Pretty Good

Please don't spend money on this.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

This Paramount studio effort stars Fred MacMurray, who many folks today only remember as the Dad in My Three Songs or the Flubber films. But MacMurry could do almost anything and do it well, from his cunning performance as the weak insurance foil in the classic noir Double Indemnity to his brilliant turn as the amoral business executive in The Apartment.Here early MacMurray is pared with Jack Oakie, the latter an endearing studio performer who brings some genuine warmth and humor to what in many ways is a typical studio Western, but much richer than the usual B oaters churned out by Republic or Monogram; this is essentially a tale of cowboy reformation, as three thieving get separated by circumstance and two of them choose community and goodness, while one--the notorious polka dot bandit (!), played by Lloyd Nolan, stays outside the law. Nolan, who usually played good second leads or endearing detectives, effortlessly engages in a wee bit of method acting, convincing in his greasy charm, oozing villainy and malice.While not a landmark film in any way, this is a casual, amiable entertainment, good for a lazy afternoon (coupled with a bowl of popcorn and perhaps a Charlie Chan mystery).

This is an amiable black & white, Paramount western about a trio of villains. Jim Hawkins (Fred MacMurray) and Sam McGee (Lloyd Nolan) hold up stagecoaches driven by their partner Wahoo (Jack Oakie) and make a good living at it. This is an interesting scheme, but eventually they are separated from each other. Sam goes on to become a notorious desperado, while Jim and Wahoo stop their stagecoach robbing scenario when Wahoo winds up driving a coach guarded by a humorless Texas Ranger. Indeed, the regular Rangers are a bunch of tough-looking, no-nonsense hombres, and "The Texas Rangers" is dedicated to them. "The Crowd" director King Vidor, who made several classics during his career, keeps thing moseying along in this outdoors drama. You can tell it's a morality play because our friends split up about half-way through with Wahoo turning goodie-two-shoes, while Sam rustles every steer in sight in south Texas. Actually, Jim and Sam are buddies up until the final quarter hour after Sam kills Wahoo in cold blood. Yes, there is a romance, but it is played more for laughs than love. MacMurray looks suitable for this kind of sagebrusher and Nolan is a dastard through and through as the Poka-Dot bandit. There is an interesting scene where the Rangers, out-numbered by Indians, take refuge on a mountain side and three braves start rolling boulders down on them.

What looks on paper like a fairly ordinary entry in the Western genre actually turned out to be something much better than that. Fred MacMurray stars as one of a trio of villains (other members are Lloyd Nolan and Jackie Oakie, both good), two of whom hook up with the Texas Rangers after their stagecoach hold-up scam is rumbled. The duo - MacMurray and Oakie, who join to gain inside info on potential targets - are soon reformed by their experiences and find themselves at odds with former partner Nolan.The writing is very good here at times - and incredibly poor at others. The kangaroo court scene in a converted saloon, which is presumably intended to emphasise MacMurray's conversion to law and order, simply makes him look like as much of a bully as the villain he is attempting to try. Oakie's death scene is very well written though and, despite the situation, its timing comes as a complete surprise.In some respects it's a mystery how this one got past the censors considering MacMurray never really pays for the crimes he committed at the beginning of the film...

I'm sure in casting The Texas Rangers Paramount had it in mind to broaden Fred MacMurray's appeal by putting him in a western. MacMurray had been a star at Paramount for two years and had appeared in mostly light comic parts as he did throughout his career. I mean Paramount could have cast Gary Cooper or Joel McCrea, both of whom were available at the studio. MacMurray did the film and gave a creditable performance, but as he remarked, "the horse and I were never as one." He never really did feel comfortable in westerns and ones he later appeared in were long after his Paramount studio days were over.The Texas Rangers film is based on stories derived from Walter Presscott Webb's authoritative history of the legendary law enforcement outfit which was only published a few years back. Fred MacMurray, Jack Oakie and Lloyd Nolan play three outlaws who drift into Texas and become separated. MacMurray and Oakie join the Texas Rangers and Nolan continues his outlaw ways.Lots of good action here folks. A really great Comanche Indian attack sequence is well staged by Director King Vidor. Lots of familiar western faces support the leads like Fred Kohler and Gabby Hayes. Edward Ellis as the commandant of the Texas Rangers comes off a lot like Lewis Stone and had MGM instead of Paramount had made this film, Lewis Stone definitely would have been cast in Ellis's role.Despite MacMurray's misgivings about westerns, The Texas Rangers is a pretty good action western with great character development for the three leads.