Editing Melody Ranch (section)

==Production==
===Casting===
''Melody Ranch'' marks the first romantic leading lady role for dancer [[Ann Miller]]. In one love scene Miller and Autry kiss. Negative advance publicity, however, led Republic Pictures to cut the kiss from the final print.<ref name="magers-176">Magers 2007, p. 176.</ref> Autry later recalled, 
{{Blockquote|Actually we kissed there at the telephone. There was a lot of (advance) publicity over that. The public relations department at republic put out a story I was going to be kissing Ann Miller in a picture. So they were flooded with a lot of letters from the kids saying 'Don't let Gene Autry kiss Ann Miller in the picture—that's sissy!' So finally at the last minute (Republic) said, 'You're taking a chance on it—why raise a controversy with the kids?' so they cut it all out.<ref name="magers-176"/>}} Miller would later claim incorrectly that she received Gene's first screen kiss, a distinction that belongs to [[Barbara Pepper]] and [[Ann Rutherford]].<ref name="magers-176"/>

===Filming and budget===
''Melody Ranch'' was filmed September 16 to October 5, 1940. The film had an operating budget of $181,275 (equal to ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|181275|1940}}}} today), and a [[negative cost]] of $177,520.<ref name="magers-175"/>

===Stuntwork===
* Yakima Canutt
* Wally West
* Joe Yrigoyen (Gene Autry's stunt double)<ref name="magers-175"/>

===Filming locations===
* [[Alabama Hills]], [[Lone Pine, California]], USA 
* [[Mammoth Lakes, California]], USA 
* [[Red Rock Canyon State Park (California)|Red Rock Canyon State Park]], Highway 14, Cantil, California, USA 
* Republic Studios, 4024 Radford Avenue, North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA<ref name="magers-174"/>

===Soundtracks===
* "Stake Your Claim on Melody Ranch" (Jule Styne, Eddie Cherkose) by Gene Autry and cowboys
* "Stake Your Claim on Melody Ranch" (reprise) by Gene Autry and Ann Miller
* "Rodeo Rose" (Jule Styne, Eddie Cherkose) by Gene Autry and musicians
* "Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair" (Stephen Foster)
* "Welcome Home" by the children
* "Torpedo Joe" (Jule Styne, Eddie Cherkose) by Mary Lee with piano accompaniment
* "We Never Dream the Same Dream Twice" (Gene Autry, Fred Rose) by Gene Autry and Ann Miller
* "My Gal Sal" (Paul Dresser) by Ann Miller (vocals and tap dance) and male chorus
* "William Tell Overture" (Gioachino Rossini)
* "Back to the City Again" (Ray Whitley, Jule Styne, Eddie Cherkose) by Joe Sawyer and Horace McMahon
* "Call of the Canyon" (Billy Hill) by Gene Autry
* "What Are Cowboys Made Of" (Jule Styne, Eddie Cherkose) by Joe Sawyer and Horace McMahon
* "Vote for Autry" (Jule Styne, Eddie Cherkose) by Jimmy Durante and Mary Lee
* "Silver Threads Among the Gold" (H.P. Danks, Eben E. Rexford) by Barbara Jo Allen (a cappella)<ref name="magers-173-174">Magers, pp. 173–174.</ref>