Stardust on the Sage (1942)

Vignettes weaving together the stories of six individuals in the old West at the end of the Civil War. Following the tales of a sharp-shooting songster, a wannabe bank robber, two weary traveling performers, a lone gold prospector, a woman traveling the West to an uncertain future, and a motley crew of strangers undertaking a carriage ride.

A singing cowboy roams the Wild West with his sidekick, dancing horse and fancy wardrobe.

James Kincaid controls the local water supply and plans to do away with the other ranchers. Government agent Sandy Saunders arrives undercover to investigate Kincaid's land swindle scheme, and win the heart of one of his victims, Fay Denton.

In his starring debut, Roy gets elected to Congress in order to bring water to the ranchers in his district. In Washington, he learns he needs the backing of a key congressman and gets that man to go west for an inspection trip. When the congressman is initially unimpressed, Roy gets the inspection party stranded without water to show the true conditions.

Tom is a cowboy boot-wearing cat at a Texas dude ranch. When a beautiful female cat comes for a visit, Tom takes time from his regular torturing of Jerry to use the mouse as a way to impress the dame. Naturally, Jerry gives Tom his comeuppance.

To get the Delaney ranch Cole's henchman Anders has started a phony range war between the cattlemen and sheepmen. After killing Delaney, he tries to kill his daughter Jill and then Roy who was sent to investigate the war. But the failed attempts gives Roy the information he needs.

Hughie Mack, a not so nice western singer, is discovered by Clover Doyle as the next movie cowboy hero. His name is changed to Slim Carter and a promotional buildup begins. Leo Gallaher, an orphan boy wins the contest to spend a month with Slim. Leo is a good influence on his cowboy hero. Clover sees the good and more in Slim. Montana Burriss is Slim's double.

When asked about the Ghost Riders song he sings, Gene Autry tells this legend: Gene is about to resign as an investigator for the county attorney and go into the cattle business with his pal Chuckawalla Jones but decides instead to help Anne Lawson clear her father, rancher Ralph Lawson, of a false murder charge. He looks for the three witnesses who can testify that Lawson shot only in self defense in killing a gambler, but the witnesses are terrorized by another gambler, town boss Rock McCleary, who shoots witness Pop Roberts Morgan. Fatally wounded, Pop gives Gene the information needed to clear Lawson, then dies crying the "Ghost Riders" are coming for him. Gene then heads for a showdown with McCleary.

In the midst of the Civil War, Lassiter has a plan to get control of California. Working out of St. Joseph, he plans to send forged messages to the troops on the west coast via Pony Express. First he attempts to bribe Pony Express ride Roy Rogers. When Roy refuses he turns to the outlaw Johnson and his gang and this leads to trouble.

A singing medicine-show cowboy and his magician partner catch a killer.

Roy and Gabby return to Gabby's Texas ranch, after fighting with the Confederate military during the American Civil War, to find that a blustery Union Colonel whom they have previously hassled is now their district commander. Unbeknownst to the Colonel, however, is that the soldiers he believes have been sent to assist him are actually Union Army rejects who have come to loot the civilian populace under the guise of reinstituting normalcy to the former Confederate district.

A singing cowboy (Dick Foran) thwarts a thieving judge and courts a woman (Anne Nagel) in Texas.

A singing doctor (Gene Autry) on horseback heals a feud between cattlemen and copper miners.

Poachers are harassing toll road owner Jen Larrabee. They want her land because it holds valuable minerals. Autry and the Cass County Boys, mistaken for Texas Rangers, help out.

Autry and his buddies have a horse selling business which is threatened by a tractor company which claims horses are out of date.

To bring water to their valley, ranchers have raised money to build a dam. When that money is stolen, Allison suggests the ranchers sell their stock to a friend of his thereby getting the money needed to complete the dam. Roy has a clue that Allison was involved in the robbery and is out to get control of the valley. So Roy and the boys try to delay the sale of the stock while they look for proof against Allison.

Rancher Autry takes a job singing on the radio to aid farmers and ranchers whose lands were destroyed by raging floods. Blaming crooked politicians, he goes to Washington and tries to put through a food control bill and finds he has a lot to learn. In this classic release, Gene introduces his immortal theme song, "Back in the Saddle Again," which has gone on to become a piece of American History.

After Pat Garrett kills Billy the Kid, Billy's look-alike Roy Rogers arrives and is mistaken for him. Although a murderer, Billy was on the side of the homesteaders against the large ranchers. As Billy's death is unknown, Roy gets Garrett to let him pose as Billy to continue the fight, but without the killing.

Deputies Gene Autry and Frog go up against modern cattle rustlers. These rustlers use technology such as, airplanes, radios and refrigerated trucks to steal the cows, butcher them in the field and ship them out before getting caught. This causes the town to bring in a modern NYC detective to catch the crooks, but will Autry and Frog be permanently out of a job?

Roy returns home to fine a range feud between the cattlemen and the sheepmen. When his friend is killed he finds the rifle had a defective pin. He learns the rifle belongs to a ranch hand named Barker and that a third party has caused the feud. When he captures outlaws trying to blow up a dam, he claims Barker was the killer. But Barker has switched rifles and the outlaws now accuse Roy and Roy finds himself in trouble.