Tonight's Movie: The Texas Rangers (1936) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

THE TEXAS RANGERS (1936), directed by King Vidor and starring Fred MacMurray, has just been released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber.

Vidor also produced and teamed with Elizabeth Hill to cowrite the story; Louis Stevens wrote the screenplay of this 98-minute film. The story was inspired by a book by Walter Prescott Webb.

I'll add off the top that this film is not connected with the 1951 George Montgomery film of the same title, although Montgomery plays a character not too dissimilar from MacMurray's.

In this 1936 film MacMurray, Jack Oakie, and Lloyd Nolan play a trio of outlaws on the Texas frontier; MacMurray and Oakie are separated from Nolan when escaping a posse. Broke and hungry, the two men sign on with the Texas Rangers -- three meals a day! -- thinking their criminal careers will benefit from insider information.

Instead the men are changed by their new jobs -- and in the case of MacMurray, the love of sweet and spunky Jean Parker -- and decide to stick with law enforcement.

However, they haven't counted on being assigned to go after their old pal Nolan...

It's hard to believe I first saw this film 17 years ago this summer, in August of 2009. I thought it would be worthwhile to revisit this film, especially in the light of so many Westerns seen in the intervening years, and was glad to see it again.

When I reviewed it on DVD back then I found it "entertaining," if "a bit pokey," and that's pretty much where I landed this time; I do think I enjoyed it incrementally more now due to the fine Blu-ray print and having developed a greater appreciation for both Jack Oakie and Lloyd Nolan. It's a solid film which was worth a fresh look.

MacMurray is fine as the conflicted Texas Ranger, if a bit dour; it's a relief when his character shows a more lighthearted side in his interactions with Parker.

I particularly appreciated MacMurray's scenes with Nolan near the end, especially a moment where MacMurray tries to warn Nolan off to prevent future conflict. Nolan coming to MacMurray's rescue in a dicey situation is charismatically played, as only Nolan could do, and similarly Nolan's betrayal of an old friend is quite shocking.

Charming Parker livens things up as MacMurray's forthright love interest, and I only wish she'd had a bit more to do, especially as she helps MacMurray's character evolution.

The supporting cast includes Edward Ellis, George "Gabby" Hayes, Bennie Bartlett, and Fred Kohler Sr.

The film has more enthusiastic advocates, but I find it fairly average, though in the context of when it was made, in the pre-STAGECOACH (1939) era, it's polished and has good production values. The location shooting in New Mexico, with sweeping views of some impressive action set pieces, is a real plus.

THE TEXAS RANGERS was filmed in black and white by Edward Cronjager, shown to best advantage in Kino Lorber's outstanding Blu-ray print. It's a 4K restoration by Universal Pictures in collaboration with the Film Foundation, using 35mm nitrate fine grain material. This is definitely the way to see this movie; the excellent visuals really added to my overall enjoyment. I was impressed.

Disc extras consist of two commentary tracks, one by Toby Roan and the other by Heath Holland and Max Allan Collins. Also included are the trailer and a gallery of five additional trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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