Texas (DVD)

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There is a conflict of interests between the villains and the society. The villains are stronger than the society; the society is weak.

When it looks nearly impossible for the ranchers to get a herd past the mysterious rustlers, Lashan offers to put together a massive cattle drive to Abeline and say's he'll pay them two dollars a head for their cattle. Of course they balk, because the East hasn't had beef for four years, and the market price is way up. But just as they're ready to cave in, Tod stands up and talks them into trusting him to take their cows to market, where he can get 18 dollars a head.

While Tod is rising to a leadershp position, so is Danny, who's suddenly challenging Lashan's authority and pitching a new scam to Lashan's men, one that will pay each of them more. "Why should we take all the risk and he takes all the profits?" Lashan asks.

There is a strong friendship or respect between the hero and a villain.

Though Danny ended up with the wrong crowd, and though they're both after the same woman—Mike—their fondness for each other never wavers. It's interesting that "Texas" explores the sociology of the western hero, the way that Mark Twain suggested, in "The Prince and the Pauper," that circumstances can play a major role in shaping individuals. At times, Danny and Tod are two sides of the western hero, while at other times they are classic hero and villain.

The villain threatens the society. The hero avoids involvement in the conflict. The villains endanger a friend of the hero's.The hero fights the villains; the hero defeats the villains.
The society is safe. The society accepts the hero. The hero loses or gives up his special status.

Now, a reviewer isn't supposed to give away the ending of a film, but hey, this is a formula western. Everyone knows how they end, even before the title sequence gets rolling. The surprise is that "Texas" maintains it's sense of humor—at one point, Danny plunks a spanking-new saddle down on Mike's doorstep and knocks, and she rushes out the door, trips over the saddle, and falls flat on her face—while also moving on its course with formula western destiny. Some good people and friends of the hero will die, that's one of the tropes. You know it's going to happen, and it does. There are also cattle stampedes (though there's a fun twist on this one too), bushwhackings, bar fights, and showdowns. But what makes "Texas" a treat-and-a-half is that there are also odd period scenes, like a prize fight where Danny takes on a professional boxer to try to get them a stake, or a community sing-along with pump-organ. It's an enjoyable romp of a western, from start to finish.

Video: The box proclaims that this is "remastered in High Definition," and for the most part the picture is really sharp and clear, with sufficient contrast. There are some scenes where there are flickers from dirt, so bear in mind that "remastered" and "restored" are two different things. For one scene there's a thin vertical line across the picture. But again, for a 1941 black-and-white film, the quality is excellent, and (again, no surprise) it's presented in 1.33:1 ratio, as was typical of films of the period.

Audio: Nothing fancy here, pardners, just Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono. But what were you expecting for a 1941 black-and-white western? The good news is that there's no hiss, snap, crackle, or pop. The sound is unspectacular, but solid.

Extras: There are no extras.

Bottom Line: "Texas" is a real sleeper of a western. How did a film this good become so obscure and invisible? The only thing I can think of is that 1941 was also the year that Raoul Walsh tabbed Errol Flynn (a hot property, after his swashbucklers) to star as Gen. Custer in "They Died with Their Boots On," and that same year the biggest grossing film featured Gary Cooper (another hot property) in a Cecil B. DeMille directed epic about the "North West Mounted Police." So how can two tenderfeet compete?

Then too, humor often goes unappreciated, and "Texas" dares to combine the western formula action picture with moments of comedy. That alone may have punched it's ticket to obscurity. But now that Sony has released it on DVD, it will be interesting to see whether a whole new generation of movie-lovers will embrace it with "Stagecoach," "Red River," and "They Died with Their Boots On" as a classic. I believe it deserves that consideration, because it's one of the first westerns to attempt to lighten the load besides using the usual goofball sidekick.

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