The Texan

The casting of this film left a bit to be desired. Gary Cooper as a con man? I don't think so. Dunn and Wray are fine in their roles. But an Italian nightclub singer (Russ Columbo) as a singing cowboy? Please. This is Hollywood gone off the deep end. The llano Kid (Cooper) is trying to con Dunn into thinking he is her long lost son. Meanwhile, the inevitable romantic interest (Fay Wray) starts to monkey around with his affections. Will he do the right thing? I think the answer is readily obvious. Fun to see Cooper as a con man and Columbo as a Westerner. I think Johnny Mack Brown would have been much better casting for this story, though.

THE TEXAN (Paramount, 1930), directed by John Cromwell, from the story "A Double-Dyed Deceiver" by O. Henry, is a worthy follow-up to Gary Cooper's first talkie and previous western outing of THE VIRGINIAN (1929). Now as a Texan known as The Llano Kid, Cooper brightens his acting range in another character, that of a likable good-badman type.

Opening with a wanted sign for The Llano Kid with a $500 reward on his head, The Llano Kid (Gary Cooper) rides his horse to the nearest blacksmith where John Brown (James Marcus), who also happens to be the town sheriff, works on the stranger's horse for its horseshoe replacement. During his wait, the Llano Kid heads for a bar for a drink and a game of cards with other cowboys, with one cardsharp getting gunned down for cheating. The Llano Kid returns to the blacksmith, who recognizes him, to reclaim his horse. He throws the blacksmith's gun into a bucket of water and makes his escape. Heading towards the next train out of town, the Llano kid steals a ticket belonging to fellow passenger, Abner J. Thacker (Oscar Apfel). Because the cowboy happens to resemble a man of 25, Thacker, a lawyer representing a rich widow who's son ran away from home 15 years ago, to locate him in Texas and bring him back to her. He not only hires the cowboy to accompany him to South America for the impersonation, but schemes in obtaining Senora Ibarra's (Emma Dunn) bags of gold on top of her $1,000 reward to him. During his two month stay before leaving on the next boat back to the states, The Llano Kid, now known as Enrique, lovingly called "Quico" by his "mother," becomes acquainted with his "cousin", Consuelo (Fay Wray), and new lifestyle until something occurs to change all that. Others in the cast include: Donald Reed, Soledad Jimenez, Ed Brady and Enrique Acosta.

Unlike Cooper's first talkie, THE VIRGINIAN, THE TEXAN (title not to be confused with THE TEXANS (Paramount, 1938) starring Randolph Scott), was never sold to commercial television, becoming unavailable for viewing for many decades. It's one of those movies one hears about but something that will never see the light of day again. After many years in obscurity. THE TEXAN finally resurrected on the Encore Western Channel in March 2020, and a worthy rediscovery and welcome addition to the cable network.

Regardless of its age and lack of musical scoring in the plot, THE TEXAN is leisurely paced and recommended viewing. Fay Wray (best known for KING KONG (1933)), gets by physically as a Spanish senorita, and makes due with her accented way of talking. It would not be the first nor last time she would assume a Spanish character. Also commendable in their roles are Oscar Apfel as the crooked lawyer and James Marcus as the sheriff/blacksmith who happens to be a religious man. THE TEXAN was remade by Paramount as THE LLANO KID (1939) featuring Tito Guizar in the title role with Gale Sondergaard and Emma Dunn reprising her original role of the mother. As with THE TEXAN, to date, THE LLANO KID is unavailable for viewing.

While Gary Cooper appeared in other, yet better westerns in later years, winning an Academy Award for HIGH NOON (1952), THE TEXAN (at 79 minutes) is worthy viewing. (***)

"The Texan" is a most unusual film by Gary Cooper. It was presumed lost for decades but just recently the movie was restored and shown on Starz. And, since I love classic films, it is natural that I'd watch this movie. Thanks to Bruce Kogan for letting me know that this was finally available!

