The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

This western uses the gimmick of 3 sons or daughters of famous actors being used to fill about half the major roles. These are James Mitchum, Alana Ladd, and Jody McCrea. More cryptically, it included Barbara Mansell, as Martha Jane Canary: the birth name of Calamity Jane. Judging by some old photos, Barbara was notably better looking than Calamity! We have basically 4 groups that are involved in part or most of the story. Group A consists of 7 former Civil War soldiers, led by the brother of Tyler Duane(Gary Conway), plus his wife, apparently. They have stolen a $30,000. Union payroll. and are heading toward a Mescalero Apache territory, in SE NM, or Texas, perhaps on the way to Mexico. These Apache constitute a significant risk to their lives and treasure. However, it turns out that their comrades are just as murderous, the first victims being Tyler's brother and his apparent wife, until only 2 are left when they engage the other groups in a climactic shootout........Group B consists of several young men, played by Mitchum, McCrea, and Gary Conway(Tyler). In addition, there's veteran Chill Wills, as unordained minister Sam Shelby, and bride Lily Coe(Alana Ladd), formerly Lily Glendenning, just married to Morgan Coe(Mitchum), although it's unclear how legitimate this marriage is. Morgan and Lily are running away from Lily's father, Jesse, who is out to kill Morgan and bring Lily back home. He is the leader of Group C: hot on the heels of Group B. Meanwhile, Tyler, of Group B, is intent on capturing the money held by Group A, and returning it to the US Army. Group D: a band of Mescalero, don't want any of the above groups passing through their territory. I forgot to mention that Martha Jane((Barbara Mansell) joined Group B, along the way. Why, instead of tending her cattle? My guess is she thought Lisa could use some female companionship. Also, she was running from Lisa's father(Group C), whose cattle she had rustled. See the film to find out the result of the big 4 way gun battle, and its aftermath......I thought none of the offspring of the famous actors had any appreciable charisma. It was up to Chill Wills and Barbara Mansell to supply the charisma......See it at YouTube.

Okay this a typical Western for the time. You have a bad rancher, played by Robert Lowery, (Jessie), who does the usual try to ride rough shod over any and all opposition. It doesn't work with James Mitchum as Morgan Coe. Coe was rescued after five years with the Comanche's. Taken in by Jessie, Coe falls for his daughter. So Jessie sends her back East for school and fires Coe, (can't trust an Injun). She returns and things heat up. At a church social Jessie sics his hired gun on Coe and Coe kills him. Tyler shows up in town, is following his brother, a Union captain and six Rebs, they also have the Captain's wife and $30K in stolen gold. The upshot of all this is the patrol goes into Apache country and so Tyler goes after them. Due to circumstances written into the plot Coe, the daughter, an un-ordained preacher and his son also come with. The father now grabs his crew and they follow the daughter. The captain and his wife are found murdered by the Reb's. Then two of them are found a little further on. Meanwhile Tyler and gang are close and so is daddy. The Apache's finally show up, kill two more of the patrol, then run into Tyler's group. Now is where I have a real problem with the film. The Indians just come riding up shooting willy-nilly and stay mounted right in front of the blazing guns of the whites. Finally daddy and his men appear and they are just as stupid. They stay on their horses too and every one is shooting at everyone else. Daddy sees Coe and kills him, then as the Apache's ride off one of them kills Jessie. So the show ends with daddy and the husband dead. The preacher has recovered the gold, gives it to Tyler. The last scene at the graves of Jessie and Coe shows you the future, Tyler is staying west and returning the gold to the Army and the daughter and he are obviously going to hook up down the line.

Gary Conway is the real protagonist of this western, although the siblings of Joel McCrea, Robert Mitchum and Alan Ladd were given top credit. But James Mitchum had no charisma, and Alana Ladd was not a good actress, so the best parts of the film are carried out by Conway, Jody McCrea, and Chill Wills.The film starts well when Conway arrives in a town controlled by a nasty landowner. He is following a patrol of Southern rebels carrying stolen money. But then the attention turns to the romance of the landowner's daughter (Ladd) and a guy raised by Indians (Mitchum). As things get more complicated and the film demands higher production values, the budget betrays everybody's effort, making everything look really cheap.

"Young Guns of Texas" was very reminiscent of an Elvis movie - a simple plot where you will easily guess the ending, but will still be entertained. This is the type of movie to see after an especially stressful day - no underlying meanings or political messages, just an enjoyable movie. It has a nice mixture of humor, action and drama with just a dose of romance. ...and Jody McCrea is just darling as Jeff Shelby!If you like Joel McCrea, Robert Mitchum, Alan Ladd or even Chill Wills, I'd definitely recommend this movie...you'll enjoy seeing their kids in action.