The Rangers Take Over
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Albert Herman
Dave "tex" O'brien
Jim Newill
Guy Wilkerson
Iris Meredith
Forrest Taylor
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Tex Wyatt and Panhandle Perkins are among the new recruits for the Texas Rangers. Tex, whose father Sam is the commanding officer of his troop, has not seen his father in fifteen years and is disappointed when Sam barely acknowledges him. Tex soon learns that Sam resents his long absence, and has no fatherly feelings toward him. Sam sends Tex and Panhandle on an investigative mission to track a wagon driven by a man named Pete Dawson, which was involved in a rustling incident. Overly eager, Tex gets involved in a saloon brawl while trying to arrest Dawson, having ignored Sam's orders not to make any arrests. Sam dismisses Tex from the Rangers, then privately confides in Sergeant Jim Steele, who has befriended Tex, that he believes the punishment will be good for his son. Tex is then hired by Rance Blair, the head of the rustlers, who hopes that with Tex on his side, he will be able to convince Sam to stop pursuing his arrest. However, Sam leads a raid on the rustlers, and one of the rustlers is about to confess when he is shot by an unseen assailant. While chasing after the killer, the Rangers encounter the rest of the gang. Sam is wounded during the ensuing gunfight and is taken hostage. At the local trading post, Tex picks a fight with Jim so that he can surreptitiously relay to Jim Blair's plans to move the stolen herd that night. While Jean, the owner of the trading post, warns the Rangers about the rustlers' movements, Jim and Panhandle locate Blair's hideout. Tex prevents the rustlers from firing upon his friends and back-up arrives with the Ranger contingent. Panhandle throws his homemade tonic on the campfire, and the resulting smoke debilitates the rustlers, allowing Jim to capture Blair. Tex rescues his father, and after the rustlers are arrested, Sam commends his new trooper and reinstates him as a Ranger.
Director
Albert Herman
Cast
Dave "tex" O'brien
Jim Newill
Guy Wilkerson
Iris Meredith
Forrest Taylor
I. Stanford Jolley
Charles King
Carl Matthews
Harry Harvey
Lynton Brent
Bud Osborne
Cal Shrum
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
This film was the first in a series of twenty-two Alexander-Stern produced westerns featuring "The Texas Rangers." Dave "Tex" O'Brien starred in all of the films as ranger Tex Wyatt. Jim Newill, as sidekick "Jim Steele," co-starred in fourteen of the films. After Newill's departure from the series in October 1944, Tex Ritter co-starred with O'Brien in the role of "Tex Haines." When Ritter came to the series in Dead or Alive, he was billed over O'Brien. For additional information on the series, please consult the Series Index.
