Night Stage to Galveston

Gene Autry was a Texan first, last, and always. The singing telegrapher from Tioga, Texas was certainly steeped in the traditions of his home state and one of those traditions was the corruption of the Texas State Police that was founded during the Reconstruction post Civil War era. When carpetbag rule ended the State Police were put out of business and the Texas Rangers reconstituted.

These guys were not boy scouts and they had their share of corruption. But what you won't see in Night Stage To Galveston is the fact that the real objection to the Texas State Police was that they hired black officers. But what we see here is the mythology that Texans of Autry's generation grew up with.

Gene Autry and Pat Buttram are a pair of ex-Rangers who are aligned with crusading editor and former Confederate Colonel Thurston Hall to expose the State Police. Here the police are headed by former cowboy hero Robert Livingston and he's a ruthless sort. Young Judy Nugent is a juvenile whose father was killed by Livingston's storm troopers and she's taken in by Hall and his daughter Virgina Huston. Nugent's scenes with Hall are kind of cute.

This is a decent enough Gene Autry western, but it is hardly telling the real story.

In this later film from Gene Autry's Columbia days, Gene plays a former Texas Ranger who is fed up with the shenanigans of the corrupt new State Police. Along with his trusty sidekick, Pat Butram, he pins his badge back on and proceeds to show them the error of their ways.

Gene is great in this film, with fewer songs and more action than in his pre-war films. Pat Butram is hilarious as always, being Gene's second-best sidekick (after Smiley Burnette).

The action, script, casting and music are all top notch here. One of Gene Autry's best films ......... based in part on a real life incident from Texas history !

Seems unfair to attack Rangers--would seem to coincide with reconstruction.

During much of the film, the famed Texas Rangers police force are infamous for the evil they are perpetrating. Again and again, they commit various atrocities. Gene, an ex-Ranger, is angry and makes it his task to expose the evil commander of the Rangers as well as his partners in crime, the various US Army officers who are all exploiting the poor citizens of Texas.

The plot to "Night Stage to Galveston" is quite unusual...and probably all hooey as well! Unlike most Autry films (which were set in a weird modern day west), this one is set during the Reconstruction period...just after the US Civil War. In the film, the Texas Rangers are NOT decent law enforcement officers but crooks who kill and steal at will and are aided in this by Federal troops. I have never heard of this and did some research...and found NOTHING of the kind. I can only assume that the story was influenced by the thinking of the 1940s-50s...that the South was unfairly treated by the evil North after the war (a view created by "Birth of a Nation"). An interesting, though incorrect, view of US history.

I taught US history and have idea what I'm talking about here. I also felt uncomfortable about this story because it seems to demonize this police force...and most folks who saw the film in 1952 probably assumed this portrait was factual. So my advice is watch and enjoy the movie...but don't look at it as an accurate history lesson.

So, apart from the plot, is the film any good? Well, considering it's pretty much all the movie, my answer is no. It is modestly entertaining...but nothing more.

Our heroes Gene Autry and Pat Buttram fight against the corrupt State Police. There should be a remake of this movie casting the FBI as the ultra corrupt renegades. The only difference is that Thurston Hall, representing the media is trying to expose the corruption. Now the enemy of the people media is supporting it. Virginia Huston, who later played the lead in the film noir classic "Out of the Past" was outstanding and great to see none other than the Lone Ranger himself Clayton Moore and Robert Livingston. However, I think the best part was played by Judy Nugent as Cathy Evans. She worked with Hall extremely well in their love hate relationship.

Given the demands of his weekly TV show (1950-1955) and a steady stream of matinée programmers, like this one, I wonder when Gene had a chance to relax. Actually this is one of his better 60-minute programmers. It's plot heavy-- replacing a crooked State Police with the Texas Rangers, along with the usual combative intrigues. I believe there's just one song, so Gene is concentrating on story rather than musical entertainment. Even comic relief Buttram is unusually restrained in his antics. It's not especially scenic, but with a strong appeal for southern audiences with repeated references to Texas and the Confederacy. Anyway, can't help noticing the director and producer are also his TV team, so likely he worked these programmers into his TV schedule. Whatever the case, it's an entertaining hour of Gene and Champion.