News Archive: 2007

A Few Words with Author of New Gene Autry Book
by Boyd Magers (Empire Publishing)

Gene Autry is one of cinema's timeless cowboy heroes. Through his work in film, he provided many city dwellers with their first look at the West. It didn't matter whether they saw him on the big screen in a darkened theatre or at home in the comfort of their living rooms, Gene Autry created an image and ideal that was larger than any screen he appeared on. Many who saw him have remained fans for life.

Cowboy film historian Boyd Magers has written one of the most detailed and exacting looks at Autry's professional career that a fan could wish for. In an e-mail to Scoop, Magers told us how he first found the hero Gene Autry.

"I grew up at the right time for a full appreciation of all westerns. This was the late '40s–early '60s. I first attended Saturday matinees at local theatres in Kansas and Oklahoma. Then it was viewing older westerns as they were released to TV in the mid '50s. Finally the onslaught of TV westerns in the late '50s and early '60s, gave me an appreciation of every star from Tom Mix, Ken Maynard and Gene Autry to Rocky Laneto Clint "Cheyenne" Walker and Will "Sugarfoot" Hutchins."

This love of the western hero has infused Magers' life and his career. Since 1994, Magers has published the Western Clippings newsletter. His other books include Westerns Women, Ladies of the Western, So You Wanna See Cowboy Stuff, Films of Audie Murphy and Best of the Badmen.

Magers has also moderated hundreds of western film celebrity panels at film festivals around the country. Exhibitions of his western movie memorabilia collection have been showcased at the Clinton Presidential Library, The Kansas Historical Society and the Hoover Presidential Library.

His newest book, Gene Autry Westerns may be his best yet. "Gene was a man who changed the face of screen westerns, fired the imagination of the world and truly became America's favorite cowboy," says Magers. "I believe by looking back at Gene's westerns in chronological order you will see the development of a star—a man who over three decades kept both youngsters and adults entertained."

The book covers every aspect of Autry's film career. All of Gene's Mascot, Republic and Columbia westerns are included in Gene Autry Westerns, as well as his half-hour TV episodes.

The work is amazingly detailed. Each film entry contains, among other things, the release date, major production credits, complete cast (including character played), all songs, including who wrote them and who performs them in the film, running time, filming dates, cast bios of major players (including sidekicks, various heavies, directors, song writers, leading ladies, etc.) and much more.

Fans interested in the work of Gene Autry as well as fans of the Western in general will find this book indispensable. Autographed copies of Gene Autry Westerns are available for $49 postpaid from Boyd Magers, 1312 Stagecoach Rd. SE, Albuquerque, NM 87123.