Return of the Texan (1952)

During the 1950s, after many years in Kansas City, widower Sam Crockett, his 2 children and his grandpa return to their abandoned family farm in Texas and face many difficulties.

Director:

Delmer Daves

Writers:

Fred Gipson (novel), Dudley Nichols

Stars:

Dale Robertson, Joanne Dru, Walter Brennan

Cast

Cast overview:
Dale Robertson	...	Sam Crockett
Joanne Dru	...	Ann Marshall
Walter Brennan	...	Grandpa Firth Crockett
Richard Boone	...	Rod Murray
Tom Tully	...	Stud Spiller
Robert Horton	...	Dr. Jim Harris
Helen Westcott	...	Averill Murray
Lonnie Thomas	...	Yo-Yo Crockett
Dennis Ross	...	Steve Crockett

Storyline

A young widower named Sam Crockett returns from Kansas City to his small hometown in rural Texas, bringing with him his feisty grandfather and two young sons, Steve and Yoyo. He tries to make a go of the old family homestead but faces financial problems and pressures from his well-to-do neighbor, Rod Marshall. He also begins an on-again-off-again romance with Rod's sister-in-law, even though she's engaged to wed the town's doctor. Events come to head when Sam's grandfather suffers a stroke.

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Plot Keywords:

grandfather | widower | texas | doctor | rural texas | 

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Taglines:

ADVENTURE BIG AS TODAY'S GREAT SOUTHWEST! (original print media ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Western

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Certificate:

Unrated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dale Robertson takes his shirt off in this movie.

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Soundtracks

Don't Fence Me In
(uncredited)
Written by Cole Porter

User Reviews

Somber and Subdued and most eloquent

Return Of The Texan stars Dale Robertson a young widower returning with his two young sons and his grandfather Walter Brennan to the small town in Texas they came from. The property is a small and rundown farm that's going to need a lot of work.

Which comes in the form of a job of building a fence for his next door neighbor Richard Boone. Boone was once white trash like Robertson but he was fortunate enough to marry the boss's daughter and then inherit half the ranch with his sister-in-law Joanne Dru. As Dru tells Robertson the last thing Boone wants to be reminded of is his humble origins and he doesn't want Robertson courting Dru. He much prefer she marry nice respectable doctor Robert Horton.

Robertson who can be quite garrulous at times is somber and subdued and very much in a shell in this role. But the real star of this film is Brennan. He's at his most cantankerous and at the same time quite sublime. His final scene with his two grandsons is one of the eloquent and yet simple scenes he ever did in his long career.

This easy B film from 20th Century Fox holds up well as good family entertainment.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 June 1952 (UK)

Also Known As:

En äkta texasgrabb

Filming Locations:

Springerville, Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1