"Tex's personality always comes through in his early movies and this is no exception. He was a real guy. His songs were far better than Roy's or Gene's. They seemed more real somehow.
Charlie King, Yakima Canutt and Earle Dwyer are all here. Seeing the three of them in one close-up shot was a real treat. Those 3 guys alone must have been half of the B Western phenomenon. Tex gets to punch out Charlie again, Yak does a variation on his famous falling-between-the-horses stunt and Earle is the leader of the bad guys. Could you ask for anything more?
Rita shines even at 19 in this low-budget movie. Tex was obviously quite taken with her (look at his expression in one of the cantina scenes). She had more of a role than the typical female leads in these movies and does a pretty good job.
Here are a few lines from one of the songs where a cowboy has died and has to meet St. Peter:
...a cowboy's soul ain't white as snow
but in that distant cattle land
he sometimes acted like a man.
Redemption. It doesn't get any better than that. I would have given this 5 stars if there wasn't so much rodeo stuff.
Please, manufacturers, give us more EARLY Tex. They were more raw and better. In fact, give us more of the early stuff from all the six-gun heroes."
TROUBLEIN TEXAS/DANCING PIRATE
Jack Warren | Chesapeake, Virginia United States | 02/15/2003
(1 out of 5 stars)
"SAVE YOUR MONEY..PICTURE RECORDED IN EP FORMAT. SOUND AND PICTURE QUALITY POOREST ON DANCING PIRATE. TROUBLE IN TEXAS HAS
RODEO SCENES IN WHICH THE FILM DOES MORE BUCKING THAN THE BULLS.
VERY GOOD MOVIE [COMPROMISED] WITH POOR RECORDING BY MADACY MUSIC GROUP ST. LAURENT QUEBEC CANADA."
It doesn't have much action, but it does have Rita Hayworth
Daniel Jolley | Shelby, North Carolina USA | 02/07/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Tex really hit the jackpot in Trouble in Texas; he always had a pretty little filly to ride off into the sunset with, but this time around it was none other than Rita Hayworth (appearing under the name Rita Cansino), who was just on the brink of bona fide stardom in 1937. Trouble in Texas is far from Tex Ritter's most exciting film, but the Rita Hayworth factor makes it one of his more notable B-westerns.
Tex Masters (Ritter) and his typically goofy sidekick Lucky (Horace Murphy) have been traveling from one rodeo to the next in search of the rodeo bandits that killed Tex's brother. At the same time Tex is riding into Middleton, Texas, to sign up for the big event being staged there, Carmen Serano (Hayworth) is arriving as an accomplice to the racketeers, who are led by an hombre named Barker (Earl Dwire). What no one there knows is that Serano is a government agent sent to get the goods on the bad guys. As you might expect, Carmen takes quite a shine to a certain charming singing cowboy. The bad guys notice him, too, especially when he starts winning all of the big money events in the rodeo competition, and mark him for death. I won't tell you how they go about taking him out, but I have to say it's one of the oldest tricks in the book.
As far as the action goes, much of the rodeo action seems to be stock footage. Of the two fights Tex gets into, one of them actually takes place behind closed doors - which is sort of a gyp. There's less riding and shooting than usual in this western, as well. Then there's Lucky, who distinguishes himself as one of Tex's more annoying sidekicks. Tex is still Tex, though, and his singing (including Cowboy's Lament, Song of the Rodeo, and Down the Colorado Trail) along with Rita Hayworth's dancing make Trouble in Texas a B-western worth seeing.
Note: this review is of Trouble in Texas only. You may be reading this review under an item packaging a film called The Dancing Pirate alongside the film in question, but I can only comment on Trouble in Texas."
Rita Hayworth fans save your money
J. Lovins | 05/03/2003
(1 out of 5 stars)
"I watched the dancing pirates and couldn't even tell which dancer was Rita. How dare they even include that as being a movie of hers. Poor Poor quality."
"Tex Ritter Series ... Trouble in Texas (1937) ... Grand Nat
J. Lovins | Missouri-USA | 01/12/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Grand National Pictures presents "TROUBLE IN TEXAS" (6 March 1937) (65 mins/B&W) -- Tex Ritter was an American country singer and actor --- From his very first film in 1936 through some of his best loved singing Westerns of the mid '40s, he gave the American public some of the best B-Westerns of that era --- Ritter also worked on various radio programs --- In 1932, he starred on the WOR Radio show The Lone Star Rangers, which was New York's first broadcast western --- He sang songs and told tales of the Old West --- Ritter wrote and starred in Cowboy Tom's Roundup on WINS Radio in New York in 1933 --- This daily children's cowboy radio program aired over three stations on the East Coast for three years --- These shows marked the beginning of Ritter's popularity in radio, which paved the way for his upcoming singing career --- He also performed on the radio show WHN "Barndance" and sang on NBC Radio --- He appeared in several radio dramas, including CBS's "Bobby Benson's Adventures" and "Death Valley Days".
