Kid from Texas The (1939)

Directed by S. Sylvan Simon (who produced Born Yesterday (1950)) this somewhat annoying and infrequently amusing “comedy” was based on a story by Milton Merlin & Byron Morgan screenplay by Florence Ryerson Edger Allan Woolf and Albert Mannheimer (also Born Yesterday (1950)) and features Dennis O’Keefe Florence Rice Jessie Ralph Buddy Ebsen Virginia Dale and Jack Carson among others.

William Malone (O’Keefe) is a cowpuncher in Texas who’s trained his horse Lone Star to play polo! Ironically Bertie Thomas (John Hubbard) with his sister Margo (Rice) in tow is looking for just such a horse to take back East. Braggart William inadvertently upsets Margo and their “relationship” is further exacerbated by Snifty (Ebsen). However Bertie buys Lone Star and the horse’s owner Mr. Lambert (Tully Marshall) assigns Snifty to transport it to his home on Long Island NY. William is a stowaway on the trip and though he’s still on Margo’s nerves the trainer (J. M. Kerrigan) is assigned to find work for him on their ranch. Margo is engaged to a famous polo player William has heard of “Duke” Hastings (Robert Wilcox). A reporter Stan Brown (Carson) hears William’s bravado witnesses & photographs an embarrassing incident between he and Margo (he had mistaken her for the maid played by Helen Lynd) and dubs the wannabe polo playing hick “Wild Bill” Malone.

Just as Margo is about to have Bill fired he meets and befriends Bertie’s & Margo’s Aunt Minnie (Ralph) who controls the purse strings for two spoiled rich kids. She hires him to dry dock Margo’s extravagance an expensive yacht she can’t afford further alienating Bill from Margo. When Bill finally gets an opportunity to play polo with Bertie and Hastings because Smith Harrington (George Meeker) broke his collarbone he makes such a mess of things that he’s predictably & finally fired. Coincidently his “friend” Snifty is in the New York area with a wild west show run whose star is an Annie Oakley-type named ‘Okay’ Kinney (Dale). Stan who was also fired has a brilliant (?) idea to save the near destitute show by promoting “Wild Bill” as its star and having Cowboys vs. the Indians polo matches! These are such a success that it leads to a showdown polo match between the wild west show performers and Hastings’s highbrow team.

There is a love triangle to resolve though no real relationships have been established between the obnoxious Bill and the two leading ladies Margo & Okay. Since Bill has not endeared himself in any way to the audience I doubt that anyone who’s been able to keep watching this film even as short as it is will be very interested in its outcome.