The Lucky Texan (1934)

Jerry Mason, a young Texan, and Jake Benson, an old rancher, become partners and strike it rich with a gold mine. They then find their lives complicated by bad guys and a woman.

Director:

Robert N. Bradbury

Writer:

Robert N. Bradbury (story)

Stars:

John Wayne, Barbara Sheldon, Lloyd Whitlock

Cast

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

Storyline

When miners Mason and Benson turn in their gold at the assay office, the assay officials trail Benson back to the mine and shoot him. Mason is then arrested for the murder. But the supposedly dead Benson survived and now plans a surprise for the culprits at Mason's trial.

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Plot Keywords:

gold | trial | attempted murder | horse | blacksmith | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Romance | Western

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 January 1934 (USA)

Also Known As:

Gold Strike River

Filming Locations:

Kernville, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lone Star Productions (I), Monogram Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

55 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

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.

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Connections

Featured in Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch (1976)

User Reviews

The viewer should be so lucky.

Jerry Mason finishes college and goes back to live on the ranch of his father's best friend, Jake Benson. Mason and Benson soon find a rich vein of gold in a nearby creek and are able to secretly mine the gold and bring it in to the assay office of Harris and his partner Cole. Harris tries to figure out where Benson's mine is located, but the two won't disclose it at the moment. Harris figures out that the mine must be near Benson's ranch, so he tricks Benson into signing the deed over to Harris. After Benson is released from jail following his arrest for the attempted murder of the banker (actually done by the sheriff's son to pay off a gambling debt to Harris), Harris and Cole decide to strike, ambushing Benson in the desert and framing Mason for the crime, then trying to take over the ranch. Benson is able to make it back to his ranch and sends Betty (his visiting granddaughter) to Mason, where he devises a plan to capture the real crooks. The film is a letdown for Wayne with his only memorable scene being him riding down a log flume on a stick to capture Parker. Hayes is great here, first showing the Gabby/Windy characteristics that would make him a B western icon. Sheldon is terrible here and appears she won the role in a raffle, and is nearly as bad as the script and directing by Bradbury, who is unable to keep a constant flow in the movie. The subplot with the sheriff's son shooting the banker and Benson's arrest has nothing to do with the rest of the film and the ending best belongs in a Keystone Kops short rather than this film. Rating, based on B westerns, 3.