Ritter began recording for American Record Company (Columbia Records) in 1933 --- His first released recording was "Goodbye Ole Paint.", also recorded "Rye Whiskey" at that label. In 1935, he signed with Decca Records, where he recorded his first original recordings, "Sam Hall" and "Get Along Little Dogie."
In 1936, he moved to Los Angeles, California --- His motion picture debut was in "Song Of The Gringo" (1936) for Grand National Pictures --- He starred in twelve movies for Grand National, "B" grade Westerns, love that art deco "Grand National Pictures" animated clock logo at the start and finish of the movie --- Which included "Tex Rides with the Boy Scouts" (1937), and "Trouble In Texas" (1937) co-starring Rita Hayworth (then known as Rita Cansino). (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Under the production staff of:
Robert North Bradbury - Director
Edward F. Finney - Producer
Lindsley Parsons - Screen Story
Robert Emmett Tansey - Screenwriter
Gus Peterson - Cinematographer
Frank Sanucci - Musical Direction/Supervision / Composer (Music Score)
Fred Bain - Editor
Lou Brown - Costume Designer
Corson Jowett - Sound/Sound Designer
Al Lane - Production Manager
Our story line and plot, Tex Masters (Tex Ritter) is on the rodeo circuit looking for the men that killed his brother and he finds them in Middleton --- Barker (Earl Dwire) expects his man Squint Palmer (Yakima Canutt) to win the prize money but when Tex starts winning all the events, they put the poisoned needle in his halter rope, planning to have him mysteriously die just as the others did --- This oater is memorable for the stunts performed by the legendary Yakima Canutt, performing several dangerous stunts on the backs of a team of runaway horses and on the speeding wagon --- Having been a champion Rodeo rider in his youth, Canutt had no difficulty in the rodeo scenes in spite of the extensive usage of stock footage --- There isn't much tension or hard riding action and shooting as we were used to in Robert Bradbury's other 'Lone Star' films -- except for the spectacular stunt work of Yakima Canutt at the end when he leaps and fights Tex on the team of wagon horses, and later does his patented fall under the wagon, but this time pulling himself forward under it, climbing back up onto the top --- Undercover girl Rita Hayworth and singing cowboy Ritter are the main attractions --- Hayworth and Hank Worden have a couple of smooth dance numbers. Ritter's "Down the Colorado Trail" and "I'm Bound to Leave Ol' Texas Now" are highlights --- We get to hear Yak's sand papery voice, Charles King's badness, and Earl Dwire's villainy --- Tex's accent and his sweet sincerity ("Aw shucks, ma'am, I didn't do nothing',") add to the charm of this thirties piece of B-Western history.
the cast includes
Tex Ritter ... Tex Masters
White Flash ... Tex's horse
Rita Hayworth ... Carmen Serano (as Rita Cansino)
Yakima Canutt ... Henchman Squint Palmer
Charles King ... Henchman Pinto
Horace Murphy ... Sidekick Lucky
Earl Dwire ... Barker
Tex Cooper ... Rodeo Announcer (as Tom Cooper)
Hal Price ... Federal Officer
Glenn Strange ... Middleton Sheriff
Hank Worden ... Hank a Dancer
Jack C. Smith ... Banker Bix (as Jack Smith)
The Texas Tornadoes ... Musicians (as Tex Ritter's Tornadoes)
BIOS:
Tex Ritter (aka: Woodward Maurice Ritter)
Date of Birth: 12 January 1905 - Murvaul, Texas
Date of Death: 2 January 1974 - Nashville, Tennessee
TEX RITTER WESTERN DOUBLE FEATURE FROM VCI ENTERTAINMENT:
Vol 1: Marshal of Gunsmoke & Oklahoma Raiders (VCI #7204)
Vol.2: Arizona Days & Arizona Trail (VCI #7294)
Vol 3: Rollin' Plains & Song of the Gringo (VCI #7302)
CLASSIC WESTERNS - TEX RITTER FOUR FEATURE FROM VCI ENTERTAINMENT:
Marshal of Gunsmoke; Oklahoma Raiders; Arizona Days & Trouble In Texas
Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guidelines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc), Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") and Trevor Scott (Down Under DVD Com) as they have rekindled my interest once again for Film Noir, B-Westerns and Serials --- looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '30s & '40s and B-Westerns --- order your copy now from Amazon or VCI Entertainment where there are plenty of copies available on DVD --- stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with musical adventure --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out Amazon or VCI where they are experts in releasing B-Westerns --- all my heroes have been cowboys!
Total Time: 65 mins on DVD ~ Grand National Pictures ~ (7/27/2004)"