This action-packed western grabs you from the moment of its 3-D credits. Even long before that gimmick took over the screen, movies were trying different ways of grabbing the audiences' attention, and something as simple as the rolling credits was a great way to get the audience's attention. Look at the Cecil B. De Mille epics of the mid-late 30's and even some of MGM's most lavish costume dramas. In the case of "Texas", what seems like just an ordinary western surrounding cattle rustlers ends up being something much more exciting.
William Holden and Glenn Ford were rising young actors on the Columbia lot who were soon to be mega stars, both handsome and likable, and both who obviously took their crafts seriously. Their film legend is only enhanced by their longevity, and their pairing as best friends of very different personalities is as exciting as the pairings of such mega-stars as Gable and Tracy, Edward G. Robinson and Bogart, EGR and Cagney, Bogart and Cagney. Like the state of Texas itself, this film is huge, fast-moving and gloriously entertaining.
There's a wonderful confrontation between Holden and Claire Trevor (fresh from "Stagecoach") where he tries to steal her horse and she gets the better of him momentarily. She briefly falls under the spell of the more noble Ford who had no idea that his pal was involved in the robbery of cattle rustlers posing as cattle owners. There's also a great performance by the wonderful character actor Edgar Buchannan ("Petticoat Junction") as a grizzled old dentist with several surprises up his drill. The mixed loyalties, unknown motivations and some great comedy interwoven make this a ton of fun. Buchannan even gets to do a musical number as Trevor plays the organ while Ford and Holden take turns pumping it from the back.
To even give a little bit of some of the surprises here away would defeat the fun of discovering it. While Trevor gets plenty of chances to chew up the scenery, she does so subtly here, not like she would do in later films where she sometimes seemed as if she was going to swallow up the whole camera. Other than a few other female extras, she is the only woman character in the film, yet she is not some namby pamby love interest tossed in to cause friction between the two leading men. Her character here definitely has purpose, and she does a very good job in the part. This showed movie audiences that you didn't need to have John Wayne acting or John Ford directing to have a good "A" western. It deserves a bigger status among classic westerns than it has gotten. George Marshall, who has directed many westerns yet crossed over to practically every other genre as well, helms this production, and helps make it flow effortlessly.
William Holden and Glenn Ford were rising young actors on the Columbia lot who were soon to be mega stars, both handsome and likable, and both who obviously took their crafts seriously. Their film legend is only enhanced by their longevity, and their pairing as best friends of very different personalities is as exciting as the pairings of such mega-stars as Gable and Tracy, Edward G. Robinson and Bogart, EGR and Cagney, Bogart and Cagney. Like the state of Texas itself, this film is huge, fast-moving and gloriously entertaining.
There's a wonderful confrontation between Holden and Claire Trevor (fresh from "Stagecoach") where he tries to steal her horse and she gets the better of him momentarily. She briefly falls under the spell of the more noble Ford who had no idea that his pal was involved in the robbery of cattle rustlers posing as cattle owners. There's also a great performance by the wonderful character actor Edgar Buchannan ("Petticoat Junction") as a grizzled old dentist with several surprises up his drill. The mixed loyalties, unknown motivations and some great comedy interwoven make this a ton of fun. Buchannan even gets to do a musical number as Trevor plays the organ while Ford and Holden take turns pumping it from the back.
To even give a little bit of some of the surprises here away would defeat the fun of discovering it. While Trevor gets plenty of chances to chew up the scenery, she does so subtly here, not like she would do in later films where she sometimes seemed as if she was going to swallow up the whole camera. Other than a few other female extras, she is the only woman character in the film, yet she is not some namby pamby love interest tossed in to cause friction between the two leading men. Her character here definitely has purpose, and she does a very good job in the part. This showed movie audiences that you didn't need to have John Wayne acting or John Ford directing to have a good "A" western. It deserves a bigger status among classic westerns than it has gotten. George Marshall, who has directed many westerns yet crossed over to practically every other genre as well, helms this production, and helps make it flow effortlessly.