Round-Up Time in Texas (1937) Poster

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4/10
Entirely wild and surreal
rsoonsa22 January 2003
The title of this astonishingly silly farce is somewhat misleading as the vast majority of the action, after the initial five minutes, continues in South Africa's Cape Colony, to which Gene Autry and his customary 1930s sidekick Frog Millhouse (Smiley Burnette) have travelled in order to deliver a herd of wild horses to Gene's brother, a diamond miner who requires the steeds for his mining activity and who apparently can find no saddle horses nearer than Texas. From the moment the two cowboys arrive in Africa, there are few scenes that make any sense at all, as we see the pair captured by a native tribe, after escaping an attack by lions, and while in captivity Frog instructs a young tribal quintet (The Cabin Kids, stars of many Hal Roach shorts) in Western rhythm songs, which the youngsters sing in instantly acquired English, one of many welcome musical interludes. The title song, also known as "When the Bloom is on the Sage" is warbled by Autry and others, beautiful mezzo Maxine Doyle, Gene's love interest, sings a South African drinking song, and the grotesque tale obeys a pull into musical moments at nearly any time, yet it is the hilarious voodoo chanting by the feckless tribe and an amorous gorilla suited character which boggle, whereas to state that this is an off-beat venture is a feeble description of a film that one must see to believe, but that one probably mustn't.
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6/10
Not a western, not a jungle movie.
stevehaynie25 August 2004
Round-Up Time In Texas does not really fit in with the whole cowboy movie genre. Why did Gene and Frog have to have an adventure in South Africa? I'll bet it was because a set was built for a jungle picture and it was cheap for the studio to use it as often as possible before tearing it down. Stock footage of a lion shows up in the movie along with a guy in a gorilla suit. Plenty of black African extras are in this movie. Funny how those South African streets look like a Texas town, isn't it?

The movie is fun to watch, but it is not a western. It is about as much of a western as The Phantom Empire. You get a cowboy, some horses, and some western songs, but that's about it. Even though the cast is moving through the jungle to find a lost diamond mine, I kept trying to think of the movie in a Gene Autry western movie context. It just didn't work.

Smiley Burnette is good as usual. Earle Hodgins tried to have a bit of an accent in his character, but LeRoy Mason and most of the others in the cast speak just like they would in any other movie.

Round-Up Time In Texas is worth watching if you are a fan of Gene Autry movies, but should not be high on a priority list unless you want to watch truly weird movies.
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6/10
The jungle set used here
rbzm4511 May 2005
contrary to another comment that they must have used a set built for a jungle film---it was actually the Republic Studios back lot western set that was used for this film. as well as the back lot jungle area already there at the time. The western set was used as a number of other locations over the year also. The Spanish arches seen in the film were at the Mexican village part of the set and used over the years as a fort, a North African village, etc; all they do is shoot from different camera angles and place the appropriate foliage and decorations here and there, and voilà!!! They can be anywhere. the western street was strange in the movie as South Africa, it having been used numerous times in movies and TV westerns. The republic studios back lot was part of the CBS Studio Center beginning in the mid 60's or so and even Gunsmoke used that set a number of times.
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2/10
Gene Autry On the Veld
bkoganbing9 January 2007
Now of course you would think that a film entitled Round-Up Time In Texas starring Gene Autry would be located in the Lone Star State. Not by a longshot. In this film Gene gets a telegram from his brother Tex Autry who's over in South Africa where he and a partner have made a rich diamond strike. Tex tells Gene to send over 50 head of Texas cow ponies and what he can't use he'll auction off.

Hard to believe that in 1937 he would have to send over to Texas for horses, but Gene gets the message and he and Smiley Burnette board a boat from Galveston to Capetown. And then they head to the town of Dunbar where Tex was heard from.

Traditional cowboy villain LeRoy Mason maybe operating in South Africa, but he's not lost any nastiness. He and a native gang ambush Tex and his partner and kill the partner and frame Tex. Gene arrives and hears Tex is wanted for murder. Autry's on the hunt now.

