Eyes of Texas

After the only other living person in his family is killed fighting in Italy during World War 2, a wealthy old man by the name of "Thad Cameron" (Francis Ford) takes it upon himself to create a ranch for young boys whose fathers had been killed in the service of their country. Needless to say, when his attorney "Hattie Waters" (Nana Bryant) sends word that his nephew--who was thought to have been killed in action--was only wounded and is finally returning home, he is overcome with emotion. So much so that he immediately goes to Hattie's office to revise his will so that his nephew will get half of all his money while the boy's ranch will get the other half. Unfortunately, being the trustworthy person that he is, he signs a blank piece of paper at Hattie's request with the assurance that she will fill it out properly. Then, upon his way home, he is attacked and killed by a pack of vicious dogs owned by Hattie and unleashed by one of her accomplices named "Vic Rabin" (Roy Barcroft). Not knowing any better, everyone assumes that he was killed by a pack of wolves. Not only that, but they also believe that Thad's long-lost nephew is legitimate as well. Regardless, this strange incident around Thad's death raises the suspicions of certain law enforcement agencies and as a result they send one of their officers by the name of "Marshal Roy Rogers" (Roy Rogers) to investigate--and this is something that Hattie cannot allow. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that, having never heard of this film before, I was expecting nothing more than a typical, low-budget, grade-B picture that was quite common during this specific time. And while it certainly wasn't a premier movie by any means, it still turned out to be surprisingly good. Admittedly, it was quite dated and some of the acting wasn't as good as it could have been. But all things considered, I enjoyed this film for the most part and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

"Eyes of Texas" is more serious than most Roy Rogers movies, with less humor and singing than are found in most of his films, but it's a decent story with some real suspense, and worth watching.

In this one, Roy is a U.S. Marshall who faces a really dangerous opponent, a lawyer who is using violence, deception, and fear in an attempt to take over a family's inheritance, which would also involve shutting down a ranch that is serving as a home for orphaned boys. Roy must risk his life, his job, and his reputation in his attempt to shut down the lawyer's wicked schemes.

The movie also features Andy Devine as the town doctor, who has difficulty deciding whether or not to help Roy out on this one.

The story that follows is mostly convincing and interesting, although with a slightly different feel from many of Roy's movies. There's still plenty of Roy Rogers in it, enough to satisfy any of his fans.

The Eyes Of Texas has Roy Rogers as a US Marshal who uncovers a truly intricate plan involving a scheme to kill and rob Francis Ford of his ranch. Ford has made his ranch a boy's camp specifically for kids whose fathers were killed in World War II. But his sister Nana Bryant who is a lawyer has some other ideas about the property and the woman is quite ruthless in her methods.

Which include training a pack of dogs who've been killing cattle in and around the area for months before she springs them on Ford. Of course Roy does not believe the rumor that killer wolves have been raiding the local cattle.

Her chief henchman Roy Barcroft and Roy have a truly brutal fight scene where Andy Devine who's a doctor in this film rescues him. One of Roy's fancy western shirts was sacrificed for art. This fight scene was right on the edge and is comparable to the one that Humphrey Bogart and Tim Holt have with Barton MacLane in The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre which also came out in 1948. How it got through the censors is beyond me as Roy's films were marketed for the Saturday matinée kiddie trade.

Bryant who had a long career on screen mostly as good women, even playing nuns maybe has her career role in The Eyes Of Texas. I'd check this better than average Roy Rogers feature out just for her alone.

When the owner of a ranch for orphan boys is murdered by trained dogs and his will fraudulently changed to benefit a nephew no one has met, Marshal Roy Rogers attempts to the bottom of the mysterious death, ending up at odds with not just the killers, but the whole community as well.

This is a fairly interesting murder mystery, though the murderers are revealed to the audience immediately. It's kind of rare to see a Saturday matinée western where the main heavy is an old woman! The real question is who the mysterious heir is and why he wants his uncle dead (an easy guess).

There's also a surprising amount of sadistic violence this time around, with Roy getting beaten, dragged behind a horse, and bull-whipped. Meanwhile, the dogs are mauling people and Roy even punches out Cookie Bullfincher!

A movie, obviously intended for the 10-year-olds at the kids' matinees, that looks as though it was written by a 10-year-old. (I guess there were still kids' matinees in 1948. I hadn't been to one in about 11 years.)

The film depicts post-WW-II Texas (from the title, not from anything within the movie itself) in 1947 as the same as in the 1870's, with everyone wearing cowboy suits - popular with 10-year-olds - riding around on horses or buckboards, wearing guns, and engaging in shootouts on the streets, with no official accounting for the bodies. The estate settlement is inexplicably turned over to 'the insurance company', and although all the money has officially been stolen by the fake will, the crooks appeal to the townsfolk to throw the bad Government man out and 'save the children'! (How a petition from the people will accomplish this isn't clear.) In the end, all the crooks, who are the only ones who know of and can testify to the facts in the conspiracy, are dead, and the 'happy ending' leaves all the legal entanglements up in the air.

If they had thrown out the wooden-sided Ford station wagon and the telephone, made the boys Civil War orphans, and assigned the estate settlement to a court instead of the insurance company, the film would almost pass for logical by Western flick standards.

The only things close to a redeeming value in this picture are a couple of pretty good songs by the Sons of the Pioneers.

The only reason this turkey doesn't make my list of 'The Ten Worst Films of All Time' (which currently contains about 35 titles) is that as a Cowboy flick, it isn't expected to be good.