Texas

It's 1866, Abilene, Kansas and we are in the company of Dan Thomas {William Holden} and Tod Ramsey {Glen Ford}, two pals who served in the Confederacy together. They want to get to Texas to earn their living but have no cash ready to hand. But a lifeline is thrown by way of a stagecoach robbery they witness as they decide to relieve the robbers of their ill gotten gains. This puts the friends in serious peril so they agree to split up and head in different directions. Finally meeting up some time down the line in town, both men are operating from different social standings. And both men have fallen for the same gal, Mike King {Claire Trevor}. So along with the arrival in town of shady railroad magnate Windy Miller {George Bancroft} and the crooked dealings of dentist Buford Ford {Edgar Buchanan} starting to influence matters; the boys will do well to come out of it all still as friends.

Texas is directed by George Marshall {with Norman Deming assisting} and the three writing credits go to Michael Blankfort, Lewis Meltzer & Horace McCoy. It's a briskly paced black & white action Western that's not short on laughs either. In Holden and Ford it showcases two Hollywood big hitters in their fresh faced early days, with Holden pretty much unrecognisable. From a quite hilarious pugilist rules boxing match in the first quarter, to the number of machismo exchanges that drop in from time time, it's one of those film's that's hard to criticise. So I'm not going too. A small bother comes with the ending being rushed a touch, but even that is in keeping with how Marshall has directed it. So really it's a hearty recommend to anyone after some early 40s Oater enjoyment. Undemanding for sure, but executed with gusto and no little amount of class. 6.5/10