The Forest Rangers (1942)

Fred MacMurray (Don) is a forest ranger who works in a tight-nit forest ranger community that deals with the preservation of the forest and lots of fire-fighting. Particularly now that an arsonist is setting off fires. The local forest ranger girl is Susan Hayward (Tana) and although she is fondly nicknamed 'Butch', she definitely isn't. She sees MacMurray as her catch. However, one day at a parade in a local town, MacMurray meets and marries Paulette Goddard (Celia) before returning with her to his community. Everyone is shocked. And Hayward is not happy…

The film is shot in Technicolour which adds to the enjoyment and the cast are good although I wish retired ranger Lynne Overman (Jammer) spoke properly. WTF is he saying? We get a mystery as to who is starting deliberate fires played alongside some comical situations as Goddard and Hayward spar with each other. And it's all good entertainment. This film was better than I expected. MacMurray leaves me indifferent, rather like his attitude towards both these women in his life. The interest in the film comes from the 2 female leads. There is also the bonus of hearing snippets of the song "Jingle Jangle Jingle" at various moments. Always nice to hear a tune. Can you guess who the arsonist is? I doubt it.

If you look at the credits you will notice a Keith Richards in the role of a Ranger. That guy really has had a varied life. This was in the days before he plugged in a guitar and joined the Rolling Stones and then fell out of a mango tree.