Riding High
NR
1943
88 minutes
Overview
No relation to the 1950 Frank Capra film of the same name, the 1943 Technicolor musical Riding High is a by-the-numbers vehicle for Dorothy Lamour and Dick Powell. Lamour stars as Ann Castle, a former burlesque queen who heads westward to claim her father's silver mine. Powell plays mining engineer Steve Baird, who like Ann has a vested interest in the worked-out mine. With the help of genial counterfeiter Mortimer J. Slocum (Victor Moore), Steve and Ann are able to peddle mining stock, thus saving her from bankruptcy. The stockholders are in a lynching mood when it appears that they've been flim-flammed, but a last minute "miracle" saves the day. Featured in the cast are Paramount stalwarts Cass Daley and Gil Lamb, the former doing her quasi-Martha Raye act and the latter swallowing his harmonica for the millionth time. Production values are excellent and the songs are exuberantly performed; it's only in its hackneyed plot that Riding High slows to a clip-clop.
Top Cast
Dorothy Lamour
Ann Castle
Dick Powell
Steve Baird
Victor Moore
Mortimer J. Slocum
Gil Lamb
Bob 'Foggy' Day
Cass Daley
Tess Connors
Bill Goodwin
Chuck Steuart
Rod Cameron
Sam Welch
Glenn Langan
Jack Holbrook
Roscoe Karns
Shorty
Douglas Fowley
Brown
Stanley Andrews
Reynolds
James Burke
Pete
James Flavin
Train Conductor
Tim Ryan
Jones
Russell Simpson
Frenchy McGuire