Reese Bennett (Neville Brand), Chad Cooper (Peter Brown) and Joe Riley (William Smith) are buddies and Texas Rangers.
Under the guidance of Capt. Edward Parmalee (Philip Carey), they try to keep the area around Laredo safe from bandits, bad guys and Indians.
Occasionally, they get a helping hand.
Like from Clendon MacMillan, a constable from New Hampshire with nine years experience who decides he wants to try out the tricks he’s learned out West.
Like from Cletus Grogan, who’s convinced he’s a jinx to anything he touches. Nevertheless, he joins the Rangers at the urging of Bennett.
Then there’s Willy Tinney (Michael Conrad), woking under cover as an outlaw in hopes of helping Parmalee and his men catch one of the area’s most notorious outlaw leaders.
That would be Linda Little Trees (Shelley Morrison), an Indian squaw who takes over her husband’s gang after he’s killed.
Her Achilles heel: She takes one look at a shirtless Joe Riley and decides he should be her new husband.
Neville Brand as Reese Bennett, leader of a trio of Texas Rangers serving under Capt. Parmaleee in Three Guns for Texas (1968)
Peter Brown as Chad Cooper, trying to figure out a loophole in the captain’s orders in Three for Texas (1968)
Review:
Three episodes of the Laredo TV series, cobbled together to create a full-length film.
And you’d better like your Westerns with board comic strokes, because that’s what served up here — lots of playful banter and silliness.
Between Linda’s Cherokee Love Song and Blue Dog’s elaborate plans to kill Riley for stealing Linda’s heart, the third part of the film is most likely to make you chuckle, or at least smile.
The Laredo TV series ran for two seasons on NBC from 1965 to 1967. Brand, Brown, Smith and Carey appeared in all 56 episodes.
Shelley Morrison, front and center here as Linda, appeared in just four. The series cast is also featured in another feature length film, called “Backtrack!” (1969).
William Smith as Joe Riley, the Ranger who turns Linda Little Trees’ head and winds up her captive in Three Guns for Texas (1968)
Philip Carey as Capt. Parmalee, trying to keep Texas Rangers Reese Bennett, Chad Cooper and Joe Riley in line in Three Guns to Texas (1968)
Directed by:
Earl Bellamy
David Lowell Rich
Paul Stanley
Cast:
Neville Brand … Reese Bennett
Peter Brown … Chad Cooper
William Smith … Joe Riley
Martin Milner … Constable Clendon MacMillan
Philip Carey … Capt. Edward A. Parmalee
Albert Salmi … Cletus Grogan
Cliff Osmond … Running Antelope
Michael Conrad … Willy G. Tinney
John Abbott … Banker Irwing
Richard Devon … Max
Ralph Manza … Blue Dog
Dub Taylor … Marshal Denny Moran
Shelley Morrison … Linda Little Trees
Runtime: 89 min.
Shelley Morrison as Linda Little Trees, becoming smitten with Ranger Joe Riley in Three Guns for Texas (1968)
Albert Salmi as Cletus Grogan, a new Ranger convinced he’s a jinx to all around him in Three Guns for Texas (1968)
Memorable lines:
Joe Riley, after Indians have raided a town and robbed the bank: “Did you get any of them?”
Marshal Moran: “Just the squaw. Got her locked up inside.”
Constable MacMillan: “Have you interrogated her?”
Marshal Moran, his eyes going wide: “I would never.”
Cletus Grogan, when Reese Bennett suggests he join the Texas Rangers: “Best thing I could do for the Rangers is joining up with outlaws.”
Joe Riley as Chad Cooper contemplates how to use Cletus Grogan if he really is a jinx: “Odds are, you’re not going to be able to point him like a gun, Chad.”
Blue Dog, watching the Rangers approach: “We wait’til they get a little bit closer, then kill them.”
Max: “How does that sound to you, boss lady?”
Linda Little Trees: “Dumb.”
Ralph Manza as Blue Dog, thinking about how he’d like to do away with Joe Riley for stealing Linda Little Trees’ heart in Three Guns for Texas (1968)
Cliff Osmond as Running Antelope, one of the Indian gang leaders the Rangers are trying to bring to justice in Three Guns for Texas (1968)
Blue Dog: “Now me gonna kill that Riley. Me gonna kill him little bit by little bit, old-time Indian way. Me gonna cut him up, put him on big ant hill. Tie him up rawhide, wet. When sun comes rawhide pull to pieces. Then me gonna shoot him. Just a little bit. Then tie him to horse, drag him all around. Then me gonna kill him real good. Give him piece of meat, with poison.”
Max: “That oughta just about do it, Blue Dog.”
Blue Dog: “Then me gonna hang him. On high tree. Then shoot him. Full of arrows. He be sorry he steal my woman.”
Tinney: “Little fellow sure talks a good killing, don’t he?”
Linda Little Trees: “You gonna cry lot some day, Joe Riley. You break my heart.”
Michael Conrad as WIlly G. Tinney, an undercover Ranger trying to learn the location of Linda Little Trees’ hideout by posing as an outlaw in Three Guns for Texas (1968)
Martin Milner as Clendon MacMillan, the constable from the East who wants to teach the Rangers a trick or two in Three Guns for Texas (1968)
Dub Taylor as Marshal Denny Moran, looking for help after Linda Little Trees’ gang hits his town in Three Guns for Texas (1968)
Linda Little Trees (Shelley Morrison) shows Joe Riley (William Smith) the room she figures they’ll share in Three Guns for Texas (1968)
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