Deep in the Heart of Texas
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Elmer Clifton
Johnny Mack Brown
Tex Ritter
Fuzzy Knight
Jennifer Holt
William Farnum
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When Jim Mallory returns home to Texas after the Civil War, he learns that his father, Colonel Mallory, has become the leader of an unscrupulous band of land owners. These land barons, who have refused to adhere to a Congressional decision which removed their titles from vast land holdings, have formed their own "independent" territory known as "The Republic of Rio Grande." Jim and his friend, "Happy" T. Snodgrass, enter the territory just in time to save newspaper editor Jonathan Taylor from the murderous hands of his father's henchmen, Peabody and Idaho. Jonathan and his daughter Nan then tell Jim that the colonel has used such outlaws to force the newly arrived settlers from their legal lands. Brent Gordon, a special representative to the Regional Governor, under an appointment from Congress, arrives in Rio Grande to investigate the homesteaders' complaints. He openly goes to the colonel and accuses him of mistreating the new ranchers. Jim then defies his father and joins ranks with the settlers. Jonathan and Nan are wary of Jim's offer of help, but their suspicions are put to rest when the younger Mallory kills one of the colonel's would-be assassins. Sneed, the colonel's top henchman, then has Jim arrested and convicted of murder. When the colonel orders his condemnmed son's release, Sneed revolts against his employer, hoping to take the elder Mallory's place as leader of the republic. With nowhere else to turn, the colonel goes to Brent, Jonathan and Nan for help, and they agree to take arms against Sneed, on the condition that the colonel disband the new "republic." He agrees, and with Happy's explosives expertise, Brent frees Jim from the jail. In the ensuing gunfight, the colonel is mortally wounded, and Jim avenges his father by killing Sneed. With his dying breath, the colonel then leads his "rebel" forces in their first uttering of the Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America.
Director
Elmer Clifton
Cast
Johnny Mack Brown
Tex Ritter
Fuzzy Knight
Jennifer Holt
William Farnum
The Jimmy Wakely Trio
Harry Woods
Kenneth Harlan
Pat O'malley
Roy Brent
Edmund Cobb
Earle Hodgins
Budd Buster
Gil Patric
Bill Patton
Crew
Johnny Bond
Bernard B. Brown
George Cooper
Oliver Drake
Oliver Drake
Daniel Decatur Emmett
R. A. Gausman
William Hedgcock
June Hershey
Otto Ludwig
Harold Macarthur
Harry Newman
Grace Norton
Jack Otterson
Charles Previn
Edward R. Robinson
H. J. Salter
Russell Schoengarth
Don Swander
Henry Tucker
Gilbert Valle
Maurice Wright
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working titles of this film were Texas Cowboy and The Lone Star Trail. According to Motion Picture Herald Prod Digest, the tit;e was changed tt Deep in the Heart of Texas in order to capitalize on the popularity of that current song. In mid-April 1942, Tex Ritter signed a contract with Universal to co-star with Johnny Mack Brown in seven westerns, while also agreeing to make one non-western for the studio. This was the first film under that contract. While Universal press materials list Otto Ludwig as the film's editor, the Hollywood Reporter and Daily Variety reviews credit Maurice Wright in that position, and Hollywood Reporter production charts list Russ Schoengarth as editor. Universal press materials include the song "Out on the Lone Star Trail," written by Oliver Drake, but it was not in the print viewed and was not listed by any other source. Modern sources include Frank Ellis, Tom Smith, Ray Jones and Eddie Polo in the cast.
