Glenn Ford and William Holden look young, sexy, lean and hungry in George Marshall's B+ oater "Texas." The story picks up with the two in cahoots to travel to Texas, for no apparent reason. Good early character development with a fight arranged by local entrepreneur Windy Miller (George Bancroft) leads nowhere in terms of plot, but hey.... we find them eventually splitting up after they almost get lynched for a stage robbery they did not commit. Claire Trevor enters the picture as a ranch-owner who they both fall for, although by this point Holden's character is on the wrong side of the law more often than not. The rest of the story follows Holden's attempts to outsmart and outshoot his cohorts, including a very weird performance by Edgar Buchanan as a disreputable dentist.
The action scenes are well handled, direction is crisp and quick without feeling cheap. I wish there was a bit more to Trevor's character, to make the triangle more than just a male rivalry for her unwitting affections. It could be better, of course, but it's a plenty satisfying Western with enough good action scenes and enough decent characterization to make the time pass pleasantly.
The action scenes are well handled, direction is crisp and quick without feeling cheap. I wish there was a bit more to Trevor's character, to make the triangle more than just a male rivalry for her unwitting affections. It could be better, of course, but it's a plenty satisfying Western with enough good action scenes and enough decent characterization to make the time pass pleasantly.