Back in the Saddle is a 1941 American Western film directed by Lew Landers and starring Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, and Mary Lee.

[2] Written by Richard Murphy and Jesse Lasky Jr., the film is about a singing cowboy who attempts to bring peace between ranchers and the operator of a copper mine whose chemicals are poisoning the area's water supply.

During the train ride back to Solitude, Gene meets his old friend, gambler Duke Winston (Addison Richards), who just eluded the men he cheated in a card game.

When they arrive at Solitude, Tom manages to run off on his own and soon meets singer Taffy (Jacqueline Wells) and her teenaged sister Patsy (Mary Lee) who are in town looking for work.

Thinking that Duke is as important as he pretends to be, Tom asks him to help Taffy get a singing job at the local saloon.

Infuriated by Blaine's greed, Gene goes to Judge Bent to obtain an injunction to stop the mining, but learns that he must travel to Phoenix to get it.

As the waste dumping continues, the ranchers complain to Gene that Blaine still has not constructed drainage pits to clean the water.

Margaret Tallichet was originally offered the leading lady role but her husband, director William Wyler, persuaded her to join him in Sun Valley for a winter vacation instead.

[5] Wells was born in Denver, Colorado in 1914 and became a silent film child actress who transitioned easily to talkies and adult roles.

She is best remembered for the films she did at Warner Bros. during the war years, including Princess O'Rourke (1943), supporting Olivia de Havilland and Robert Cummings, Action in the North Atlantic (1943) opposite Humphrey Bogart, Rhapsody in Blue (1945) as Ira Gershwin's wife, and Cinderella Jones (1946).

"[5] Remembering her work on Back in the Saddle, Wells would later recall, "Actually, I didn't have much to do with Gene in the film, I had more scenes with Edward Norris.