Deux gars du Texas

Two stumbling tenderfoots get stranded in big state Texas, where they meet up with a sheriff even bigger than they are, and luckily, meet two extra-pretty gals who furnish-- surprise, surprise-- romantic subplots.

Great Technicolor. The producers go out of their way to lavish on the carnival colors. But why can't big studio Warner Bros. do better rear projection, especially with Carson on a bucking bronco. Too bad since the production is otherwise fairly polished. So, how long will it take our two eastern tenderfoots (Morgan & Carson) to learn sprawling Texas ways. Bragging about the state's bigness flies about as fast and furious as Carson's patented mugging. It's all in good humor, of course, even the swipe at a gangster-type plot. But what about those two Texas gals. Wow, I'm heading for Dallas right away. Maybe there're Dorothy Malone and Penny Edwards look-alikes still there. I'm especially impressed with the sparkling Edwards. Looks like she could qualify for A-picture, Betty Hutton-type roles. Then too, the script works in some humorous running gags, one of which really pays off for Carson in the end. It all adds up to a highly entertaining comedy-musical of the sort they unhappily don't make anymore.

Warner Brothers answer to Crosby and Hope, Dennis Morgan and Jack Carson, star in Two Guys From Texas as a comedy team traveling through the Lone Star State when their car runs out of gas. A kind pair gives them a lift to Dorothy Malone's dude ranch and the boys are grateful. Of course that abandoned car out of gas later figures in some nefarious schemes.

Carson who enlivened many a Warner Brothers film in the 40s with his comic blowhard character is a man most afraid of anything that walks on four legs. Kind of ridiculous if you ask me, but Carson pulls off the Hope like gag.

And just like Crosby would want to cure his pal, Morgan seeks the help of visiting guest Dr. Fred Clark. All this leads to complications with Malone and another entertainer at the ranch Penny Edwards and the local sheriff Forrest Tucker. Not a good idea to make even a romantic rival of the sheriff.

Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn wrote the unmemorable but serviceable score which yielded no song hits for Morgan. For a man afraid of animals some of Carson's transformation is both miraculous and hysterical.

Like Bing and Bob, Dennis Morgan and Jack Carson both had considerable separate careers of their own. But their teaming yielded more than a few good laughs.

Steve (Dennis Morgan) and Danny (Jack Carson) are northern boys who end up in Texas. Their car breaks down and then gets stolen...and they are stranded. Fortunately, a combination ranch/night club (??) is nearby and they get jobs. Soon they start trying to woo the same lady...and this is interrupted by some crooks committing a robbery and everything thinks Steve and Danny did it...so they get locked up in jail. So they did what anyone in Hollywood would do...they break out and prove their innocence!

In so many ways, this follow-up film to "Two Guys from Milwaukee" plays like a Bob Hope-Bing Crosby Road Picture. You have the guys vying for the same lady, you have them get into mischief and you have a lot of singing....but none of it quite as good as Hope- Crosby. Worth seeing, but pretty much in the category of 'Time Passer' for me.

By the way, get a load of the awful rear projection used in the bucking bronco sequence...yecch!

The duo of Morgan and Carson has always been full of fun and laughs, perhaps because the two gentlemen were such good friends in real life. But I did notice that a good deal of the plot structure and character development were cribbed from another Warner Brothers musical, A Cowboy From Brooklyn. This isn't to say that the film isn't a delight, because it is. It's just that in the late 1940's Warner Brothers started the process of cannibalizing its own material. They'd turn ordinary comedies into musicals and very often the star of the show would be none other than Dennis Morgan himself. All I can say about Two Guys From Texas is sit back, relax and prepare to enjoy yourself for the next ninety minutes or so!

Steve Carroll (Dennis Morgan) and Danny Foster (Jack Carson) are a couple of song and dance men who get stranded in Texas when they run out of gas. They reconnect with their friend Maggie Reed (Penny Edwards). Danny has a debilitating fear of animals. Steve courts Joan Winston (Dorothy Malone).

This apparently is an attempt to copy Crosby and Hope. The guys are no Crosby and Hope. I wasn't going to watch this but I really wanted to see the animated section. The comedy is broad. The animal fear is stupid and not that funny. The songs are not catchy although some are somewhat fun. As for the animated section, Bugs makes a surprise cameo. For that alone, I'm willing to sit through the rest of this movie.