the area will go bankrupt. Determined to persuade Jo to change her mind, Gene and his pals, Frog Millhouse Smiley Burnette, Cactus Mack Cactus Mack, and Patsy Mary Lee, drive to Jos palatial house in the city. The scatterbrained Jo mistakes them for the band hired to play at her birthday party that evening, and they perform in order to stay.After the party, Gene explains who they are and urges Jo to return to the ranch and run it the way her grandfather did. The frivolous heiress, however, has no intention of changing her extravagant lifestyle. With few options available to him, Gene abducts Jo and her butler, Dada Gerald Oliver Smith, and takes them back to the Circle R Ranch, where Pop Sloan Wade Boteler, a rancher who has known Jo all her life, has organized a welcoming party for her. Despite her appreciation, Jo tells Gene that she is broke and has to sell the ranch to pay her debts. ........

Source: Wikipedia