One of my big pet peeves about films from Hollywood dealing with Africa is that a couple of generations of Americans got their ideas about Africa from films like this. In this film for instance the term "kaffir" is used to describe the native population. Back in 1937 I'll bet those in charge of Republic Pictures from Herbert J. Yates on down had no idea that that word was a term of disparagement as bad as the "n" word in America. They should have known better, but few in America knew anything about Africa.

The natives in the film behave like a combination of stereotyped blacks in American located films and American Indians in those same films. Looks ridiculous. You will also not hear one person sound like they come from South Africa. The closest you get is American western character actor Earl Hodgins who talks like a London cockney.

The voortrekkers in South Africa used covered wagons like our American Conestogas and I suppose a saloon is a saloon anywhere on planet earth. So maybe knowing this, Yates felt secure in making a South African locale picture for his number cowboy star.

I did learn one thing though from Round Up Time in Texas. I learned the origin of the song When the Bloom is on the Sage which Gene Autry sings and includes the title of the film. I had Bing Crosby's record of it and it's a nice western ballad. Gene does well by it too.

If this god awful film ever made it to Johannesburg, Capetown, or Pretoria they must have been rolling in the aisles with laughter at the dumb American's idea of their country.
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5/10
"...but gee whiz, I wish I was back in Texas!"
classicsoncall5 June 2012
Warning: Spoilers
What!?!? - Gene Autry has a brother!?!? - and the story takes place in Africa!!!! Wow, if there's a dumber Autry flick I've yet to see it, and I've reviewed sixty two of them here on the IMDb so far. Don't get me wrong, I'm as solid an Autry fan as the next guy, but this one didn't make sense on so many levels that you're probably going to love it.

The first thing that blew me away was the mere idea that Gene gets a letter from his brother Tex (Ken Cooper) in South Afrioa asking him to bring over fifty horses to work his diamond mine, and Gene just gets up and does it - like he's got nothing better to do! Then, once Gene and partner Smiley Burnette hit the town of Dunbar, it looks just like any other Western movie town of the late 1800's, complete with a Western saloon and cowboys in full gear. At least director Joseph Kane had the good sense to hang a pair of antelope horns on the wall instead of a steer.

From there the story just zig-zags it's way through a number of zany predicaments that involve Gene and Smiley attacked by a lion, getting arrested for engaging in illicit diamond trade, and escaping on horseback using the old rope across the trail trick. Hey if it works in Texas, why not here? You know, as soon as that big ape showed up I just knew it was Ray 'Crash' Corrigan up to his old monkey-shines again. If you needed a guy with a gorilla suit back in the Thirties and Forties, Corrigan was the guy you called. Don't believe me? Check any mystery or horror flick of the era involving gorillas and you'll find his name attached to the project.

Well I don't know that this story made any sense or not, so don't watch watch it through the same lens you'd use on your average B Western. Sure, bad guy Cardigan (LeRoy Mason) gets nailed for setting up Gene's brother for murder, but that's about the only genre standard that this one follows. The stereotypes used to portray the jungle natives are typical for the era, which is to say they'd never pass the PC police today. Even the musical selections stray from the norm, with pretty Maxine Doyle offering up a lively drinking song and a chorus of black youngsters, The Cabin Kids, sounding rather good on a revival song with Smiley in the lead. As for the picture's title, it has no bearing on the story at all, but who'd go see a film called 'Round-Up Time in South Africa'?
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5/10
Among the strangest westerns I've ever seen!
planktonrules19 October 2012
Despite the title, almost none of the film is set in Texas! Now here is where the film gets REALLY weird--it's supposed to take place in South Africa! Yes, Gene Autry, his horse Champion and his faithful sidekick Smiley Burnett in South Africa! And, the overall product looks a lot like a B-western merged with a Tarzan flick! Talk about strange! The film begins back in the States. Gene receives a letter from his brother* saying that they really need livestock in South Africa and they can get top dollar for them. So, he and Smiley head across the ocean. However, when they arrive they can't find the brother--he has disappeared after some evil claim-jumpers killed his partner and did goodness knows with him. So, in the process of investigating the disappearance, the baddies try to stop him--leading, naturally, to the somewhat exciting conclusion.

