Grand National Pictures tried to cash in on the singing cowboy craze with director Samuel Diege's distaff oater "The Singing Cowgirl" with actress Dorothy Page cast as a warbling rancher owner. Ms. Page looks pretty fetching in britches, and she has no problem toting a tune. In fact, she warbles three tunes in "The Singing Cowgirl." Those tunes include "I Gotta Sing," "Prairie Boy," and "Let's Round Up Our Dreams." Unfortunately, scenarist Arthur Hoerl doesn't give Page a chance to show off her sharp-shooting skills. Although she owns a ranch, our heroine doesn't brandish her six-gun until the end. She proves to be a helpful neighbor, and she concocts a clever plan to pull the wool over the scheming villain's greedy eyes. The most interesting thing about this disposable little western is that the secondary villain shoots a young boy in the back, but the bad guy isn't a good enough hand with a rifle to kill the lad. Most of the heroism here is handled by Dave O'Brien as a stranger who drifts into the action and initially signs on to work for the villain.
Rustlers have been stealing cattle from Tom Harkins' Circle H Ranch, and the local constabulary hasn't been able to corral the polecats. Harkins' next door neighbor Dorothy Hendricks (Dorothy Page of "King Solomon of Broadway") suggests Tom contact his attorney, John Tolen (Stanley Price of "Crooked River"), about the issue since he wields so much influence in Powder Springs. Tolen promises to discuss Harkins' predicament with Sheriff Teasdale after he does a little investigating of his own. Tom believes that outlaws from across the Rio Grande are the culprits. Earlier, when Dorothy and his sole employee, Kewpie (Vince Barnett of "Scarface") rode into Powder Springs with Harkins and his wife, Kewpie aggravated Tolen's henchman Garrick (Warner Richmond) when he spooked Garrick's loosely tethered horse at the hitch rack. The pugnacious Garrick forces Kewpie to dance a jig as he blasts chunks of earth around his feet with his revolver. This was a standard practice in westerns when a bully sought to terrorize a weakling. A stranger in town, Dick Williams (George O'Brien of "Frontier Scout"), intervenes on Kewpie's behalf and gives Garrick a proper thrashing. One of Garrick's murderous henchmen, Wilkins, tries to get the drop of Dick. Tom's little boy, Billy, saves Dick by shoving a small cactus into the seat of Wilkin's jeans when Wilkins tries to kill Dick. Dorothy and Tom welcome Dick, and Dick is grateful to Billy for helping him. The two become fast friends. Initially, Williams was supposed to go to work for attorney John Tolen, but he winds up spending his time around Dorothy and Kewpie protecting Billy.
The treacherous Tolen orders Garrick to take care of the Harkins because he believes that the Circle H is setting on land rich with gold. Garrick and his homicidal gun hands ride out to the Circle-H and kill Tom and his wife Eve while little Billy watches. Dick Williams arrives too late to save Billy's parents. Nevertheless, he shows up early enough so that Garrick and company flee for fear of exposure. Later, Garrick justifies his retreat to Tolen because he thought Williams was one of Tolen's friends. Tolen makes it clear in no uncertain terms that he has no friends. Dorothy rides double back to town with Billy after Garrick's men withdraw from the ranch. Afterward, Dorothy, Dick, and Kewpie discover that the gold is coming out the river near Tolen's Bar-M ranch! Garrick manages to shoot Billy. A few days later, Billy's new guardian Rex shows up and threatens to sell the land. Dorothy begins to suspect that the skunk behind everything who is creating so many problems is none other than Tolen. Garrick and his gunslingers abduct Tolen's niece, Nora Pryde (Dorothy Short of "Captain Midnight")and Billy as hostages. Tolen learns about this mix-up and buckles on his gun belt that has stars on the it and rides out to the hide-out. Garrick quarrels with Tolen after the attorney learns that his niece is being held against her will. Tolen pulls his gun on Garrick and the gunman kills his boss.
Suffice to say, everything works out in the end.
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