Once Upon a Texas Train
Encyclopedia
Once Upon a Texas Train (AKA Texas Guns) is 1988 made-for-TV movie directed by Burt Kennedy
and starring Willie Nelson
as John Henry Lee and Richard Widmark
as Captain Oren Hayes.
The movie opens with the Texas Train being robbed. However, a group of Texas Rangers
stop the robbery. 20 years later the head of the outlaw gang, John Henry, is released on good behavior, but the minute he gets out he and his brother Charlie (Dub Taylor
) rob a bank. Captain Oren Hayes, the Texas Ranger who arrested John (and later ensured his release) goes after him once more knowing that he'll try to pull off the robbery he bungled up 20 years before. As John gathers his old gang to help him Hayes does the same. Meanwhile a group of young outlaws led by the Cotton (Shaun Cassidy
) have their own plans for the gold the elderly outlaws have already stolen.
Kennedy utilized several aging western stars from years past as the group of aged Rangers as well as the outlaw gang. With former "Rifleman" Chuck Connors
as Nash Crawford, past "Cimarron Strip" marshal Stuart Whitman
as Gentleman George Asque and former "Dakotas" deputy Jack Elam
as Jason Fitch making up the retired rangers. While John Henry's aged gang consisted of former "Gunsmoke" deputy Ken Curtis
as Kelly Sutton and western character actors Royal Dano
as Nitro Jones, Gene Evans
as Fargo Parker and Dub Taylor
as John Henry's brother Charlie Lee. While Angie Dickinson
appeared as the woman once torn between John Henry and Oren Hayes, but who had married Oren after John Henry had been sent off to prison.
Note: The Texas Rangers characters originally appeared some 20 years before in the unsold television pilots The Over-the-Hill Gang
and The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again
starring Walter Brennan
as Nash Crawford, Pat O'Brien
as Captain Oren Hayes, Chill Wills
as Gentleman George Asque and Edgar Buchanan
as Jason Fitch. Elam had the distinction of appearing as the crooked sheriff in the first "Over-The-Hill" film and then assuming the role once played by Edgar Buchanan
two decades later in "Texas Train".
Burt Kennedy
Burt Kennedy was an American screenwriter and director known for mainly directing film Westerns.After World War II service in the 1st Cavalry Division, Muskegon, Michigan-born Kennedy found work writing for radio, then used his training as a cavalry officer to secure a job as a fencing trainer and...
and starring Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
as John Henry Lee and Richard Widmark
Richard Widmark
Richard Weedt Widmark was an American film, stage and television actor.He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, Kiss of Death...
as Captain Oren Hayes.
The movie opens with the Texas Train being robbed. However, a group of Texas Rangers
Texas Ranger Division
The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers, is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in Texas, and is based in Austin, Texas...
stop the robbery. 20 years later the head of the outlaw gang, John Henry, is released on good behavior, but the minute he gets out he and his brother Charlie (Dub Taylor
Dub Taylor
Walter Clarence Taylor, Jr. , better known as Dub Taylor, was an American actor who worked extensively in Westerns, but also in comedy from the 1940s into the 1990s.-Early life:...
) rob a bank. Captain Oren Hayes, the Texas Ranger who arrested John (and later ensured his release) goes after him once more knowing that he'll try to pull off the robbery he bungled up 20 years before. As John gathers his old gang to help him Hayes does the same. Meanwhile a group of young outlaws led by the Cotton (Shaun Cassidy
Shaun Cassidy
Shaun Paul Cassidy is an American actor, singer, writer, and producer. He is the eldest son of Academy Award winning actress Shirley Jones, and the second son of Tony award-winning actor Jack Cassidy...
) have their own plans for the gold the elderly outlaws have already stolen.
