Gentleman from Dixie (1941) certainly starts promisingly in the California State Prison with references to the "walking death" suffered by hero, Jack La Rue, who has been imprisoned for at least 15 years, framed for a murder he didn't commit. Despite the hero's claim, his impressive bearing (and even more impressive restraint), he receives no more than the minimal courtesies from the warden when his term finally expires. So Jack returns to his brother's horse farm in Southern California and peers through the window as his brother's child prodigy (played by Mary Ruth, on loan from M-G-M) bangs out Beethoven on the piano. And soon after, would you believe, all the so-called darkies around the place burst out in chorus after chorus of no-longer-in-copyright Stephen Foster melodies. Alas, none of the promise inherent in the innocent-man-imprisoned-for-15-years plot is realized. True, the real murderer is finally revealed and perfunctorily brought to justice, but not a word is said about compensation for our hero, let alone an apology. Instead, a lot of footage is taken up by Marian Marsh with her total antipathy to our hero and her overweening preference for the real killer (despite the fact that she's married to the ex-convict's brother). In all, the nonsensical plot earns a firm zero, despite the efforts of the players to lend it some believability. All the same, it's interesting to see what perennial villain Jack La Rue can do with a hero's role. The answer, very little! To sum up: Although it was certainly a novel idea to cast perennial villain, Jack La Rue, as the hero (and the beautiful Marian Marsh as a shrewish housewife), this casting doesn't work! And how come the title refers to "Dixie" when all the action in the movie (including that preceding the actual opening scene) is all set in Southern California? Available on a very good Alpha DVD.
FOOTNOTES: Race announcer, Joe Hernandez, is actually billed as "the Voice of Santa Anita". Add to the credits: Wardrobe: James Wade; production aide: Edward Klein; production manager: Sam Wade; technical director ("B" movie talk for the guy who makes over already existing sets): Charles Clague. The producer, as IMDb notes, was Edward Finney.
FOOTNOTES: Race announcer, Joe Hernandez, is actually billed as "the Voice of Santa Anita". Add to the credits: Wardrobe: James Wade; production aide: Edward Klein; production manager: Sam Wade; technical director ("B" movie talk for the guy who makes over already existing sets): Charles Clague. The producer, as IMDb notes, was Edward Finney.