The Gallant Legion

Excellent all-around. One of Republic's A-budget productions. It remains probably the best film yet(1998) about the Texas Rangers, far more realistic and respectful than King Vidor's `The Texas Rangers' (1936). Elliot is impressive.

When power-hungry Faulkner and Laroux want to divide Texas into smaller sections, instead of allowing it to enter the Union as a single state, Gary Conway and the Texas Rangers must step in to thwart their chicanery.

The Gallant Legion is the kind of solid big budget western that John Wayne was making, and it's a surprise he didn't star here, however that is not too bad as we get B-western legend Wild Bill Elliott playing the hero- a Texas Ranger. It's action all the way, but augmented with a strong plot, an interesting depiction of politics and a really nasty villain, a crooked politician called Beau Leroux. He is played by Bruce Cabot, who is in cahoots with an equally slimy Senator Faulkner (Joseph Schildkraut). They want to partition Texas into separate states, hiving off West Texas as their personal domain, and they will stop at nothing to achieve this horrid aim.

It all climaxes in a Vasquez Rocks shoot-out involving a Gatling gun with which Bruce Cabot is planning to slaughter Comanches and lay the blame at the feet of the Rangers.

Another fine bigger budget western from Republic during the height of Wild Bill Elliott's career is Gallant Legion which has as its plot line a dastardly villain played by Bruce Cabot who wants nothing less than to carve out West Texas from the state and set up his own satrap with him as the big boss. During the Reconstruction period Cabot was head of the corrupt Texas State Police which displaced the Rangers. He wants back into power and will stop at nothing.

Two things you should be aware of when watching Gallant Legion. There has been some considerable revisionist history post the Civil Rights era about The Texas State Police which operated under Texas's carpetbagger government. They were not as bad as made out in histories written with a Southern bias and a lot of the objection stemmed from the fact that blacks were members of the State Police. You'll see nary a black face in this movie. But the villainy and corruption of the Texas State Police was an accepted view in 1948.

Secondly Texas is the only state in the union which if it so chooses can subdivide itself into I believe as many as six states. What Cabot is trying to do in Gallant Legion is set up West Texas as its own state and he's rather ruthless in trying to besmirch the Rangers effectiveness as a law enforcement agency. He's even willing to start an Indian War with the Commanches to swing public opinion his way.

Bill Elliott is his usual peaceable man character who wants to settle down and ranch with younger brother Harold Landon. What he doesn't know is Landon joined the State Police while he was away and is now part of Cabot's raiders who are causing general mayhem throughout the state. When Landon is killed Elliott joins the Rangers to find out who is behind all the lawlessness in which his brother died.

Gallant Legion boasts a fine cast including Joseph Schildkraut as a corrupt State Senator under Cabot's thumb, Adrian Booth as Schildkraut's niece who is a reporter, Adele Mara who sings a few songs in a saloon when Landon isn't courting her, Jack Holt as Captain of the Rangers, Andy Devine as the Ranger camp cook and comic relief and Grant Withers as the real life John Wesley Hardin.

Elliott was probably at his most heroic here, but Bruce Cabot has one of his career roles as an outstanding western villain. The scope of this man's evil is astounding.

I'm surprised Herbert J. Yates didn't save this one for John Wayne. Be that as it may Wild Bill Elliott got a film in what was one that definitely got away from the Duke.

Pretty fair Republic Western. Cabot makes a convincing baddie, along with a spunky Booth as the strong-minded gal, and of course Elliott as the good guy. It's a big cast with better than average acting, and a story that probably takes in more than it should. Cabot is conspiring with his paid-for senator (Schildkraut) to peel off west Texas from the rest of the republic so he can run it unopposed. Only the Texas Rangers stand in his way. Elliott joins up with the Rangers, even though his renegade brother is killed in a gunfight with them. After the head Ranger's (Holt) son is killed, he suspects Elliott as having evened the score because of his dead brother. Now Elliot has to clear himself by making Cabot confess to the real killer.

Add Booth's reporter-turned-Ranger, along with Adele Mara as a Spanish entertainer and Andy Devine as a rather overweight member of the force, and you've got a good-sized cast for a horse opera and a story line, to boot. I'm just sorry Elliott, a surprisingly fine actor, doesn't get a chance to do more. He had one of the best angry snarls in the business. There're some good action scenes and trademark Republic stunt work, but also typical studio cost-cutters like cheap exterior sets and clumsily done process shots. Also, there are darn few palm trees in west Texas, at least the last time I was there-- somebody should have caught that before the tropical plants went on screen. Anyway, it's an entertaining 90 minutes for sagebrush fans, but I'm afraid nothing more.