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5.1/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.1/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Under a Texas Moon remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Okay, so Under a Texas Moon. If you're looking for a breezy, old-school Western, maybe a Saturday afternoon kind of watch, then yeah, give it a shot. It's got that early sound era charm, a sort of simple, straightforward cowboy story that feels pretty comfy. But if you're hoping for anything deep or super fast-paced, you'll probably find yourself checking your watch.
The premise is straight out of the Western playbook: a lone cowboy rides into a town with trouble brewing. Here, it’s Frank Fay as Dennis, this drifter who just happens to stumble into a rancher's fight against some cattle rustlers. And of course, there’s a pretty young lady. It's not reinventing the wheel, that's for sure. 🤠
What struck me first was the sound. It's 1930, right? So the dialogue often feels a bit... stiff. Like everyone's trying really hard to speak clearly into the microphone. There's this scene early on where Dennis is introduced to the rancher, and the pauses between lines just hang there, almost like they're waiting for a cue.
The cattle thieves are pretty standard villains, nothing too surprising there. Fred Kohler plays one of them, and he's got this sneer that really sells it, even if his motivations are pretty thin. You know, "bad guys want cows." Simple.
Then there's the romance. Raquel Torres is Estrellita, and she's got a real spark. There’s a moment where she’s singing a little tune, her eyes just sparkling, and you really get why Dennis is smitten. It feels genuine, even if the whole thing moves from "hello" to "let's ride off into the sunset" pretty quickly. It's a quick story, you know?
Myrna Loy also pops up, and she's just captivating, even in a role that doesn't give her a ton to do. She plays a woman named Conchita, and every time she's on screen, you just want to know more about her. There’s this one glance she gives Dennis, just a quick flicker, and it tells a whole story about unspoken feelings. You almost wish the movie was about her instead. ✨
The action scenes are, well, they're of their time. Lots of riding, some fistfights that look a bit choreographed in that classic Hollywood way. There’s a shootout near the end that felt a bit like a stage play, everyone standing a bit too still while firing. But hey, it’s charming in its own way.
I remember thinking about the sets too. They really tried to make it look like a dusty Texas town, but sometimes it felt a little too neat, like a backlot. The horses are beautiful though, always well-presented.
There’s this one part where the good guys are tracking the rustlers, and they spend a surprisingly long time just riding through the same patch of scrub brush. It goes on for a bit, and I started wondering if they were trying to fill time, or just really wanted to show off the landscape. It’s a gentle kind of padding. 🌾
The dialogue, while sometimes clunky, has these little bits of old-fashioned charm. Dennis has a few lines that are just perfectly cowboy-gruff. Like when someone asks him why he's sticking around, and he just drawls, "Well, somethin' needs fixin' here." Perfect.
It's not a grand epic. It's more like a comfortable, slightly dusty blanket of a movie. You watch it, you smile a few times, and then you move on. For folks who appreciate the early days of Westerns, it’s a neat little peek. Otherwise, it might just feel a bit slow. 🕰️
IMDb —
1918
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