TWO GUYS FROM TEXAS

US, 1948, 86 minutes, Colour.
Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson, Dorothy Malone, Penny Edwards, Forrest Tucker, Fred Clark.
Directed by David Butler.

Two Guys From Texas is a pleasant, rather unassuming, musical comedy from 1948. It was directed by David Butler who directed many Warner Bros musicals of this period.

Dennis Morgan and Jack Carson were very popular at Warner Bros during the 1940s, appearing in all kinds of genres but capitalising on musicals and comedies. Dennis Morgan was the Bing Crosby, Dean Martin kind of straight man character, a singer who won the girls. Jack Carson was the equivalent of Bob Hope or Jerry Lewis – but his facial tics and mugging become a bit tedious.

The pair are in Texas, which boasts of being the biggest land in the United States – or beyond. They run out of gasoline and their car is stolen for a bank robbery and a robbery at a rodeo. In the meantime, they get a job at a ranch run by Dorothy Malone at her most charming. Penny Edwards is her friend, a former dancer with the duo and they all entertain at the ranch. Forrest Tucker has a good comedy role as a rather over-earnest sheriff. Fred Clark is the resident vet – who has to act as a psychiatrist for Jack Carson’s phobia of any animals.

There are the expected romances, falling out of love, misunderstandings, the rodeo and the robbery, our heroes catching the villains and being vindicated.

The screenplay has been co-written by I.A.L. Diamond, future collaborator with Billy Wilder on such films as Some Like It Hot. The music is by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn, prolific songwriters. However, their songs have not stood the test of time – though there is a romantic song, Hankerin’, and a comic song, I Want to be a Cowboy in the Movies.

The film seems rather dated today – but is a pleasant example of popular film-making from the late 1940s, Warner Bros style.