Instant Favorite.

Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

If you are a fan of Tim McCoy films, you'll be happy to see this is another installment of his 'Lightning Bill' Carson series. These are generally among his best films--with better than normal plots and action. And, in some of them, Carson is a master of disguise. In all, he made 9 films in this series and I've now seen all but one of them. The original film, "Lightnin' Bill Carson" (1936) is the only one I have not yet seen and it's not currently available through Netflix.Sadly, while this is a good film, 'Lightning Bill' does not dress up in any outlandish ethnic costumes. In a few others, he played a Mexican bandit--and was highly entertaining. In one, he played an Asian--and the less said about that, the better! The film begins with Carson dressing up as 'The Phantom'--a hooded guy who is decried by some to be a bandit. But, since Bill Carson is ALWAYS a good guy, you know something is amiss--either folks are lying or someone is posing as this Phantom. So, through much of the film, he's NOT in costume--otherwise he'd get his head blown off or he'd be hung. In this film, you don't learn about his mission until late in the film--apparently a Ranger who was his friend was murdered and the trail leads to this town. As usual, as Bill walks about town, his partner, Magpie (Ben Corbett), is undercover--keeping his eyes and ears open for any leads.This is a pretty good film. The real-life trick shooting McCoy uses not only his fast guns but fists in this one. As a result, his character is tougher than the sort you'd see from Gene Autry or Roy Rogers--plus there's no singing (I liked this). Overall, a very decent entry into the series--well worth seeing even if it is a bit familiar (of course, ALL B-westerns are pretty familiar).

Tim McCoy, a major western star during the silent era, was now reduced to appearing in films for such independent outfits as Victory Pictures Inc. Still in those southern and western red states, fellows like McCoy were not without their appeal even if they did appear in a low quality product.Texas Wildcats finds McCoy as a Ranger gone undercover as the phantom bandit. A local father and son team have sowed just about everything up in a local town and McCoy in his outlaw activities seems to be targeting them. Nevertheless his Robin Hood reputation gains him the connection and the evidence he needs. That is of course after a lot of crimes are committed all around.It seemed to me that McCoy crossed the line quite a bit here. Of course the fact the villain in question was responsible for the murder of a fellow Ranger before the action of this film started seems to have granted carte blanche to the Rangers to take him down. A good lawyer might just have him beat the rap.Of course I don't think the Saturday afternoon matinée kids concerned themselves too much with due process. For them it was a lot of riding and shooting do bring some bad guys to justice.And justice was what Tim McCoy was all about.By the way, check that black hood he wore as the phantom.

McCoy and his sidekick pursue a wealthy man, who eventually confesses responsibility for the death of McCoy's fellow Ranger, and who - during the movie - intimidates the locals, with the help of his son and cronies. Currently, a brother and sister are the main focus of the villain and his gang. Gold is probable on land that the siblings have partially paid Mr. Moneybags for. This makes him NOT want to complete the sale. To gather information about the bad guy, McCoy adopts the guise of a gambler and a miscreant, himself, known as The Phantom. In my opinion, most of these old, black-and-white westerns are pretty much the same - a few are real bad, and the vast majority are barely worth one's time and/or money. I think that Texas Wildcats is among the latter.