Seeing Gene on his horse chasing baddies and then a moment later rushing about a thick jungle set is surreal to say the least. And, seeing Smiley doing fire-eating tricks as well as leading musical group supposedly made up of the Chief's kids really gave this movie a strangeness that made my brain hurt. Still, it was fun and kept my attention and is worth seeing if you like Gene Autry films. Others, however, might not be very impressed or be a bit offended by the stereotypical behaviors of the 'natives' or the use of the 'K-word' (I don't think IMDb would let me use this derogatory word for African Blacks--but to many it's about as offensive as the 'ol 'N-word' in the USA. And, I have been to South Africa and this sure looked NOTHING like the real McCoy--more like extras and props from a Tarzan picture!

FYI--The guy playing Gene's brother was NOT his actual real-life brother--just some actor.
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When It's Roundup Time In Swaziland
dougdoepke24 July 2013
Gene delivers horses to a diamond mine in, where else, but darkest Africa.

The only thing I can figure is that some careless studio secretary got the pages of an Autry western mixed up with a Tarzan script. How else to explain the lunacy of our cowboy heroes meeting up with an "ooga-booga" tribe of witch-doctors in darkest Africa. Somehow, it's weirdly entertaining since you don't know what sort of craziness comes next—gorillas, lions, or flame- throwers. There're a number of good bits even if the premise is wacko— some tuneful songs, the charming Cabin Kids, plus Burnette and Hodgins doing their amusing bits, including a crash-bang finale. I'm just wondering how many ticket-buyers in 1936 left the theater wondering if their maps had gotten Texas all wrong. Oh well, like the movie or not, it sure isn't your typical matinée fare.
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4/10
Bring on the cliches and stock footage! Round-Up Time in Dunbar, South Africa!
JohnHowardReid14 April 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Copyright 8 February 1937 by Republic Pictures Corp. No recorded New York opening. U.S. release: 28 February 1937 and 22 April 1937. U.K. release through British Lion. No Australian theatrical release. 7 reels. 63 minutes. (Also listed at 58 minutes).

SYNOPSIS: Texas? See review below.

NOTES: Autry's 16th of his 94 movies.

COMMENT: Round-Up Time in Texas refers to the song sung by Autry and his saddle-pals immediately the film opens. After this initial burst of melody, the scene abruptly shifts to Dunbar (sic), South Africa where it remains for the rest of the film. Despite the novelty of the setting (which is used to introduce a few ancient wild animal clips including one in which an obviously process screen lion makes for the camera) and the fact that Gene has a brother, Tex Autry, (actually he doesn't figure overmuch in the story) this is a rather tame and dreary affair. You can trust Gene to sing a song at the drop of a hat and you can rely on Smiley to perpetrate a lot of foolery - in this case, escaping from the clutches of a music-loving native chief. There's also a what's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this heroine (this thought is never expressed but it is obvious nonetheless) played in an extremely colorless fashion by Maxine Doyle. The villain, alas, is also none too interestingly played (LeRoy Mason) and though Earl Hodgins contributes a characteristically breezy study (complete with phoney Cockney accent), acting generally is unengaging. Autry's eyes have been circled with black rings, probably to give him a more rugged appearance, which is unsuccessful in view of the fact there is virtually no action in the film at all - for a time it looks as though Autry's double isn't even going to do his customary stunt of riding after a runaway wagon - but would you believe this familiar little act forms the larger part of the action climax! Kane's direction seems quite ordinary and uninterestingly pedestrian, the photography is flat. Other credits are likewise undistinguished and production values rate no more than average by "B" western standards.
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3/10
Is This A Low Point For Autry?
boblipton8 August 2023
Gene Autry gets a telegram from his brother, Ken Cooper, that he's made a big diamond strike, but there are no horses. So Gene and Smiley Burnette head off to Africa with a lot of horses, only to discover that Cooper has vanished.

