The Gene Autry Show : The Star Toter (1950)
Directed by Frank McDonald
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Synopsis by Hans J. Wollstein
Gene Autry sings his own and Ray Whitley's "Back in the Saddle Again" in the opening sequence of this, the fifth episode of his 1950 television series. A sheriff this time, Gene takes on ten-year-old Jimmy Foster (Billy Gray), whose father, Ben (George J. Lewis), has been jailed for bank robbery. "An ornery little cuss," according to Gene's sidekick Pat (Pat Buttram), Jimmy repays the gesture by smuggling a gun into the jail. A deputy (Wes Hudman) and Ben's partner, Reynolds (House Peters Jr.), are killed as a result of this piece of juvenile delinquency, but little Jimmy sees the error of his ways after an inspirational lecture from Autry. Billy Gray's real-life mother, 1940s starlet Beatrice Gray, appears in an unbilled bit. Restored by Gene Autry Entertainment in 2000, "The Star Toter" premiered originally on August 20, 1950.