weezeralfalfa The first, by a decade, of 4 Hollywood films I'm familiar with, with a story centered around a large cattle drive northward out of Texas. The others are "Red River", "The Tall Men" and "Cowboy". They are all quite different from each other, and each is well worth a look, if you like epic westerns. This early film is typically disparaged as much the least of the 4. But after taking a look, I can say it certainly doesn't deserve this categorization. Some complain about the acting of stars Randy Scott and Joan Bennett, but I don't find anything terribly wrong. in a role tailor-made for Gary Cooper, Randy looks and acts the part well. Joan obviously is no cowgirl, but otherwise does fine. I would say this has the most complex plot and best balance of humor and drama of the 4 films, with the fresh aftermath of the Civil War playing a much more prominent part in the screenplay. We have 3 'old timers' to spearhead much of the humor: Walter Brennan, who returned to "Red River", Francis Ford: older acting and directing brother of John Ford is peg-legged 'Uncle Dud', and May Robson, as Joan's pioneer grandmother. We have busy character actor Robert Barrat playing the chief villain, Isaiah Middlebrack: an oily money-grubbing Yankee come to steal Texan land from landowners who can't pay all the new taxes on everything, including cattle. He plays it as a stereotypical gruff-voiced villain, come to prey on vulnerable women, especially. There's Robert Cummings; Scott's competitor for the affections of Joan. He's sort of the equivalent of Dunson in "Red River", pursuing the wrong choices to Scott's right choices. Through most of the film, Joan supports him, but after the failure of his venture to ally with Maximillian against the Juarez rebels in Mexico, and then his support of the new Ku Klux Klan anti-negro organization, she decides that he's a loser fanatic, and that Scott's character is a winner, with an eye for a realistic future. "Red River" provided another tall tale of the first cattle drive from deep in Texas to the new railhead in Abilene, KS. It too includes a stampede(but only one), several hostile Indian encounters, and conflicts between the principle characters. In some ways, it's more polished, but I think you will enjoy this film at least as much. The film starts out looking like it might turn into something more akin to the later Wayne-starring "The Undefeated", based on the historic attempt of General Shelby to join forces with Mexico's Maximillian, rather than surrendering to Union forces. However, Randy's persistence turned it into a "Red River" primer, instead.As in "Red River", the film cattle were nearly all Herefords, rather than the historical longhorns, which were nearly extinct, by then. The semi-wild longhorns were uniquely well adapted to do well on long drives in this climate, provided they weren't pushed too fast. Actually, before the Civil War, longer drives to California were undertaken to take advantage of high prices in the gold mining districts.The film begins with a steamboat arriving at the town of Indianola, TX. I wondered if this was a purely fictitious name, thus I checked it out. Turns out Indianola was a major seaport of the central Texas coast in this era, but was later wiped out twice by hurricanes and associated fires, thus abandoned as a ghost town. It's main competitor: Galveston, suffered a similar fate in 1900, but was rebuilt.Presently available as part of the Classic Western Round-up, volume 2 DVD set, along with "The Man from the Alamo", "California", and "The Cimarron Kid"

mark.waltz The defeated South tries to win back their dignity after the Civil War when smug Yankees begin a nasty little change called the re-construction. Brothers against brother during the war left many dead on both sides, and the resentments are strong. For elderly ranch widow May Robson, all she has is the massive cattle herds that the North tries to tax her on. Robson's granddaughter (Joan Bennett) is a belle on a mission: get arms to the surviving Southern soldiers so they can keep their own. Pretty crafty even against the more powerful North (obviously intent on humiliating their former enemy), the South hold on and even win sympathy as they deal with some pretty vindictive men.This is quite different than usual westerns in the fact that it presents a part of history almost entirely overlooked in film. The beautiful Bennett may seem more Brooklyneese than Texan but is still a force to be reckoned with as she fights feelings for two men-the rugged Randolph Scott and the more gentlemanly Robert Cummings who goes off on a secret mission against the re-construction. Robson delivers an entirely convincing portrait of an aging matron refusing to lie down and die after loosing almost everything. Supporting players include the likes of Walter Brennan, Raymond Hatton and Robert Barrat who add authenticity to the proceedings. The lesser known character actress Esther Howard has a memorable cameo as an obvious madam. A few homey ditties are tossed in (including a song with lyrics by Frank Loesser).The only problem is that the film tries too hard to cover too many issues in 90 minutes, including a brief mention of the Klu Klux Klan and their arrival in the declining town of Abilene. Had the story stuck to one or two themes and not (even briefly) mentioned important issues not explored, it would have been an even better film.

vitaleralphlouis An exceptionally good epic western starring Randolph Scott --- before he regularly got top billing. In the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, the North (who quite incidentally had failed at that point to free their own slaves -- including those owned by General Grant) have sent the carpetbaggers into Texas to steal the land and cattle from the surviving Texans. But not all Texans will stand for it.......While this film quite rightly sides with the ex-Confederates, not all the Union guys are portrayed as devils. The Union troops are pretty much cast as regular American guys who sometimes have to carry out ill advised orders from evil minded superiors.The turmoil will lead to the first major cattle drive from Texas ranches to the new rail line in Abeline, Kansas. Even though the beef will be destined to feed undeserving people in the North, that's where they head --- fighting tough country, Indians, and a lot more.Recently paired with California on a DVD, you get two good westerns for the rental price of one.

bsmith5552 "The Texans" is a post civil war picture that is set in Texas. The story centers around carpetbaggers trying to cheat Texas ranchers out of their land which eventually forces them to undertake a cattle drive to Abeline. The movie has the look and feel of a classic western but there's something missing. It has plenty of action to be sure, but the action sequences have the look of stock footage which Paramount was fond of using during the 30's. The Zane Grey series, most of which starred Randolph Scott is a case in point. The chief villain (Robert Barrat) is presented alternately as a heartless villain and buffoon, a major weakness in the story line. There are also too many obvious "studio exterior" shots for my liking.In a major case of miscasting, Joan Bennett plays the heroine who we are to believe is a gun runner and large ranch owner. Why during her escape from town even gets a smudge of dirt on her pretty face, but not a hair is out of place. Somebody like Jean Arthur would have been more convincing. Randolph Scott is good as the hero, and May Robson as "Granna" virtually steals the picture. Robert Cummings as Scott's rival for the affections of Ms. Bennett, Walter Brennan as Bennett's crusty foreman and Raymond Hatton as Scott's sidekick are also along for the ride. Francis Ford (brother of John) stands out in a featured role as "Uncle Dud". If you look real close, you might spot Clayton Moore and Richard Denning in bit parts.But as I suggested earlier, the picture suffers from the lack of a strong villain. A good western, but could have been much better.