No need to spend much time deconstructing "Texas Terror." This was the depths of the Great Depression and John Wayne was lucky to find any work at all, even at Monogram. These things were turned out with blinding speed. I think there may have been a two-year period in which Wayne starred in eight of these poverty-row features.
He isn't really "John Wayne" yet. He's tall, handsome, slender, slow, and graceful but doesn't project the indomitable and bulky masculinity of his later years. And he hasn't yet learned to reserve his strength. He throws his lines out as if proud to have memorized them.
The girl in the picture seems to have less talent than Wayne. The smoothest performance is from George Hayes who hadn't become the caricature of "Gabby". He seems like the only seasoned performer in the cast.
He's not, though. Yakima Canutt and gang did the stunts and they were very good riders. And the photographers included Archie Stout who was to win an Oscar for Wayne's "The Quiet Man" in 1952.
The writers didn't need to spend much time on the script because the few words we hear are strictly functional, uttered only in order to advance the plot. Audio title cards.
"Seen anything of young Higgins lately?"
"Waal, he was in town to cash a few nuggets last week. Ridin' around with a heavy heart. Turned into a desert rat, you know."
The story is perfunctory. Wayne blames himself for the death of an old friend during a hold up and, in part to redeem himself, helps his friend's newly arrived daughter to get the ranch up on its feet, ensnare the villains, and marries her. The stagecoach is a Model T Ford. There's a modern telephone. Lucille Brown wears 1935 clothes. But what do you expect?
He isn't really "John Wayne" yet. He's tall, handsome, slender, slow, and graceful but doesn't project the indomitable and bulky masculinity of his later years. And he hasn't yet learned to reserve his strength. He throws his lines out as if proud to have memorized them.
The girl in the picture seems to have less talent than Wayne. The smoothest performance is from George Hayes who hadn't become the caricature of "Gabby". He seems like the only seasoned performer in the cast.
He's not, though. Yakima Canutt and gang did the stunts and they were very good riders. And the photographers included Archie Stout who was to win an Oscar for Wayne's "The Quiet Man" in 1952.
The writers didn't need to spend much time on the script because the few words we hear are strictly functional, uttered only in order to advance the plot. Audio title cards.
"Seen anything of young Higgins lately?"
"Waal, he was in town to cash a few nuggets last week. Ridin' around with a heavy heart. Turned into a desert rat, you know."
The story is perfunctory. Wayne blames himself for the death of an old friend during a hold up and, in part to redeem himself, helps his friend's newly arrived daughter to get the ranch up on its feet, ensnare the villains, and marries her. The stagecoach is a Model T Ford. There's a modern telephone. Lucille Brown wears 1935 clothes. But what do you expect?