The Texans (1938)

Great Film overall

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

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.

With the U.S. Calvary on his tail, ex-Confederate Randolph Scott braves the elements and leads a massive cattle drive through Indian territory in order for his hard-case employer (and potential sweetheart) Joan Bennett to avoid paying the nasty carpetbagger government's new cattle tax.The first thirty minutes of the film, with it's blistering portrait of reconstruction, is so grimy and claustrophobic that it comes as a bit of a relief when Scott and the boys (and the girls) hit the trail. In fact, they lay it on so thick that Randolph Scott's character comes off a bit silly when he voices his support for a reunified country!Some slow spots help keep this from being one of the best of Scott's early Paramount vehicles. However it's probably one of the best produced, with some excellent photography and really well-staged action sequences. The scenes depicting the crossing of the Rio Grande and their battles with angry Comanches are particular standouts.The end is a bit of a forerunner to Red River!

Randolph Scott is a former Confederate soldier and Joan Bennett plays a woman who refuses to admit when the Civil War is over in James Hogan's cattle rustling epic, which looks and feels in retrospect a lot like a B version of Howard Hawks' "Red River." There's a general lack of ambition here and the movie doesn't add up to much, just a formula picture that pretends to be somewhat more important than a singing cowboy picture.Anytime Randolph Scott is wearing more makeup in the movie than Joan Bennett, that's a sign of trouble right there. Scott annoyed me to no end in this movie, and it's hard to believe he's the same man who became such a convincing western star in the 50s and 60s. The director is partly to blame, because he's always having Scott do these clownish double takes to the camera that really do not suit him. You shouldn't ask actors to do things that they really can't do. Joan Bennett is mis-cast because she feels too contemporary. Walter Brennan basically stole the movie and made a couple good scenes out of it. I wouldn't be surprised if Hawks did see the movie and figure he could do it better. The following year after this film, Brennan made a memorable appearance in Fritz Lang's "Fury," and shortly after that he began his memorable run of character performances for Hawks. So this film might if anything be somewhat important in terms of Brennan's filmography, since he basically proves here that he's even better than Gabby Hayes.May Robson is also very amusing as "Granna", the ancient frontier woman who won't be left behind and who nurses a maternal affection for the aging Brennan character. Robert Cummings plays the rival love interest for Joan Bennett, a smarmy Confederate dead ender who dreams of leading rebel excursions from Mexico to reclaim Texas. B western regular Raymond Hatton also puts in a patented supporting performance as some kind of wilderness man to round up the rather generic but pleasant nature of the cast and film generally.Not much else to say here. Hogan's direction is pedestrian and the story is somewhat interesting but very contrived. For instance, when the uber-annoying regional bureaucrat (Robert Barrat) is murdered rather obviously in the midst of a fray by Scott's trapping buddy (Hatton), the military officer in charge (Harvey Stephens) barely bothers to investigate and suddenly switches plans and agrees to help the ranchers. It's all tied up in such a way as to soothe the frayed nerves between the Southerners and the Northerners, as if this was some piece of propaganda delayed by some 60 odd years. There's a couple shoot-outs against Indians but nothing really invested with any drama or meaning. Violence in this movie is simply action, and not very good action. Basically the movie would suffice for Saturday morning but it seems to want to be at least a bit more than that, and fails.

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.