The Texas Rangers
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Phil Karlson
George Montgomery
Gale Storm
Jerome Courtland
Noah Beery Jr.
William Bishop
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In 1874 in Texas, after the Union Army of Occupation departs, leaving the state open to attack from a variety of fugitive criminals, the state recalls the Texas Rangers, demobilized since the beginning of the Civil War, into service. Led by Maj. John D. Jones, the Rangers bring order back to the entire state within two years. Notorious train bandit Sam Bass organizes the remaining outlaws at his hideout to resist Jones and the Rangers and names the group the Longriders Association. When the Longriders initially prove successful against the Rangers, the Governor grows nervous and threatens to dissolve the Rangers if the outlaws are not stopped. Meanwhile, Longrider Johnny Carver, known as the fastest gun in Texas, and his friend, Buff Smith, are arrested and placed in the state penitentiary. Johnny is summoned by the warden and introduced to Maj. Jones, whom Johnny recognizes as a former fellow officer from the war. When Jones inquires why Johnny turned to crime, he explains that the war destroyed his family and home, leaving him nothing. Jones offers Johnny a full pardon if he will work for the Rangers, reporting the Longriders' identities and plans. When Johnny asks to add Buff to the deal, Jones agrees. At Ranger headquarters in Waco, Jones details Johnny and Buff's participation to the men, upsetting Helen Fenton, publisher of the Waco Star whose father was murdered by The Sundance Kid, a Longrider. Johnny discovers his younger brother Danny is a Ranger and has changed his last name to Bonner to avoid association with him, but Johnny agrees to say nothing about their relationship. Johnny and Buff return to Bass, who plans a bank holdup, and sends the duo north to tell the rest of the Longriders. Johnny, angry over Sundance's treachery in an earlier robbery, waits for an opportunity to exact revenge upon him, ignoring Jones's order to locate Bass's headquarters. When Danny joins Johnny and Buff on the trail, Johnny grows angry, believing Jones does not trust him. Sundance ambushes the group and is killed by Johnny, who then reveals that he intends to quit the Rangers, having only wanted revenge on Sundance. Buff and Danny are stunned and, disarming Johnny, place him under arrest. Upon hearing of Sundance's murder, Bass sends out a small group after Johnny. In the ensuing attack, Danny is shot while returning Johnny's gun, and his death prompts Johnny to commit himself completely to the Rangers. Buff takes Danny's body back to Waco, while Johnny continues following the Longriders. When the Rangers are ordered back to Austin, Buff goes in search of Johnny with the news. In the town of Belton, Bass and the gang wait at the bank as the Wells Fargo stage comes in. Johnny informs the sheriff of Bass's presence before taking two bags of money and fleeing. When Jones discovers Johnny's involvement in the robbery, he worries that the publicity will ruin the Rangers. Buff finds Johnny, who explains that he took the money to prevent Bass from stealing it. Buff then reveals that the Rangers are in Austin to guard a gold shipment worth a million dollars. Johnny plans to use the gold to lure Bass and the gang to Austin and to that end, meets Bass in Waco, where he gives him just enough information about the gold to prove his loyalty. Bass decides to intercept the train while the gold is being unloaded but has Johnny followed when he meets with Buff to pass on the plan. Later, Buff is dragged in and beaten up in front of Johnny, but he insists he is Buff's adversary and even when Buff is killed, does not crack. Before leaving town, Johnny manages to convince Helen to get word to Jones and the Rangers about the robbery scheme. Bass modifies his plan to jump the train with three men and meet the rest of the Longriders at a prearranged spot. Anxious about the change, Johnny goes along and, fighting off Bass and two accomplices, races the train by the meeting spot, which provokes the gang to chase the train directly to the waiting Rangers, where they are arrested. For his actions and dedication to the Rangers, Johnny earns a full pardon and Helen's esteem.
Director
Phil Karlson
Cast
George Montgomery
Gale Storm
Jerome Courtland
Noah Beery Jr.
William Bishop
John Litel
Douglas Kennedy
John Dehner
Ian Macdonald
John Doucette
Jock O'mahoney
Joseph Fallon
Myron Healey
Julian Rivero
Trevor Bardette
Stanley Andrews
Edward Earle
Guy Teague
Al Wyatt
Boyd Red Morgan
Allen Pinson
Edwin Parker
Hugh Prosser
John Merton
Frank O'connor
Dick Curtis
Ric Roman
Charles Trowbridge
George Eldredge
George Chesebro
Jim Bannon
Kenne Duncan
Dick Wessel
Fred Miller
Joseph Palma
Tony Taylor
William "bill" Phillips
John Cason
William Haade
Ed Peil Sr.
Paul E. Burns
Charles Watts
William N. Bailey
Crew
Mischa Bakaleinikoff
Howard Bristol
Ellis Carter
Al Clark
George Cooper
Emmett Emerson
Frank Gruber
Jean Louis
Harold Macarthur
Richard Schayer
Bernard Small
Edward Small
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Portions of the film were shot on location in Sonoma County, CA. For biographical information on the life of Sam Bass (1851-1878) please see the entry for Universal's 1946 film, Calamity Jane and Sam Bass in the AFI Catalalog of Feature Films, 1941-50. Other films in which Bass's character was featured are RKO's 1946 Badman's Territory and Lippert's 1952 Outlaw Women. Butch Cassidy (Robert LeRoy Parker, 1867-1908?) and the Sundance Kid (Harry Longbaugh, 1861-1908?) formed the notorious gang, The Wild Bunch in the late 1890s and robbed banks and trains. Their characters appeared in RKO's 1948 film, Return of the Bad Men and Sundance's character made a brief appearance a year earlier in Warner Bros. Cheyenne. In 1969, Twentieth Century-Fox released Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, directed by George Roy Hill and starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford in the title roles.
