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Very disappointing...

The Worst Film Ever

Just perfect...

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

I suppose just for the marquee value of the names of Mitchum, McCrea, and Ladd Young Guns Of Texas cast them in the leads. But it's not the people with those names you're familiar with. Young Guns Of Texas stars James Mitchum, Alana Ladd, and Jody McCrea and is set in post Civil War Texas where some former Confederates have robbed a payroll. What would have been an act of war now makes them outlaws. Mitchum and McCrea team up with Gary Conway who is another young gun looking for the payroll. But Mitchum mixes some pleasure in it when he also runs off with Alana Ladd daughter of the local rancher Robert Lowery who really doesn't like Mitchum. He sics his foreman on Mitchum, but Mitchum kills him. Now Lowery gets a posse going after the young guns. McCrea is the son of the local preacher Chill Wills who married the couple and Wills joins them.Did I forget to mention that the payroll robbers, the young guns, and the posse are all riding into Apache territory? Some honeymoon Mitchum and Ladd are going to have. No credit was reflected on those great movie names by their kids appearing in this western. Yes it's as dumb as I've described it.

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

Gary Conway is the real protagonist of this western, although the siblings of Joel McCrea, Robert Mitchum and Alan Ladd were given top credit. But James Mitchum had no charisma, and Alana Ladd was not a good actress, so the best parts of the film are carried out by Conway, Jody McCrea, and Chill Wills.The film starts well when Conway arrives in a town controlled by a nasty landowner. He is following a patrol of Southern rebels carrying stolen money. But then the attention turns to the romance of the landowner's daughter (Ladd) and a guy raised by Indians (Mitchum). As things get more complicated and the film demands higher production values, the budget betrays everybody's effort, making everything look really cheap.

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!