Television
The Gene Autry Show
Santa Fe Raiders
Flying A Pictures
Season 4, Episode 1 (4-01)
Production #57
Network: CBS
Running Time: 30 minutes
Black and White
Original Air Date:
Tuesday, July 6, 1954
Sponsor: Wrigley's Doublemint Chewing Gum
Brief Synopsis:
Gene helps his friend's son take over the family freight business after the old man is murdered.
Detailed Synopsis:
Gene Autry helps his old friend John Morgan get a wagonload of freight over the Santa Fe Trail to San Dimas to keep the freight line open. Pat Buttram, traveling gunsmith and pal of Gene’s, joins them on the trail. When they reach Big Oak Relay Station, bandits attack and Morgan is killed. Gene and Pat find empty, 45-90 shells at the station and start a search for that caliber rifle. When they reach San Dimas, Morgan’s son Tim decides to sell the line to local banker Paul Nash after learning what happened. He is influenced by Laura Bryan, an attractive girl who works for him but is secretly on Nash’s payroll. To stop the sale, Gene has the freight line thrown into bankruptcy and is appointed receiver. Riding out to check the equipment, Gene is held up and taken prisoner. After a battle with the outlaw, he escapes, only to return to town to find the safe robbed, a crime for which he is accused and promptly thrown into jail. Laura confesses to Tim that she gave Nash the safe combinations to keep Tim from being hurt. They tell the sheriff, who releases Gene. Everyone heads for the Nash Ranch to prevent the new receiver, Hickey, from selling the freight line. At the ranch, Pat has doctored all the bandits’ guns, so the fight that ensues is short because the guns explode in all directions. Nash and his men are caught, and Tim decides to continue with the freight line.
Cast:
| Character: | Performer: |
| Gene Autry | Gene Autry |
| Pat Buttram | Pat Buttram |
| Tim Morgan | Dick Jones |
| Laura Bryan | Gloria Saunders |
| Judge Hiram Stone | Stanley Andrews |
| Miller | Myron Healey |
| Dugan | Terry Frost |
| Sheriff | Alan Bridge |
| Hickey | Gregg Barton |
| Paul Nash | Henry Rowland |
| Lane | Kenne Duncan |
| John Morgan | Tom London |
| Champion | Champion, World’s Wonder Horse |
Songs:
| Westward Ho! | Gene Autry |
Crew:
| Executive in charge of Production |
Armand Schaefer |
| Directed by | Ross Lederman |
| Producer | Louis Gray |
| Screenplay | Oliver Drake |
| Director of Photography | William Bradford, A.S.C. |
| Film Editor | Anthony Wollner |
| Musical Director | Carl Cotner |
| Music Supervisor | Irving Friedman |
| Musical Score | Walter Greene |
| Assistant Director | Harry Mancke |
| Recorded by | Glen Glenn Sound Company |
