The Texas Rangers
Directed by King Vidor
Screenplay by Louis Stevens; story by King Vidor and Elizabeth Hill
1936/USA
Paramount Pictures
First viewing
[box] Wahoo Jones: Looks like you got me, Sam, but I’ll lay my cards on the table. I’ll shoot straight.
Sam McGee: [shooting Wahoo under the table] So will I.[/box]
This is an entertaining western from an “A” team at Paramount.
Jim Hawkins (Fred MacMurray), ‘Wahoo’ Jones (Jack Oakie), and Sam McGee (Lloyd Nolan) are a gang of friends who run a con setting up stage-coach robberies. Jim and Wahoo get split off from Sam and head off to Texas to find him. There they discover that their old con won’t work due to the vigilance of the Texas Rangers. Figuring they can’t beat ’em, Jim and Wahoo join up. They figure they may get inside info that will allow them to pull off some jobs. But as time goes on, they begin to make friends within the force. Will they be able to switch sides when opportunity calls? With Jean Parker as the love interest.
I thought this was an OK way to spend an afternoon. I always enjoy Jack Oakie – his turn as Napolini is one of my favorite parts of The Great Dictator – and he is good here.
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