The Man from Texas (1948)

James Craig is Tobias Simms, an outlaw more commonly known as The El Paso Kid.

His wife Zee, the mother of their two children, begs him to go straight. She’s tired of facing the fear that the law will catch up with him.

Only when she threatens to leave him and take the children with her does Tobias take her fretting seriously.

He vows to go straight. He even plans to borrow — not steal — the money so they can get a fresh start in a new home.

So the Simms become Toby and Zee Heath and head to Blossom, Texas, where he opens a hay, grain and feed store.

But Toby soon finds money doesn’t flow as quickly when you’re a store owner. And while he can pay off his loan, he’s struggling to pay for the goods he’s used to stock his store.

So it’s back to the outlaw life, in spite of Zee’s objections.

Two things have changed. Marshal Gregg (Reed Hadley) has been assigned the task of bringing the El Paso Kid to justice.

And as the price on his head climbs, so does the likelihood that one of the Kid’s gang members will turn on him in order to collect the reward.

Review:

A light-hearted feature film from a studio known for its ultra-low budget Westerns, this movie suffers from an improbable ending.

And while Lynn Bari is the top-billed female, Una Merkel steals the show as the Widow Weeks.

She’s lost her husband. She’s had her nine children taken away. She’s about to lose her home.

Until Toby Heath intervenes on her behalf, lending her the money to pay back what she owes.

Of course, he has every intention of stealing it back as soon as the money is in the hands of a bank employee.

Merkel’s name might not be as familiar to Western fans as one of the scenes in which she appeared. She was Marlene Dietrich’s catfight partner in “Destry Rides Again (1939).” She started her film career as Lillian Gish’s stand-in in “The Wind” (1928).

Directed by:
Leigh Jason

Cast:
James Craig …. Tobias Simms / Toby Heath
Lynn Bari … Zee Simms / Zee Heath
Johnny Johnston … Billy Taylor
Una Merkel … Widow Weeks
Wallace Ford … Jed
Harry Davenport … “Pop” Hickey
Sara Allgood … Aunt Belle
Victor Cutler … Charlie Jackson
Reed Hadley … Marshal Gregg

Runtime: 71 min.

Memorable lines:

Zee, talking about leaving her husband: “I can’t take money from a man I don’t live with and respect, can I?”
Toby: “Lots of folks who are livin’ together don’t respect each other, and they get on fine.”

Toby: “Billy, I’m gonna get me a new stake.”
Billy: “Off a train?”
Toby: “No, off a bank.”
Billy: “A bank? That’s more dangerous, kid.”
Toby: “No, I got a new way to get money from a bank. I’m gonna borrow it.”
Billy: “Borrow it? That’s the new-fangled-ist idea I ever heard of.”

Toby: “You had a girl once, didn’t you?”
Billy: “Yeah, I had a girl once. A long time ago.”
Toby: “She was decent, wasn’t she?”
Billy: “I don’t know. I didn’t ask her.”

Zee to her husband: “I’d hate to have to change our name again. It’s so hard on the children. They keep losing track of who we are.”

Toby Heath, aka The El Paso Kid, to Marshal Gregg: “There’s no place I’d feel safer than in the middle or your posse.”

Harry Davenport as ‘Pop’ Hickey, the bank manager Tobias gets a loan from in The Man from Texas (1948)

King Donovan as bank employee Sam and Una Merkel as Widow Weeks, surprised by a bank customer in The Man from Texas (1948)