While I did not hate "Eyes of Texas" like Dick-42 did, he did make an excellent point about how wildly illogical this film was at times. Too often I just found myself confused why certain plot elements were tossed into the film and they made my brain hurt!!
Let's talk about the plot first--and then the more illogical stuff. The film is set at a camp for the children of dead WWII soldiers--a rather timely plot idea considering the war had only recently ended. Thad loves the kids and this is his life. However, his lawyer sends him a cable--saying that his own dead son is, in fact, alive! When Thad visits his lady lawyer (an interesting casting decision to make her a woman), she convinces him to sign a blank will form and 'she'll fill in the rest later' so they can include the son in the will. Why would anyone agree to sign a paper like this?! Didn't he KNOW that would mean he would die only minutes later?! And, of course it happens--as she sicks a pack of vicious dogs on him! This is actually kind of cool...and silly.
The evil lawyer's plan is to create a will--giving the camp and all of Thad's money to the son--not just a portion like Thad had requested. Actually, the son really IS dead--so she has a guy who is going to pretend to be the son and collect the money AND toss all the orphans out of the camp! Can Marshall Roy save the day and expose this evil plot?
Okay...here's some of the illogical stuff (apart from someone signing a blank will form):
The locals all decide to beat up Roy and get him dismissed from his job because they think he is trying to toss out the orphans. So, because they love the kids so, they become lawless and a lynch-mob mentality develops. Of course you later learn SOME of these folks were paid by the lawyer to do this--but what about everyone else?! Why would you want to help orphans this way?!
Why did Roy slug Doc (Andy Devine)?! This sure made the angry townsfolk seem reasonable (though this happened AFTER they became angry and kind of crazy). Later, Roy said he did this because he wanted to get fired so he could better investigate what was happening. Huh?! Roy...you HIT Doc! And he's your friend! Why exactly did you hit Doc?! Huh?! What?! Hitting one of the few people in town who LIKED you is an interesting strategy, I must say!
The lawyer hates one of her vicious dogs, Lobo, because he isn't mean enough AND the dog really, really, really hates her. Later, she and her evil henchman steal this dog away from Roy. Several days later, they STILL have the dog and haven't killed it. Yet, earlier in the film they tried several times to kill the dog. Why would they keep the dog once they stole it-especially since they dog wants to kill you?! They wanted it dead, right?!? SO they kidnapped it and kept it alive! Good strategy!
Overall, this is a mildly entertaining but ludicrously confusing Roy Rogers film. Turn off your brain and stop it from questioning the plot and you'll probably have a good time watching it. Otherwise, you might just want to skip this one.