It's an intriguing variation on the lost gold mine plot, but it soon devolves into one of those movies in which all the ugly stereotypes about dumb Black natives are trotted out. Burnette teaches the Cabin Kids how to sing "Dinah", director Joseph Kane is so uncaring that he doesn't bother to make the shots match on the big stunt gag (in which Autry leaps from Champion onto a runaway Conestoga wagon, and then back again with Maxine Doyle), and Ray Corrigan appears as a gorilla.
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7/10
One of the Gloriously Outrageous Treats of 1930s Junk Cinema!
Chance2000esl3 May 2008
Warning: Spoilers
This is Gene Autry's most gloriously outrageous juxtaposition of non sequiters since 'The Phantom Empire' (1935)! Even the title is completely out of place! After the first five minutes, horse wranglers Gene and Frog (Smiley Burnette, nicely under control here) are off to Dunbar, South Africa with 50 horses for his brother Tex's diamond mine in "The Valley of Superstition." Then we cut to Gene's brother being ambushed going down a river in 'Africa' by the evil saloon owner's henchmen.

Dunbar looks like a typical Western town, and the saloon is filled with nothing but cowboys! The only difference is that the saloon singer, Gwen (Maxine Doyle) warbles an English drinking song. Only Earle Hodgins doing his patented shell game act affects a cockney London accent. (Later, a henchman sings a song about Poland.) Note: we can see more of the cute Maxine in the Bela Lugosi serial 'S.O.S. Coast Guard' (1937) as Ralph Byrd's girlfriend.

The saloon owner, Cardigan (Le Roy Mason) plots to kill Gene and Frog as well, since as we find out, he has also stolen the 'diamond mine,' which is actually a river, from which chained slaves carry up buckets of diamonds.

After Gene and Frog escape from jail and meet up with Cardigan and Gwen at their jungle camp, they are all captured by wild savages who want to sacrifice them to their Thunder God. Frog saves the day and has them all released when he leads the Chief's children, played by the singing group The Cabin Kids, in a jive and scat rendition of the syncopated song 'Revival Day.' This is the kind of stuff we watch old junk movies for!

It's well directed. Gene's and Smiley Burnette's banter is well done; the film's tightly edited and really zips along, even though I've only seen the 54 minute cut version. It speeds by like the feature version of 'The Phantom Empire' (1935), including many different scene changes and fast action.

Needless to say, it's well written -- it's a crazy quilt of juxtaposed elements that raise it way above the level of tedious, dreary, formulaic, slow going 1930s Westerns. A bizarre story. Good comic relief this time from Smiley Burnette and a gorilla. Typical 30s musical racial stereotypes. A covered wagon going through the jungle. The obligatory exciting horseback final chase sequence. Great music.

The great songs include 'Dinah (Is There Anyone Finer),' and 'Revival Day,' sung by the Cabin Kids; 'Round Up Time in Texas,' sung at the beginning by Gene, Frog, and all the wranglers, and at the end by Gene, Frog, and the Cabin Kids, with Chief Busoto on harmonica; and a short reprise of 'Uncle Noah's Ark' by Gene and Frog, which they perform full length in 'The Phantom Empire.'

Is this a Jungle movie? A Western? Who cares!! It's one of the real treats of junk cinema! I give it a 7.
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5/10
Diamonds
StrictlyConfidential30 October 2021
Warning: Spoilers
"Round-Up Time In Texas" was originally released back in 1937.

Anyway - As the story goes - Gene and his sidekick Frog set off to far away South Africa where Tex, Gene's brother, has discovered diamonds. However, upon arriving, they find Tex has gone missing. They are captured by a primitive tribe. Aided by Frog, Gene escapes and manages to find Tex, but Tex is a prisoner, and pretty soon Gene is too.
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6/10
Beyond Texas
simplisticconception26 December 2020
This film brings western charm to lands beyond Texas and is a fun adventure in the genre
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