The Texas Rangers
Cast & Crew
King Vidor
Fred Macmurray
Jack Oakie
Jean Parker
Lloyd Nolan
Edward Ellis
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
After three bandits, Henry B. "Wahoo" Jones, Jim Hawkins and Sam McGee, split up to evade the law, Wahoo and Jim join the Texas Rangers. While patrolling for cattle rustlers, they meet up wih Sam, and the three men agree to use inside information from the Rangers to plan some heists. On their way back to the outpost, Jim and Wahoo try to rescue some homesteaders from an Indian raid, but save only a young boy, David, who thereafter idolizes them as heroes. They bring David to the Rangers' encampment, where Major Bailey's daughter Amanda undertakes to rear him properly. Amanda takes a liking to Jim, but he avoids her. Later, the Rangers fight with a tribe of hostile Indians in an effort to get them onto a reservation. A great number of Rangers are killed, but Jim becomes a hero when he manages to kill several Indians singlehandedly and bring another company of Rangers to help with the battle. Despite his honest heroic efforts, Jim still plans to rustle cattle with Sam, but the injured Wahoo bows out. Before Jim leaves for his new assignment in Kimball County, where he is to arrest an outlaw, he and Amanda fall in love. Jim brings law and order to Kimball County, and the residents gift him with a ranch. His experience there causes him to have a change of heart, and he cancels his deal with Sam, asking him to clear out of the area. When much of Texas is terrorized by the "Polka-Dot" bandit, so identified by the bandana he wears, Jim realizes the bandit is Sam. The major orders Jim to bring the bandit in dead or alive, but out of friendship for Sam, Jim refuses and resigns from the Rangers, after which the major reluctantly arrests him for his previous illegal activity. Loyal to Jim, Wahoo sets out to capture Sam with the help of little David. Sam kills Wahoo and returns his body to the Rangers, then kidnaps David. Jim is released from jail. Outraged by Wahoo's senseless death, he rescues David, whom Sam has imprisoned. Although reluctant to kill Sam, Jim is forced to shoot him when he refuses to give himself up.
Director
King Vidor
Cast
Fred Macmurray
Jack Oakie
Jean Parker
Lloyd Nolan
Edward Ellis
Bennie Bartlett
Frank Shannon
Frank Cordell
Richard Carle
Jed Prouty
Fred Kohler Sr.
George Hayes
Elena Martinez
Kathryn Bates
Rhea Mitchell
Lloyd A. Saunders
Homer Farra
Ray Burgess
Hank Bell
Jack Montgomery
Howard Joslin
Joe Dominguez
Joseph Rickson
Frank Ellis
Bill Gillis
Neal Hart
Cecil Kellogg
Joseph B. Kerrick
Harrison Greene
Frank Leyva
Irving Bacon
Spencer Charters
Charles Middleton
Monty Vandergrift
William Strauss
Stanley Andrews
Dell Henderson
Bobby Caldwell
John Beck
Gayne Whitman
Maria Martinez
Clyde Tingley
Crew
Harry Behn
Phil Boutelje
John Cope
Sam Coslow
Edward Cronjager
Hans Dreier
A. E. Freudeman
Doane Harrison
Edith Head
Bernard Herzbrun
Elizabeth Hill
Elizabeth Hill
William Lebaron
Harold Lewis
Otho Lovering
Russell Mathews
Boris Morros
Jack Scholl
Louis Stevens
Archie Stout
King Vidor
King Vidor
Adolph Zukor
Film Details
Technical Specs
Award Nominations
Best Sound
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
According to a Hollywood Reporter news item, Paramount considered changing the title of the film to Lone Star Rangers because Columbia Pictures had already titled a picture Texas Rangers. The song "Alla en rancho grande" was derived from files at the Texas Folk-Lore Society and was sung by Elena Martinez. At the time of this film's release, Texas was celebrating its centennial. Press releases also give the following information: Over 500 actors and members of two Indian tribes (Navajo and Zuni) were employed, particularly for the 1876 battle scene. This scene was reportedly a re-enactment of a famous 1876 battle in which Vicorio, a nephew of Geronimo, led the Apaches against the Texas Rangers and Union Army soldiers. A former governor of New Mexico, Clyde Tingley, performed in this film. Governor James Allred of Texas directed the opening scene over the phone. Maria Martinez of the San Ildefonso Indian Pueblo, who was famous for her distinctive black pottery, was used as a walk-on in one scene. Bennie Bartlett's real-life mother played his character's doomed homesteader mother. The role of Jim Hawkins was originally slated for Gary Cooper, who was filming This Breed of Men at the time. Paramount felt it was inappropriate to release two "outdoor pictures" with the star concurrently and therefore cast Fred MacMurray. According to Daily Variety, production was held up for a few days due to a severe dust storm near Gallup, NM. Unlike most of his previous films, Jack Oakie's character meets his death in this film. (One year earlier, however, Twentieth Century changed the ending of The Call of the Wild after audiences protested the death of Oakie's character.) Contemporary sources note that Fred MacMurray sings a love song in the film. However, the viewed print did not contain this scene. According to press releases, the oldest operating train engine, "Montezuma No. 1," built in 1881, was used in a hold-up scene filmed in New Mexico. A 125-year-old building in Gallup, NM, the oldest building in town, was used as a sound stage for the Ranger office building. The exterior shots of the Ranger office were taken at an old nearby Indian pueblo. The film was shot on location in Gallup and Santa Fe, NM and in TX. Producer King Vidor notes in an interview that some scenes were also filmed in Santo Domingo, NM.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1936
Released in United States June 15, 1989
Shown at Film Forum in New York City June 15, 1989.
Released in United States 1936
Released in United States June 15, 1989 (Shown at Film Forum in New York City June 15, 1989.)
