The Lucky Texan (1934)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Robert N. Bradbury

Writers:

Robert N. Bradbury (story)
Robert N. Bradbury (screenplay)

Release Date:

22 January 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Western

Tagline:

Action all the way, a hundred thrills in a fight for GOLD and a GIRL!

Plot:

Jerry Mason (Wayne), a young Texan, and Jake Benson (Hayes), an old rancher, become partners and strike it rich with a gold mine...

Plot Keywords:

Gold | Trial | Blacksmith | Attempted Murder | Bank Robbery

Cast

John Wayne	...	Jerry Mason
Barbara Sheldon	...	Betty Benson
Lloyd Whitlock	...	Harris
George 'Gabby' Hayes	...	Jake 'Grandy' Benson (as George Hayes)
Yakima Canutt	...	Joe Cole
Eddie Parker	...	Al Miller (sheriff's son) (as Ed Parker)
Gordon De Main	...	Banker Williams (as Gordon Demaine)
Earl Dwire	...	Sheriff Miller

Also Known As:

Gold Strike River (USA) (alternative title)

Runtime:

55 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Kernville, California, USA

Company:

Lone Star Productions (I)

Trivia:

In October of 1996 when a fire broke out on a late Saturday afternoon in the New York studios of WNBC-TV, a station staffer quickly put a cassette of "Lucky Texan" in the tape player on his way out of the building. The film played on Ch. 4 uninterrupted twice, much to the confusion of viewers.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Blue Steel (1934)

That Gabby's a Drag

Unlike with most major film stars, John Wayne spent such a long apprenticeship in B westerns that you can't really put his pre-Stagecoach work with Stagecoach and beyond. It's like two different players altogether.

Bearing in mind that you can't apply the same standards of Lucky Texan with that of The Searchers, Lucky Texan was good Saturday afternoon matinée fair for the kiddies of 1934.

John Wayne and Gabby Hayes are partners in a blacksmith shop and they discover gold. Panning for it turns out to be quite profitable and they follow the advice of Walter Huston in Treasure of the Sierra Madre about not filing any claims. At least not too soon.

But the bad guys want to get their hands on the gold source and they dry gulch Gabby and they think they've killed him.

Unbeknownst to them, Gabby back in the day was an actor and did a turn in Charley's Aunt. Wayne and Gabby devise a plan to expose the villains and save the day.

Bear in mind that it was the lead in Charley's Aunt that Gabby played and you'll understand what Gabby does.

That bit put Lucky Texan a cut above the usual stuff John Wayne was doing before Stagecoach. It's still pretty amusing.