Texas Wildcats

Slick action, major subterfuge and romantic tension between McCoy and Barclay make Texas Wildcats an enjoyble film. The adventure begins when popular leading lady Joan Barclay as Molly Arden does her lady in distress act in order to meet the Phantom (Tim McCoy). The Phantom has to blend in fast with the town folk and becomes 'Lightning' Bill Carson. Ted Adams as Reno likes his style and hires him as his dealer. Sidekick Magpie (Ben Corbett) is part of the ruse when he declares Lightning a card cheat. Stage veteran Forrest Taylor as Jim Borrows owns most of the town and wants the ranch from Molly and brother Ed (Dave O'Brien). Some great scenes with McCoy and well known henchman Slim Whitaker. Slim plays a detective for the association but Carson gives him tell high noon tomorrow to get out of town. That creates a show down in the making and a shoot out at the ranch. Wildcats has some great western names and some great western action.

McCoy and his sidekick pursue a wealthy man, who eventually confesses responsibility for the death of McCoy's fellow Ranger, and who - during the movie - intimidates the locals, with the help of his son and cronies. Currently, a brother and sister are the main focus of the villain and his gang. Gold is probable on land that the siblings have partially paid Mr. Moneybags for. This makes him NOT want to complete the sale. To gather information about the bad guy, McCoy adopts the guise of a gambler and a miscreant, himself, known as The Phantom. In my opinion, most of these old, black-and-white westerns are pretty much the same - a few are real bad, and the vast majority are barely worth one's time and/or money. I think that Texas Wildcats is among the latter.

Them EYES!👀

Hard to beat ol' Tim McCoy!

Same ol' plot Crooked rich man cheats people to get richer. Good guy cowboy puts a stop to it.

Yep, same ol' worn out plot, but you gotta love it! Love these good old wholesome westerns.

Tim McCoy, a major western star during the silent era, was now reduced to appearing in films for such independent outfits as Victory Pictures Inc. Still in those southern and western red states, fellows like McCoy were not without their appeal even if they did appear in a low quality product.

Texas Wildcats finds McCoy as a Ranger gone undercover as the phantom bandit. A local father and son team have sowed just about everything up in a local town and McCoy in his outlaw activities seems to be targeting them. Nevertheless his Robin Hood reputation gains him the connection and the evidence he needs. That is of course after a lot of crimes are committed all around.

It seemed to me that McCoy crossed the line quite a bit here. Of course the fact the villain in question was responsible for the murder of a fellow Ranger before the action of this film started seems to have granted carte blanche to the Rangers to take him down. A good lawyer might just have him beat the rap.

Of course I don't think the Saturday afternoon matinée kids concerned themselves too much with due process. For them it was a lot of riding and shooting do bring some bad guys to justice.

And justice was what Tim McCoy was all about.

By the way, check that black hood he wore as the phantom.