Gary Conway is Tyler Duane, a young man on the trail of a band of Rebels his brother has joined.
Seems that brother feel in love with a gal from Atlanta, married her, then headed off with $30,000 in Union gold at the end of the Civil War.
Tyler has plenty of company on his journey: a newfound friend named Jeff Shelby (Jody McCrea), his preacher dad Sam Shelby (Chill Wills), a rowdy ranchwoman named Martha Jane Canary, a young gun raised by the Comanches named Morgan Coe (James Mitchum) and his lady love Lily Glendenning (Alana Ladd).
Oh, they’re being chased, too. Because even though he rescued Morgan from the Comanches and helped raise him, rancher Jesse Glendenning doesn’t consider the wild young man a suitable husband for his pretty daughter.
He wants her back and Morgan dead if necessary.
To complicate matters, everyone is riding smack dab into Apache territory.
Review:
The cast is more interesting than the film, which never quite capitalizes on the tension the plot should have created. Of course, when your top performance is turned in by Chill Wills as a reformed woman chaser turned philosopher/preacher … well, that isn’t good news.
Alana was the daughter of Alan Ladds; James was the oldest son of Robert Mitchum and Jody had appeared as a child in a couple of Westerns and a TV series with his dad, Joel McCrea. To say none of the three matches their fathers’ film success would be an understatement.
This marked Alana’s last film. Jody wound up being best known as an actor for the role of Deadhead/Bonehead in a series of Frankie Avalon/Annette Funicello beach films. James racked up the most screen credits, but fell well short of stardom.
Directed by:
Maury Dexter
Cast:
James Mitchum … Morgan Coe
Alana Ladd … Lily Glendenning
Jody McCrea … Jeff Shelby
Chill Wills … Preacher Sam Shelby
Gary Conway … Tyler Duane
Barbara Mansell … Martha Jane Canary
Robert Lowery … Jesse Glendenning
Troy Melton … Luke
Fred Krone … Pike
Alex Sharp … Red
Robert Hinkle … Sheriff simon
Will Wills … Charlie
Runtime: 78 min.
Title tune:
“Young Guns of Texas”
sung by: Kenny Miller
Memorable lines:
Preacher: “What are you doin’ here, boy?”
Morgan Coe: “Your sign said, ‘Everybody welcome.'”
Preacher: “A church picnic is like the kingdom of heaven. Everybody’s welcome. But you gotta qualify.”
Tyler Duane: “Why doesn’t somebody stop it.”
Jeff Shelby: “When two men fight, it’s a duel. Somebody tries to stop it, it becomes a war.”
Preacher to Jesse Glendenning: “When the good Lord decides one man’s gonna run this human race, he’s gonna come down here and do that job himself.”
Preacher to Lily:: “Honey, when your father owns something, he likes to see it stay owned. That goes for land and cattle. And daughters, too.”
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