Two Guys from Texas
Two Guys from Texas is a 1948 Technicolor musical comedy film directed by David Butler and starring Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson, and Dorothy Malone. The film was written by Allen Boretz and I.A.L. Diamond, produced by Alex Gottlieb, and released by Warner Bros. Pictures on September 4, 1948. This was a follow-up to Two Guys from Milwaukee, also starring Morgan and Carson, which in turn was an attempt to capture some of the appeal of Paramount's Bing Crosby and Bob Hope Road pictures.
| Two Guys from Texas | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | David Butler |
| Produced by | Alex Gottlieb |
| Screenplay by | I.A.L. Diamond Allen Boretz |
| Based on | Howdy Stranger 1937 play by Robert Sloane Louis Pelletier |
| Starring | Dennis Morgan Jack Carson |
| Music by | Leo F. Forbstein |
| Cinematography | Arthur Edeson William V. Skall |
| Edited by | Irene Morra |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 86 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2,267,000[1] |
| Box office | $2,963,000[1] |
Plot
Song-and-dance men Steve Carroll (Dennis Morgan) and Danny Foster (Jack Carson) walk to a Texas dude ranch after their car runs out of gas. The team's friend, singer Maggie Reed (Penny Edwards), gets the boys a job. With their auto stolen, the two settle into ranch life. While Danny consults with Dr. Straeger (Fred Clark) to conquer his fear of animals, Steve courts ranch owner Joan Winston (Dorothy Malone). When their stolen car is used in a robbery, the duo must then find the real culprits.
Cast
- Dennis Morgan as Steve Carroll
- Jack Carson as Danny Foster
- Dorothy Malone as Joan Winston
- Penny Edwards as Maggie Reed
- Forrest Tucker as 'Tex' Bennett
- Fred Clark as Dr. Straeger
- Gerald Mohr as Link Jessup
- John Alvin as Jim Crocker
- Andrew Tombes as The Texan
- Monte Blue as Pete Nash
- The Philharmonica Trio as Specialty Act
- Mel Blanc as Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny cameo appearance
The film is perhaps best remembered today for featuring an animated cameo appearance of cartoon character Bugs Bunny, voiced by Mel Blanc. Friz Freleng, Warner's leading animation director, was assigned to direct the special animated dream sequence, in which Bugs gives some advice to a caricatured Jack Carson.[2]
Bugs would later have a similar cameo in 1949's My Dream Is Yours, which also starred Jack Carson. Bugs Bunny would later appear at the ending of the 1972 Barbra Streisand film What's Up, Doc?.
Production
The film cost an estimated $2 million.[3]
Film connections
Animation historians have noted the similarities between the animated dream sequence in this film and the Looney Tunes cartoon Swooner Crooner (1944). The latter, directed by Friz Freleng's colleague Frank Tashlin, concerned Porky Pig trying to reacquire the female chickens of his farm from a Frank Sinatra-esque rooster, who is driving the chicks away from the farm.
The same year Two Guys from Texas was released, animation director Art Davis parodied the film's title with a Merrie Melodies cartoon called Two Gophers from Texas, starring Mac & Tosh, better known as The Goofy Gophers. The title was spoofed yet again for Freleng's 1956 cartoon Two Crows from Tacos.
Reception
The film earned $2,350,000 in rentals in the US according to Variety.[4]
According to Warner Bros records, the film earned $2,566,000 domestically and $397,000 foreign.[1]
References
- Warner Bros financial information in The William Shaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 28 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
- Schneider, Steve (1988). That's All, Folks! : The Art of Warner Bros. Animation. Henry Holt and Co. p. 98. ISBN 0-8050-0889-6.
- Variety 18 February 1948 p7
- "Top Grossers of 1948", Variety 5 January 1949 p 46