Texas Across the River is a 1966 comedy Western film shot in Techniscope. The film stars legendary actors Dean Martin and Alain Delon. Who would have thought Delon starred in a comedy Western film? Considering his resume of films the actor had been in I certainly would not have figured him to be in a film like this. This was a change of pace for Delon and he pulls it off well!

Taking place in Texas, in 1845 Phoebe Ann Taylor (Rosemary Forsyth, The War Lord) is preparing to be married to Don Andrea Baldazar, El Duce de la Casala(Alain Delon, Farewell Friend) but is interrupted by US troops led by Captain Rodney Stimpson (Peter Graves, It Conquered the World). One of the troops, Yancey Cottle (Stuart Anderson) also has interest in Phoebe Ann and engages in battle with Baldazar. Cottle is accidentally killed by one his comrades who then blames Baldazar. With no way to prove his innocence this moment, Baldazar flees the area, telling Phoebe Ann to meet her across the river in Texas.

Later, the wanted Baldazar runs into Sam Hollis (Dean Martin, Rough Night in Jericho), who is a trek guide, and his Indian companion, Kronk (Joey Bishop, Ocean’s 11). Hollis hires him to be an escort on his latest mission. Baldazar (called “Baldy” by Hollis) rejoins Phoebe Ann, which Hollis then takes a romantic interest to. The two men slowly start to dislike each other due to cultural differences, which are set aside because they are about to be attacked by a Comanche tribe and a US calvary leading to an explosive climax.  

Texas Across the River is a decent, entertaining comedy. Some of the humor is dated as are the racist themes. Caucasian actors playing Native Americans long gone now, some viewers may find the stereotypes to be offensive. Joey Bishop looked ridiculous in his role as Kronk, as did the other white male actors dressed-up in Indian garb.

Alain Delon and Dean Martin are as good as one would expect them to be and worked well together. The remaining cast also hands in solid performances. It is still hard to picture Alain Delon playing a goofy character, but he does it without showing any discomfort in the role, while Dean Martin was right at home in a Western in a similar type of role.

The corny music by Frank DeVol was amusing to a certain point but even the soundtrack got tiring after a while. Russell Metty was the man behind the cinematography which arguably was the best aspect of this feature.

Kino Lorber debuts Texas Across the River to Blu-ray on a dual-layered disc BD-50 disc. The image overall is pleasing, with strong colors and great details to all the breathtaking outdoor scenery and landscapes. Skin tones appear to be accurate. There are some spots where the picture appears soft and hazy to some degree, but these are few and far between. Outside of that, this is a fine video presentation.

The English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track applied by Kino is perfectly fine with dialog and action sounds coming in clear without any drop-offs, hissing or other audio issues detected. Everything can in nice and pleasant. Nothing in the way of the audio I found noticeably strong or too mellow for that matter. English subtitles are available for this release.

The supplemental package for this release includes and audio commentary track by film historian Samm Deighan and trailers.

On this Blu-ray we get trailers for Texas Across the River, Rough Night in Jericho, The Sicilian Clan, The War Lord and Portrait in Black.

Texas Across the River is a film I can recommend to those who would like to own every film Dean Martin and Alain Delon have acted in. I do not think the film will be in everyone’s acquired taste but at the very least the movie is worthy of giving a spin to if you haven’t seen it. The Kino Lorber Blu-ray release is more than adequate with fine audio and video quality capped with some supplements that make it a mighty good release!

Texas Across the River

Director- Michael Gordon

Cast- Dean Martin, Alain Delon, Rosemary Forsyth

Country of Origin- US

Distributor – Kino Lorber

Number of Discs – 1

Reviewed by – David Steigman

Date- 2/9/21