Review of Texas Rangers Ride Again

To its credit, Paramount Pictures has rarely stinted on funding for its lower tier films as evidenced with this work that is meant to profit from the popularity of the 1936 MacMurray/Oakie picture TEXAS RANGERS, of which this is not a sequel. Far from having a conventional Western setting, the plot here is contemporaneous with the time of the film's release, with cattle rustlers employing motor vehicles and wireless communication, as do the Rangers who also trailer their mounts to their patrol sectors. By utilizing some of its better contract players as well as a raft of supporting actors whose home studio is Paramount, a product is developed that is fairly well balanced between the common cinematic classifications of romance, comedy and adventure. As Ellen Dangerfield (Ellen Drew) arrives at the enormous White Sage Ranch in Texas after being ten years away on the east coast, her grandmother's spread is being rustled of thousands of cattle, causing the elderly lady (May Robson) to request assistance from the Texas Rangers who have a nearby base, with Ranger Jim Kingston (John Howard) being assigned to the case in an undercover capacity that allows him as a ranch hand to woo as he may wish a not unwilling Ellen. With partner Mace (Broderick Crawford), Jim pinpoints a sophisticated rustling operation led by a local meatpacking company owner and abetted by traitorous lawbreakers from among White Sage cowboys. There is abundant action as Rangers and rustlers vie for survival, yet through it all humourous episodes occur that pleasantly colour the proceedings, with city-tarnished Ellen weakly trying to find cause why she should not respond to the aggressively amourous Kingston. The mentioned components of romance, comedy and adventure are not uniformly or consistently effective, not to fault a talented cast that serves well the screenplay, including Anthony Quinn, Akim Tamiroff, Robert Ryan, supporting performers Charles Lane, Edward Pawley, Joseph Crehan, with Western genre veterans such as Tom Tyler, Monte Blue, Jack Perrin and Eddie Acuff among a host of other worthies. Robson earns acting honours with her spirited performance while notice must be made of the stuntmen, who shine in this fast moving film shot in and near Mesa, Arizona, a blessing to Archie Stout, a cinematographer whose better work is logged outdoors, while Arthur Schmidt's clean editing and the familiar thematic scoring from the 1936 movie cap a satisfactory production that also is notable for its careful attention to continuity details.