Kennedy utilized several aging western stars from years past as the group of aged Rangers as well as the outlaw gang. With former "Rifleman" Chuck Connors
Chuck Connors
Chuck Connors was an American actor, writer, and professional basketball and baseball player. His best known role from his forty-year film career was Lucas McCain in the 1960s ABC hit Western series The Rifleman....
as Nash Crawford, past "Cimarron Strip" marshal Stuart Whitman
Stuart Whitman
Stuart Maxwell Whitman is an American actor.Stuart Whitman is arguably best-known for playing Marshal Jim Crown in the western television series Cimarron Strip in 1967...
as Gentleman George Asque and former "Dakotas" deputy Jack Elam
Jack Elam
William Scott "Jack" Elam was an American film actor best known for his numerous roles as villains in Western films and, later in his career, comedies .-Early life:...
as Jason Fitch making up the retired rangers. While John Henry's aged gang consisted of former "Gunsmoke" deputy Ken Curtis
Ken Curtis
Ken Curtis was an American singer and actor best known for his role as Festus Haggen on the long-running CBS western television series Gunsmoke.-Early years:...
as Kelly Sutton and western character actors Royal Dano
Royal Dano
Royal Edward Dano was an American film and television character actor.-Early life:Dano was born in New York City to Mary Josephine , an Irish immigrant, and Caleb Edward Dano, a printer for newspapers. He reportedly left home at the age of twelve and at various intervals, lived in Florida, Texas...
as Nitro Jones, Gene Evans
Gene Evans
Gene Evans was an American actor.He was born in Holbrook, Arizona, but reared in Colton, California. His acting career began while he was serving in World War II. He performed with a theatrical troupe of GIs in Europe. Evans made his film debut in 1947 and appeared in dozens of movies and...
as Fargo Parker and Dub Taylor
Dub Taylor
Walter Clarence Taylor, Jr. , better known as Dub Taylor, was an American actor who worked extensively in Westerns, but also in comedy from the 1940s into the 1990s.-Early life:...
as John Henry's brother Charlie Lee. While Angie Dickinson
Angie Dickinson
Angie Dickinson is an American actress. She has appeared in more than fifty films, including Rio Bravo, Ocean's Eleven, Dressed to Kill and Pay It Forward, and starred on television as Sergeant Suzanne "Pepper" Anderson on the 1970s crime series Police Woman.-Early life:Dickinson, the second of...
appeared as the woman once torn between John Henry and Oren Hayes, but who had married Oren after John Henry had been sent off to prison.
Note: The Texas Rangers characters originally appeared some 20 years before in the unsold television pilots The Over-the-Hill Gang
The Over-the-Hill Gang
The Over-the-Hill Gang is a 1969 TV-movie Western comedy about aging Texas Rangers starring Walter Brennan and Pat O'Brien. Chill Wills, Edgar Buchanan, Andy Devine, and Jack Elam play supporting roles...
and The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again
The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again
The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again starring Walter Brennan and Fred Astaire is a 1970 ABC Movie of the Week sequel to the Western comedy The Over-the-Hill Gang. The supporting cast includes Edgar Buchanan, Andy Devine, Chill Wills, Lana Wood, and Burt Mustin...
starring Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan was an American actor. Brennan won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on three separate occasions, which is currently the record for most wins.-Early life:...
as Nash Crawford, Pat O'Brien
Pat O'Brien (actor)
Pat O’Brien was an American film actor with more than one hundred screen credits.-Early life:O’Brien was born William Joseph Patrick O’Brien to an Irish-American Catholic family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He served as an altar boy at Gesu Church while growing up near 13th and Clybourn streets...
as Captain Oren Hayes, Chill Wills
Chill Wills
Chill Theodore Wills was an American film actor, and a singer in the Avalon Boys Quartet.-Biography:Wills was born in Seagoville, Texas in 1902. He was a performer from early childhood, forming and leading the Avalon Boys singing group in the 1930s...
as Gentleman George Asque and Edgar Buchanan
Edgar Buchanan
Edgar Buchanan was an American actor with a long career in both film and television, most familiar today as Uncle Joe Carson from the Petticoat Junction, Green Acres and The Beverly Hillbillies television sitcoms of the 1960s...
as Jason Fitch. Elam had the distinction of appearing as the crooked sheriff in the first "Over-The-Hill" film and then assuming the role once played by Edgar Buchanan
Edgar Buchanan
Edgar Buchanan was an American actor with a long career in both film and television, most familiar today as Uncle Joe Carson from the Petticoat Junction, Green Acres and The Beverly Hillbillies television sitcoms of the 1960s...
two decades later in "Texas Train".