Once Upon a Texas Train (1988)

An outlaw and a Texas Ranger Captain have a life-long personal feud, but twenty years later, with old-age settling in, they must put their differences aside in order to face the latest Texas problem, the youngest generation of outlaws.

Director:

Burt Kennedy

Writer:

Burt Kennedy

Stars:

Willie Nelson, Richard Widmark, Shaun Cassidy

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Willie Nelson	...	John Henry Lee
Richard Widmark	...	Captain Owen Hayes
Shaun Cassidy	...	Cotton
Chuck Connors	...	Nash Crawford
Ken Curtis	...	Kelly Sutton
Royal Dano	...	Nitro Jones
Jack Elam	...	Jason Fitch
Gene Evans	...	Fargo Parker
Kevin McCarthy	...	The Govenor
Dub Taylor	...	Charlie Lee
Stuart Whitman	...	George Asque
Angie Dickinson	...	Maggie
Jeb Stuart Adams	...	Billy Bates
Clare Carey	...	Meg Boley
Harry Carey Jr.	...	Herald Fitch (as Harry Carey)

Storyline

Captain Hayes of the Texas Rangers reached the pinnacle of his career when he captured the notorious John Henry, an outlaw cowboy, and put him behind bars. Twenty years later, upon his release, Henry is older, but unrepentant. Within six hours after leaving his jail cell, he evens the score with Hayes by holding up the Bank of Texas for twenty thousand dollars in gold. Hayes, in his fury, gets himself out of retirement to take up the chase once more.

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Plot Keywords:

texas | outlaw | texas ranger | bank | cowboy | 

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Taglines:

Some men took money ... Some men took lives ... These men took both.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Romance | Western

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 January 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Texas Guns

Filming Locations:

Thousand Oaks, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Robert Papazian Productions,Brigade Productions,Rastar Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is a remake of "The Over-the-Hill Gang." It is pretty well done. Willie Nelson got the lead and he's got some nice pearls of wisdom. Richard Widmark is kinda blind to the long term. His goal is solely to put Willie back in prison. Depending on your point of view, either one can be rated as better than the other. Unfortunately, Jack Elam didn't get to do any of his usual scene stealing.

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Goofs

Texas never had a "territorial prison" because Texas was never a territory. Unlike nearly every other state, Texas was an independent sovereign republic, and became part of the United States of America after a treaty was negotiated between the two nations (i.e., the Republic of Texas and the United States of America).

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Quotes

[first lines]
Captain Owen Hayes: Put the gun down John Henry.

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Connections

Follows The Over-the-Hill Gang (1969)

User Reviews

Will That John Henry Lee Ever Reform?

Director Burt Kennedy took the same foursome of Texas Rangers from the Over The Hill Gang of 1969 and now has given them a new quest. Captain Richard Widmark is on the trail of Willie Nelson, an old war buddy from the Confederate Army and now a bank robber, who's back to his old tricks again. Only this time some young guns led by former teen bubble gum idol Shaun Cassidy have stolen the loot that Nelson and his gang had stolen from the gang in Del Rio.

Widmark and his cronies, Chuck Connors, Jack Elam, and Stuart Whitman turn out to have a lot more in common with the old outlaws, Nelson, Dub Taylor, Ken Curtis, Royal Dano, and Gene Evans than they think.

This group of old character actors were what made the movies so enjoyable back then. They had faces and identities you couldn't miss. We should all thank Burt Kennedy for assembling this whole crew for a last roundup.

As Willie Nelson says they may be old, but they are professionals and that's what counts when the chips are down.

There's a romantic subplot here. Widmark has always suspected his wife Angie Dickinson of having a yen for Nelson back in the day. That's a good deal of the reason he's pursuing Nelson with such vehemence.

It's a treat to see all these old timers again and the film is worth seeing just to see Jack Elam trade in his horse for a bicycle to keep up with the times.