I've never given thought to Mickey Rooney in a Western, so seeing him turn up here was an unexpected surprise. Though it makes sense to cast him as a greenhorn sugarfoot heading for Border City, Texas, it's a bit more of a stretch that his long lost brother is portrayed by Robert Stack. Not as bad as Schwarzenneger and DeVito as twins, but still enough to be a head scratcher. That aside, the story is a fairly interesting one, where even Rooney's comedy relief is well timed.
Mickey portrays Denny O'Moore of New York City, his brother Patrick has been gone for eight years. Though Denny has written him repeatedly over the years to a known address, he's never been answered, so takes it as his mission to find his sibling. Fortunately he hooks up with a Texas Ranger named Joe Walter (Robert Preston), or his goose would have been cooked many times over. For his part, Walter is on the trail of a Mexican Indian bandit named El Tigre who's been making life miserable for residents of the border town between Texas and Mexico.
Denny and the Ranger get into repeated scrapes, both individually and together before it's all over. At one point they're befriended by a Mexican blacksmith named Ortiz, who has his own grudge against El Tigre; his son was killed by the outlaw's band. A pretty senorita is thrown into the mix as well, Carmel (Wanda Hendrix) is Patrick's intended, however she doesn't love him, and is smitten with the diminutive Denny. Since all of Denny's prior love interests have been over six feet tall and almost two hundred pounds, this match up has possibilities.
As befits his size, Rooney has his share of comedic moments attempting to mount a horse, and generally up to challenging hombres up to twice his size. If it were anyone but him, the script probably would have called for a bullet in response, but at least he inspires confidence in the face of danger. Either that, or he doesn't know any better.
The good brother/bad brother theme is a recurring one in 'B' Westerns, going all the way back to the beginning of the genre. The twist here is that Patrick repeatedly tried to get little brother out of harm's way in trying to avoid capture. The other was his alternate identity as the villain El Tigre, summarily dismissed by Denny who would rather believe his brother died a long time ago.
Mickey portrays Denny O'Moore of New York City, his brother Patrick has been gone for eight years. Though Denny has written him repeatedly over the years to a known address, he's never been answered, so takes it as his mission to find his sibling. Fortunately he hooks up with a Texas Ranger named Joe Walter (Robert Preston), or his goose would have been cooked many times over. For his part, Walter is on the trail of a Mexican Indian bandit named El Tigre who's been making life miserable for residents of the border town between Texas and Mexico.
Denny and the Ranger get into repeated scrapes, both individually and together before it's all over. At one point they're befriended by a Mexican blacksmith named Ortiz, who has his own grudge against El Tigre; his son was killed by the outlaw's band. A pretty senorita is thrown into the mix as well, Carmel (Wanda Hendrix) is Patrick's intended, however she doesn't love him, and is smitten with the diminutive Denny. Since all of Denny's prior love interests have been over six feet tall and almost two hundred pounds, this match up has possibilities.
As befits his size, Rooney has his share of comedic moments attempting to mount a horse, and generally up to challenging hombres up to twice his size. If it were anyone but him, the script probably would have called for a bullet in response, but at least he inspires confidence in the face of danger. Either that, or he doesn't know any better.
The good brother/bad brother theme is a recurring one in 'B' Westerns, going all the way back to the beginning of the genre. The twist here is that Patrick repeatedly tried to get little brother out of harm's way in trying to avoid capture. The other was his alternate identity as the villain El Tigre, summarily dismissed by Denny who would rather believe his brother died a long time ago.