Once Upon a Texas Train (1988)

Willie Nelson plays John Henry Lee, former leader of a gang captured during a botched train robbery.

Released from prison after 20 years, he has one goal — to rob a Texas train and renew an old game of cat and mouse with former Texas Ranger Oren Hayes (Richard Widmark) in the process.

So he robs a bank in Del Rio to get Hayes’ attention, then rounds up his old gang, including Fargo Parker (Gene Evans), Kelly Sutton (Ken Curtis of Gunsmoke fame) and dynamite man Nitro Jones (Royal Dano).

It gets Hayes’ attention alright. The two used to be friends. They fell in love with the same woman (Angie Dickinson as Maggie). Hayes argued for John Henry’s early release from prison.

Now he’s determined to put him back behind bars. So he summons old friends as well, including Nash Crawford (Chuck Connors), George Asque (Stuart Whitman) and tracker Jason Fitch (Jack Elam) and sets out on John Henry’s trail.

But time has played a trick on these bad guys and good guys.

The train no longer runs through the point where John Henry plans the holdup; the tracks were washed out years ago.

Soon, a new problem arises in the form of a bandit named Cotton (Shaun Cassidy) and his trio of young guns. They plan to rob John Henry of the freshly-stolen bank money.

John Henry figures they’ll also eventually have to kill him and his men to cover their tracks.

So when Hayes and his aging Texas Rangers show up, the aging outlaw figures joining forces might be the best plan of action.

Willie Nelson as John Henry Lee, scowling when Cotton and his gang show up in Once Upon a Texas Train (1988)

Richard Widmark as Capt. Oren Hayes, confronting Maggie about her feelings for John Henry in Once Upon a Texas Train (1988)

Review:

Burt Kennedy wrote, produced and directed this TV movie that gives several aging Western stars a chance to ride into the sunset one more time.

And it’s a fun ride, especially the long segment early in the film where we’re introduced to the two gangs, all of the members far removed from their prime.

The Angie Dickinson subplot seems forced; the ending involving her even more so.

But there’s a wonderful climax in which the Hayes’ Texas Rangers and John Henry’s gang of outlaws march down the street together, shoulder to shoulder, to confront the four young guns.

Jack Elam is a particular delight as famed tracker Jason Fitch. Since he doesn’t own a horse, he’s forced to borrow a bike to join up with Hayes. He keeps falling off.

Then, in the final gunfight, he tosses his spectacles aside just before the guns start blazing.

Shaun Cassidy as Cotton, planning to rob the thieves in Once Upon a Texas Train (1988)

Jack Elam as Jason Fitch, the tracker for Capt. Oren Hayes in Once Upon a Texas Train (1988)

Directed by:
Burt Kennedy

Cast:
Willie Nelson … John Henry Lee
Richard Widmark … Capt. Oren Hayes
Shaun Cassidy … Cotton
Chuck Connors … Nash Crawford
Ken Curtis … Kelly Sutton
Royal Dano … Nitro Jones
Jack Elam … Jason Fitch
Gene Evans … Fargo Parker
Kevin McCarthy … The governor
Dub Taylor … Charlie Lee
Stuart Whitman … George Asque
Angie Dickinson … Maggie
Jeb Stuart Adams … Billy Bates
Clare Carey … Meg Boley
Harry Carey Jr. … Herald Fitch
David Michael O’Neil … John Young

Runtime: 96 min.

aka:
Texas Guns

Angie Dickinson as Maggie, the gal who came between John Henry and Oren in Once Upon a Texas Train (1988)

Clare Carey as Meg Boley, catching Cotton’s eye in Once Upon a Texas Train (1988)

Memorable lines:

Warden, as John Henry walks out the prison gates: “I guess I’ll never get used to it. They’re brought in here ramrod straight, arrogant, ready to tackle the whole world. And they walk away broken-done old men, no where to go, nothing to do. And too wore out to do it even if there was.”
John Henry climbs into a buckboard and immediately starts talking about robbing a bank.

Governor: “Aren’t you a little old to be running around chasing outlaws?”
Capt. Oren Hayes of John Henry: “Well ain’t he a little old to be runnin’ ’round robbin’ banks?”

Jason Fitch: “Lead’s gonna fly. I can feel it in my bones. If I should catch one, boys, promise me you’re bury me where I fall.”
Nash Crawford: “And I’ll throw that damn bicycle in, right on top of you.”
Fitch: “You didn’t take your nap today, did you Nash?”

Cotton to John Henry: “If you’re rying to get on my good side, forget it. I haven’t got one.”

Chuck Connors as Nash Crawford, teaching gunfight lessons at an old-folks home in Once Upon a Texas Train (1988)

Stuart Whitman as George Asque, one of Oren Hayes’ men in Once Upon a Texas Train (1988)

Royal Dano as Nitro Jones, a member of John Henry’s gang in Once Upon a Texas Train (1988)

Ken Curtis as Kelly Sutton, a member of John Henry’s gang in Once Upon a Texas Train (1988)

Gene Evans as Fargo Parker, a member of John Henry’s gang in Once Upon a Texas Train (1988)

Dub Taylor as Charlie Lee, the wagon master for John Henry’s gang in Once Upon a Texas Train (1988)

Hank Worden as an old timer taking gunfight lessons from Nash Crawford in Once Upon a Texas Train (1988)

Willie Nelson as John Henry Lee, walking out of prison after 20 years in Once Upon a Texas Train (1988)