It's 1866, Abilene, Kansas and we are in the company of Dan Thomas {William Holden}and Tod Ramsey {Glen Ford}, two pals who served in the Confederacy together. They want to get to Texas to earn their living but have no cash ready to hand. But a lifeline is thrown by way of a stagecoach robbery they witness as they decide to relieve the robbers of their ill gotten gains. This puts the friends in serious peril so they agree to split up and head in different directions. Finally meeting up some time down the line in town, both men are operating from different social standings. And both men have fallen for the same gal, Mike King {Claire Trevor}. So along with the arrival in town of shady railroad magnate Windy Miller {George Bancroft}and the crooked dealings of dentist Buford Ford {Edgar Buchanan}starting to influence matters; the boys will do well to come out of it all still as friends.

Texas is directed by George Marshall {with Norman Deming assisting}and the three writing credits go to Michael Blankfort, Lewis Meltzer & Horace McCoy. It's a briskly paced black & white action Western that's not short on laughs either. In Holden and Ford it showcases two Hollywood big hitters in their fresh faced early days, with Holden pretty much unrecognisable. From a quite hilarious pugilist rules boxing match in the first quarter, to the number of machismo exchanges that drop in from time time, it's one of those film's that's hard to criticise. So I'm not going too. A small bother comes with the ending being rushed a touch, but even that is in keeping with how Marshall has directed it. So really it's a hearty recommend to anyone after some early 40s Oater enjoyment. Undemanding for sure, but executed with gusto and no little amount of class. 6.5/10

Other reviewers have spoken of the pleasures of seeing William Holden and Glenn Ford at age 23, both so young as to be almost unrecognizable; and Claire Trevor, too and Edgar Buchanan as a dentist -- he was one in real life, before he turned to acting.

But I think a lot of credit is due to the director, George Marshall. Today, almost the only Marshall movie anyone knows is the justly famous 1939 version of DESTRY RIDES AGAIN. But he was primarily a comedy director, back to the 1920s when he directed Fox Sunshine comedies, to the 1930s, when he worked at Roach on Laurel and Hardy, through the early 1970s. And this movie was directed during his peak period and it shows it. The comedy sequences are wonderfully directed, especially the boxing match.

So, while you're enjoying the acting, remember that the funny broad comedy comes from the mind of the director.

William Holden and Glenn Ford were soon to become stars at Columbia. However, in 1941 they were still on their way towards stardom and as a result were begin given films that were okay but far from the better ones the studio was producing. So, this film is longer and with a slightly better cast than the huge crops of Bs the studio was churning out....but also not among their better films, that's for sure. The biggest problem is that the film doesn't seem to have much of a plot for almost half the film. Instead, it's played almost as a comedy or a buddy picture. It sure could have used a much tighter script and most of the first portion of the film removed or significantly trimmed. For example, there is a comic boxing sequence that went on and on and on but had absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the film! Following the unnecessary boxing scene and the first 25 minutes or so, the actual plot begins. Out of work Holden and Ford are friends headed to Texas after the end of the Civil War. They stumble upon a robbery of a stage coach and decide to then rob the crooks! But, the Sheriff and his posse incorrectly assume Ford and Holden committed the original robbery. Only due to the intervention of the Doc (Edgar Buchanan) did Holden avoid a hanging. Later, however, he would join up with the gang of robbers. As for Ford, after he made his getaway from the posse, he fell in with a female rancher (Claire Trevor) and her outfit--and becomes an upstanding citizen in the community. Now the two lifelong friends are on a collision course--as sooner or later they are bound to have a showdown. Unfortunately, this ultimate collision course is pretty much exactly as I'd anticipated. Overall, this is only an adequate western--even with the two future stars in the lead. Unless you are a HUGE fan of the genre, this one is easy to skip.