Fri 1 Jul 2011
A Western Movie Review by Walter Albert: THE TEXAN (1930).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , Western movies[6] Comments
THE TEXAN. Paramount, 1930. Gary Cooper, Fay Wray, Emma Dunn, Oscar Apfel, James Marcus. Based on the story “The Double-Dyed Deceiver” by O. Henry. Director: John Cromwell. Shown at Cinecon 44, Hollywood CA, Aug-Sept 2008.
Another film from the vaults that has probably not been seen since its initial release. Gary Cooper plays the Llano Kid, an outlaw with a price on his head, who falls in with a crooked lawyer who persuades him to join him in a scam to rob a South American widow by persuading her that the Kid is her long-lost son, returning to his mother after years of wandering.
The plan goes well until the Kid develops a conscience and wants to back out of the agreement. Emma Dunn plays the mother, Senora Ibarra, with Fay Wray her niece, with whom the Kid, predictably, falls in love.
There’s a nice O. Henry twist to resolve the story (no, the Kid does not turn out to be the son) and it’s a good-looking production that lets the characters and their relationships build slowly before the action-packed climax.
Editorial Comment: The cover illustration based on the film, shown above, was done by Norman Rockwell. The original painting recently sold at Sotheby’s for nearly six million dollars.
July 1st, 2011 at 2:27 pm
Charming pic with a review to match.
The plot was used again by Paramount 20 years later with Alan Ladd as BRANDED, but it’s credited as based on a novel by Max Brand. And the story reappeared again in KANGAROO, this time with Peter Lawford.
July 1st, 2011 at 3:58 pm
Unless I’m missing something obvious, a quick search for this movie on DVD has come up empty. There are no comments on this film at IMDB, nor any external links but the one to this blog (once Walter’s review is processed).
This is rather strange, as both Gary Cooper and Fay Wray are still well-known names in the movie-making business. Somebody’s missing a good business venture here.
July 1st, 2011 at 8:01 pm
TCM.com has an excerpt from the original “Variety” review and the New York “Times” review in full. Both liked the film. If you are curious over the O. Henry twist, the TCM full synopsis reveals it and the ending.
As for a DVD, this is in that era where it may be in public domain or there is no decent print and no money to restore it. It also hurts it is a Paramount picture. Columbia, Fox, and Warners/MGM would probably have released it in a Cooper collection or on the cheap. I have not seen Paramount as aggressive with their catalog.
October 4th, 2016 at 11:08 am
Has a viewable copy of this film ever surfaced (even on a collectors DVD) ?
October 4th, 2016 at 11:37 am
Keith, The film must exist, but nothing shows up on Google at the moment in terms of a copy on DVD, an official release or not.
March 12th, 2020 at 3:44 am
Just caught it on Encore Westerns. Good material. Synopsis mentions some legal complications. Universal has it,but evidently it never got to TV.