Night Stage to Galveston (1952)

Intro.
Another of Gene's last Westerns, Night Stage to Galveston also feels more like a longer verison of one of his TV episodes.  It's based on a little-known and interesting piece of Texas history.  After the Civil War, Texas legislation had tried to pass a bill for three companies of Rangers, but when funding failed, they instead put together a group of State Police.  As in most states, these State Police weren't trusted, leading to distrust among the residents.  This sets the stage for Gene's picture.

Overview
Gene is one of the now-retired Texas Rangers, along with his friend Pat Buttram.  They are working with Colonel Bellamy, who runs a newspaper with his daughter Ann.  The town's been getting pushed around by the local State Police, who pretty much throw anyone they don't like in jail on false charges.  When they kill a local rancher, Gene goes after them and shoots one of them in self-defense.  He and Pat take in the dead rancher's little girl Cathy (Judy Nugent), and take her back to the Colonel.  Gene, Pat and the Colonel come up with a plan to contact all of the old Rangers and have them gather as much proof of police corruption as possible.  It almost works until the State Police steal the affadivts, kidnap Ann and Cathy and beat up the Colonel.  It all culminates in a rip-roaring stagecoah hijacking by Gene and the re-establishment of the Rangers!

Highlights
As in most of his post-WWII films, there is less singing and more action.  The plot is better than some of his later work, and the feature songs in this picture are great.  Gene sings "Heart as Big as Texas" (one of my favorites!) and the theme of the movie, "Eyes of Texas" is a great, old Texas Ranger song.  If it sounds familiar, it could be because the song was also used in the TV series Tales of the Texas Rangers and later was rewritten a bit as the theme song for Walker, Texas Ranger.

The supporting cast is great in this film as well (outside of Pat Buttram's chauvinistic lines about a woman's place).  Colonel  Bellamy is well played, as is the character of Cathy.  Little Cathy (played by 12 year old Judy Nugent) is quite a scene-stealer and has a big part to play.  Aside from hiding several times and overhearing the police plotting, she is also kidnapped with Ann and escapes by climbing out of a chimney.  She gets Gene to come save Ann, then later on she saves the Colonel when he gets shot in the arm and ruptures his artery.  Finally, Gene's horse Champion shares top billing with Gene.  This film highlights what a beautiful horse he is during all of the great chase scenes.

Review
Gene's films usually lean towards comedy, singing or action.  This one is heavy on the action, but has some comedy and singing too.  If you can get past Pat's shenanigans, then I think you'll really appreciate this film.  It's good, solid entertainment and a fine example of the singing cowboy Western.

Want to read more?  Check out the Official Website of the Texas Rangers here.