Young Guns of Texas (1962)

Purely Joyful Movie!

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This western uses the gimmick of 3 sons or daughters of famous actors being used to fill about half the major roles. These are James Mitchum, Alana Ladd, and Jody McCrea. More cryptically, it included Barbara Mansell, as Martha Jane Canary: the birth name of Calamity Jane. Judging by some old photos, Barbara was notably better looking than Calamity! We have basically 4 groups that are involved in part or most of the story. Group A consists of 7 former Civil War soldiers, led by the brother of Tyler Duane(Gary Conway), plus his wife, apparently. They have stolen a $30,000. Union payroll. and are heading toward a Mescalero Apache territory, in SE NM, or Texas, perhaps on the way to Mexico. These Apache constitute a significant risk to their lives and treasure. However, it turns out that their comrades are just as murderous, the first victims being Tyler's brother and his apparent wife, until only 2 are left when they engage the other groups in a climactic shootout........Group B consists of several young men, played by Mitchum, McCrea, and Gary Conway(Tyler). In addition, there's veteran Chill Wills, as unordained minister Sam Shelby, and bride Lily Coe(Alana Ladd), formerly Lily Glendenning, just married to Morgan Coe(Mitchum), although it's unclear how legitimate this marriage is. Morgan and Lily are running away from Lily's father, Jesse, who is out to kill Morgan and bring Lily back home. He is the leader of Group C: hot on the heels of Group B. Meanwhile, Tyler, of Group B, is intent on capturing the money held by Group A, and returning it to the US Army. Group D: a band of Mescalero, don't want any of the above groups passing through their territory. I forgot to mention that Martha Jane((Barbara Mansell) joined Group B, along the way. Why, instead of tending her cattle? My guess is she thought Lisa could use some female companionship. Also, she was running from Lisa's father(Group C), whose cattle she had rustled. See the film to find out the result of the big 4 way gun battle, and its aftermath......I thought none of the offspring of the famous actors had any appreciable charisma. It was up to Chill Wills and Barbara Mansell to supply the charisma......See it at YouTube.

Okay this a typical Western for the time. You have a bad rancher, played by Robert Lowery, (Jessie), who does the usual try to ride rough shod over any and all opposition. It doesn't work with James Mitchum as Morgan Coe. Coe was rescued after five years with the Comanche's. Taken in by Jessie, Coe falls for his daughter. So Jessie sends her back East for school and fires Coe, (can't trust an Injun). She returns and things heat up. At a church social Jessie sics his hired gun on Coe and Coe kills him. Tyler shows up in town, is following his brother, a Union captain and six Rebs, they also have the Captain's wife and $30K in stolen gold. The upshot of all this is the patrol goes into Apache country and so Tyler goes after them. Due to circumstances written into the plot Coe, the daughter, an un-ordained preacher and his son also come with. The father now grabs his crew and they follow the daughter. The captain and his wife are found murdered by the Reb's. Then two of them are found a little further on. Meanwhile Tyler and gang are close and so is daddy. The Apache's finally show up, kill two more of the patrol, then run into Tyler's group. Now is where I have a real problem with the film. The Indians just come riding up shooting willy-nilly and stay mounted right in front of the blazing guns of the whites. Finally daddy and his men appear and they are just as stupid. They stay on their horses too and every one is shooting at everyone else. Daddy sees Coe and kills him, then as the Apache's ride off one of them kills Jessie. So the show ends with daddy and the husband dead. The preacher has recovered the gold, gives it to Tyler. The last scene at the graves of Jessie and Coe shows you the future, Tyler is staying west and returning the gold to the Army and the daughter and he are obviously going to hook up down the line.

Young Guns of Texas is directed by Maury Dexter and written by Henry Cross. It stars James Mitchum, Alana Ladd, Jody McCrea, Chill Wills and Gary Conway. A CinemaScope/DeLuxe Color production with cinematography by John M. Nickolaus and music by Paul Sawtell and Burt Shefter. The title song is sung by Kenny Miller. There's not a lot of good will around for this Western but it's far from being a stinker. Very much using a gimmick by starring the offspring of Western heroes Robert Mitchum, Alan Ladd and Joel McCrea, it's an OK Oater to pass the time of day with.Plot sees the young guns team up for a perilous journey through dangerous Mescalero territory. Accompanied by wise old Preacher Sam Shelby (Wills), they each have different reasons for being out on the lam. Be it eloping, friendship or hunting for a patrol who have stolen an army payroll in their possession, they all have a common bond to move forward. Naturally they in turn are being pursued by a posse led by the angry father of Lily Glendenning (Ladd). This essentially means there are three separate groups out in the wilds, and as the bodies begin to pile up and the various character dynamics are unearthed, all three groups catch up to each other and have a date with the Mescaleros!The acting is standard fare, with Wills holding the young cast together, and it's hardly genius in plotting or direction. However, it's lovely to look at as it's filmed out of Big Bend National Park in Texas, there's enough requisite action (including an extended fist-fight) for the undemanding Western fan; in fact for the finale the kill quotient is very high, while there's a slight veer away from the expected during said finale. So some value to be found, then, even if it's not a comfortable recommendation to Western fans. 6/10

I was surprised to see no comments on this movie, which has certainly been on TV fairly recently (at least in the UK). I also saw it in the cinema in the UK when it first came out. It is in many ways a typical Western of the early sixties, starring actors straight out of contemporary TV series, who looks as if they belong to a Beach Party movie rather than the real Wild West! This film is also famous for starring a string of children of more famous stars. It begins at a good pace, with Gary Conway arriving in town, having an extensive fist fight, and meeting Jody McCrea. After that it becomes increasingly boring & pedestrian, and I couldn't give away the ending, because I don't really remember it! So my advice is, make sure you watch the beginning, but don't bother too much if you miss the end!