The Twins from Texas (1964)

In post-Civil War Texas, Indians attack a wagon train carrying a pair of twin baby boys.

No sooner have the Indians gained control of the wagon train, than bandits under an outlaw named Malanza intervene.

And no sooner have they commandeered the wagons than a cavalry troop charges onto the scene.

By the time the dust settlers, one baby from each set of twins is being raised by the bandit Malanza.

Another from each set is being raised by the commander of that cavalry troop.

The latter pair, Ezechiel (Walter Chiari) and Jonathan (Raimondo Vianello) become newspaper men in love with beautiful young members of the local temperance union.

Their goal: Shutting down the saloon run by a man named Arnold. And Arnold surprises everyone by agreeing to sell the saloon.

That’s if the temperance union can meet his asking price and if the brothers take out $200,000 insurance policies to make sure the debt is paid off even if something happens to them.

Arnold, of course, intends to make sure something happens to them by calling on the now wheelchair-bound Malanza for help.

And having attempted to groom his young sons into his image — meaning turning them into vicious killers — Malanza dispatches his set of “twins” to do away with the first set.

Good twins Jonathan (Raimondo Vianello) and Ezechial (Walter Chiari) negotiate with a saloon owner in The Twins from Texas (1964)

Bad twins The Kid (Raimondo Vianello) and Joe (Walter Chiari) prepare for their first dirty deed in The Twins from Texas (1964)

Review:

It’s the old case of mistaken identities multiplied by two and the result is a decent comedy Western, certainly better than most of the comedy Spaghetti efforts that would surface a decade later.

At one point, the temperance union gives the money its raised to the wrong set of twins, landing the good twins in jail, much to the dismay of their lady loves.

At another, the wrong set of twins barge into the dressing room occupied by those lady loves. And they’re much more aggressive than the real boyfriends.

It helps that the “evil” twins are hardly evil. In fact, they’re a major disappointment to their outlaw dad in that regard.

And, of course, it all comes to a climax when its time for a final showdown. And both sets of twins march down the street, ready to pull six-shooters on their mirror images.

The love interests are played by Diana Lorys and Marta May, most often credited on promotional materials for this film under her given named of María Jesús Mayor.

Alfonso Rojas as Malanza, the bandit who tries to raise one set of twins as killers in The Twins of Texas (1964)

Miguel Del Castillo as Arnold, the saloon owner plotting the good twins’ demise in The Twins from Texas (1964)

Directed by:
Stefano Vanzina
as Steno

Cast:
Walter Chiari … Ezechiel / Joe
Raimondo Vianello … Jonathan / Kid
Diana Lorys … Fanny
Alfonso Rojas … Malanza
Miguel Del Castillo … Arnold
Liana Del Balzo … Madre di Malanza
Carmen Esbrí … Dominique
Marta May … Betty

Also with … Bruno Scipioni, Carmen Esbri, Tito Garcia, Guillermo Mendez, Joaquin Pamplona, Franca Polesello, Umberto Raho, Josefina Seeratosa

Runtime: 91 min.

aka:
I gemelli del Texas

Music: Gianni Ferrio

Diana Lorys as Fanny, demanding changes with her temperance union friends in The Twins from Texas (1964)

Marta May as Betty, trying to coax Jonathan (Raimondo Vianello) into being a bit less shy in The Twins from Texas (1964)

Memorable lines:

Sorry, I watched a foreign language version of this film.

Trivia:

* The same team of Chiara and Vianello had just made another comedy Western with director Steno — “Heroes of the West,” released in 1963 with Silvia Solar as the female lead.

* The comedy team also appeared together in three other light-hearted Westerns, “The Magnificent Three” (1961) and “The Terrible Sheriff” (1962).

* Chiara spoke excellent English and starred in “The Gay Life” on Broadway in 1961. He was arrested for cocaine possession in 1970, spent 70 days in prison and never regained his previous popularity.

Carmen Espri as Dominique, treating the saloon crowd to a saucy song and dance in The Twins from Texas (1964)

Walter Chiari as Ezechial and Joe and Raimondo Vianello as Jonathan and The Kid, spooked by strange mirror images in The Twins from Texas (1964)

Diana Lorys as Fanny and Marta May as Betty, expressing their views during a temperance union meeting in The Twins from Texas (1964)

Carmen Esbri as Dominique and Miguel del Castillo as Arnold, plotting the demise of newly insured twins in The Twins from Texas (1964)