Being on the run from the law, Bill (Buffalo Bill jr) has no choice but
to throw in with a gang of crooks who run a horse-betting scheme. It all
starts with Buck Townsley (Jack Mower) riding into a town holding a
horserace, boasting about his prizewinning horse. Then Bill rides into
town, performs an incredible feat on his horse - like saving little Bobby
(Bobby Nelson) from a racing coach -, whereupon seemingly trustworthy Jim
(Lafe McKee) announces he will bet all of his money on Bill ... and he
starts to make up incredibly good news aftzer incredibly good news about
Bill and his wonder horse, so everyone will join him betting on Bill. Of
course, Bill is supposed to lose the race ... but then, Bill learns that
Bobby's sister Mary Lou (Lucile Browne), at whose place he stays after
saving the boy, has bet all her money and even a loan from the bank on
him, and he has second thoughts. He asks Buck and Jim to abandon the whole
scheme, but they won't hear anything of it, so he decides to enter the
race ... to win. As it happens, the Sheriff after Bill is a honorary
guest at the race, supposed to start the whole thing, so suddenly Bill
finds himself on the run from both the law and his crooked erstwhile
partners, and still he has to win the race for Mary Lou's sale ... which
of course he does, after which he actually gives himself up to the Sheriff
- but the Sheriff begins to believe he has been after the wrong man ... Very
cheaply made Western that doesn't hold too many surprises plotwise, and
the action is rather routine and unexciting (though the race does feature
a couple or so nice shots). Still, for a film from the cheap end of the
B-Western, The Texan is not too bad, and if you are capable to look
beyond its budgetary shortcomings, it's actually quite watchable (without
being anywhere near great though).
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