Once Upon a Texas Train

A TV movie with big screen actors coming towards the end of, for some of them, illustrious careers. Richard Widmark for one. Willie Nelson as lead due more to his Country music status rather than acting skills. The glorious Jack Elam always worth the price of admission and Chuck Connors. Shaun Cassidy showing a skill with a degree of cheek and bravado that he could only of inherited from his magnifcent actor father Jack Cassidy. Storyline and setting in Arizona went down the road toward the great film to come in the 1990s, Tombstone. I am certainly racking up a lot of daytime westerns during this lockdown of 2020!

When I watched this movie I had no idea it followed the exploits of the characters of "The Over-the-Hill Gang", so that was a pleasant surprise, since I liked those two old corny TV movies.

This entry has some pretty good dialogue, at least in the first half. Then, unfortunately, the movie bogs down and kind of drags toward a silly ending. But what the heck. Can't expect "Gone With the Wind", can we? There are a lot of errors in the movie; geographic, anachronisms, that sort of thing. But I doubt that anyone watches a movie like this expecting to find a realistic portrayal of the Old West. At the very least, it beats the heck out of watching "reality" TV.

Written and directed by Burt Kennedy, Once Upon a Texas Train stars Willie Nelson, Richard Widmark, Shaun Cassidy and Chuck Connors. Music is by Arthur Rubinstein and cinematography Ken Lamkin.

A TV movie that Western fans can enjoy more for nostalgia value than anything bordering must see entertainment. Plot essentially has aged criminals led by Nelson's John Henry Lee, being pursued by aged law enforcers led by Widmark's Captain Oren Hayes. The passing of time a persistent theme as Kennedy throws in fun and sparky dialogue, narrative twists to make characters unlikely allies, while action flits in and out to off set the threat of impending boredom.

Made with love no doubt, and with the likes of Jack Elam and Royal Dano joining the Western roll call cast list, it's a passable Oater for lovers of such. 5/10

I found this 1987 movie now out on DVD to be very charming. Especially endearing were the initial descriptions of the players, markedly different from reality due to the passing of 20 years. I thought Willie Nelson did a credible job. He may be a little out of his comfort zone but his wry observations of a long lived and full life ring true. Richard Widmark's appearance as the Captain was a good casting fit. The man in charge of his unit but unsure and jealous about his wife's feelings for Willie Nelson's character. Self deprecating supporting actors whose special skills have been quite dulled by age.

A bit like watching the Airplane movies and those of their genre and enjoying the appearances of those actors of an earlier generation. Beautiful cinematography and landscape. An enjoyable diversion for a couple of hours.

A pleasant, tongue-planted-firmly-in-cheek western (with that Burt Kennedy touch) that gives up yet another adventure with some wonderful characters that were first introduced almost 20 years earlier. I speak of the ABC Movie-of-the-Week films "The Over-the-Hill Gang" and "The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again" (which was Fred Astaire's TV-film debut and ONLY western film--ever!) The character of Richard Widmark was earlier played by Pat O'Brien in the first film, with Chuck Connors taking over Walter Brennan's part and Jack Elam here "filling" in for Edgar Buchanan. Those earlier films (from 1969 & 1970 respectively) were light yet entertaining and this film does not fail in that genre. Some might argue that many of the actors are in their "golden years"--and that's to the viewer's advantage as you will soon realize that with age certainly comes style. Sit back, enjoy and find a smile creeping across your face as you discover that there ARE films out there that are made "like they used to be"!