The popularity of Republic's Three Mesquiteers series prodded the other Hollywood studios cranking out Saturday matinée westerns to respond in kind. Based on William Colt MacDonald's novels which in turn gave a cowboy setting to Alexandre Dumas' classic Three Musketeers, The Texas Rangers had three gun totting rangers who usually worked undercover as in this outing. The combination tried to include a lover, a gunfighter, and a comic. In this final version of the Texas Rangers, the versatility and charisma of the three leads make for a winning combination. Dave "Tex" O'Brien who gained fame by playing Captain Midnight, was just right for the role of Texas Ranger Dave Wyatt. He later starred in the Pete Smith specials and won an Emmy for his writing for the Red Skelton TV show. In "Frontier Fugitives," he is in hot pursuit of stolen furs. The love interest is provided by Lorraine Miller who plays the daughter of the man killed for his furs. But the romance doesn't really get off the ground. Tex Ritter, my favorite western hero, had the best singing voice of any of the singing cowboys and became a successful Nashville entertainer. He sold more records than any other singing cowboy besides Gene Autry. Tex gets to pick and sing in "Frontier Fugitives." He is undercover and says he wants to try out one of the guitars hanging on the wall where the fur thieves hang out. College educated, Tex was also a folklorist and interpreter of traditional Texas folk music.
The third ranger, Guy Wilkerson, aka Panhandle Perkins, did much of the comedy, but one thing I like about this series, especially after Tex Ritter replaced Jim Newill, is that the comic relief is shared by the entire cast, including the outlaws. "Frontier Fugitives" even gives the normally sombre I. Stanford Jolley a chance to strut his stuff. He pretends to be an Indian and clowns around with Panhandle who is also pretending to be an Indian. In the process Stanford Jolley gets his smoke laced with wacky weed. A stoned Jolley tries to find his way back to his cronies in town. Perhaps this idea came from Dave O'Brien who had earlier played in "Reefer Madness." Since not only Guy Wilkerson but also Tex Ritter and Dave O'Brien were quite adept at doing comedy, at times the Texas Rangers series play almost as comic westerns, even a bit of satire is thrown in from time to time. One reason for this is possibly the low-budget with which the actors were made to work. All the fun distracted from the cheap sets and weak scripts.
The viewer gets action, humor, and songs performed by a master showman. Not bad for a 57 minute oater.
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