When the story begins, the Llano Kid (Gary Cooper) is a wanted criminal in the old west. After a dust up in a Texas town, he's on the run and makes the acquaintance of a man who offers him a chance to make big money. It seems a family he knows in South America has a long-lost son and he wants the Kid to pose as this lost son. It makes some sense, as the Kid speaks Spanish and is about the same age....so all he needs is a tattoo and some coaching and he should be able to fool Don Enrique's mother. And, the plan ends up working very well..perhaps too well. As now the Kid has come to love his new 'mother' and can't stand the notion of hurting her. But what about his partner in crime? Surely he won't sit still for the Kid changing their bargain.

I liked the slow and deliberate pace of this film...some might see it as being too slow. Also when you compare it to other westerns made in 1930, this one is superior to most...with some nice acting, production values and an interesting story. Sure, the story is a bit familiar...but it wasn't back in 1930. Well made, well worth your time.

... because it sags dreadfully, especially in the middle portion after Cooper's character arrives in South America. That and the complete absence of any kind of score makes it tough going.

Gary Cooper plays the Llano Kid, wanted dead or alive for robbing a stagecoach. He stops off in a town to have his horse shoed, and the town blacksmith happens to be a Bible beating preacher type who also, strangely enough is the sheriff. Satisfied that the sheriff has no idea who he is, the Kid goes to the saloon for a drink and some cards. But the fellow he's playing is cheating, and when exposed draws his gun and tries to kill the Kid. The Kid returns fire and kills him in what sure looks like self defense.

The Kid fools the towns folk and their posse into believing "he went thataway", retrieves his horse from the sheriff who vows to get him someday, rides to the railway station, and gets onboard. On the train he meets Abner Thacker, who offers The Kid a deal - If he'll pose as a rich South American woman's long lost son who ran away 15 years ago at the age of ten, they'll soak her for all she's worth and split the proceeds. The Kid agrees.

But once in South America, The Kid has second thoughts. The old woman who thinks he's her son is very kind to him, and he falls in love with Consuelo (Fay Wray), the old woman's companion. But Thacker is not having this newfound sentimentality cutting into his bottom line and threatens to turn The Kid into the local American consulate as a wanted criminal if he doesn't continue the ruse.

Complications ensue. In fact the complications are what liven up the last third of the film. First off there is an unexpected twist at the end. Secondly, the Bible preaching sheriff shows up at the widow's hacienda looking to bring The Kid back to Texas. This last part is very strange. This guy is a sheriff, not a U. S. marshal. He has no police powers in a foreign country. And who is guarding the town while he's globetrotting? And why this resolve to capture a guy who killed in self-defense?

The high point of this film is seeing the subtle humor in Cooper's performance. He'd played westerners and cowboys all through the 20s in the silent era because of his roping and riding skills. But talking film added a layer to the authenticity of his performance as a genuine cowboy.

Some old movies are true classics. They seem to keep on living despite technical disadvantages of the time they were made. Some others, simply need to be remade. The Texan is one of the latter category. It screams to be remade. It suffers terribly from the painfully limited post-silent Hollywood technology.

What does not mask that disadvantages is the primitive sound, no theme music, and the awful direction. The director simply fails to get a better performance from the obviously inexperienced future star, Gary Cooper. Coop is too tall and lanky to be believable in his role as a Mexican-American bandit slowly turning good, and the director fails to minimize it with good camera angles. He is also too stiff (even by Coop's standards) and boring to be likable as the leading character. On the other hand, the director allows Emma Dunn to be annoyingly suffocating in her overacting as the doting mother. One would almost like to throw a brick at the screen every time she is in a scene.

So why am I asking for a remake of this movie? Because it does have a great premise, and a very smart ending. In the hands of a capable director, and with the advantage of good music and today's technology, this story could actually turn into at least a minor classic. As it is for now, the original is good for a one-time watching and no more.