Plot: Sheriff Curt Chambers fights to put the town of Crescent City back on its feet, but gambler Brady has the town, including the mayor, under his thumb, and even manages to turn some of Curt's friends against him. Will Curt be able to win the election and become the town's new mayor, or will Brady succeed in keeping law out of Crescent City?
Starring. . .
Ken Curtis
Jeff Donnell
Andy Clyde
Guinn "Big Boy" Williams
Robert Stevens (aka Robert Kellard)
Kenneth MacDonald
The Dinning Sisters
Ginger
Jean
Lou
Dick Elliot
Claire Carleton
Hank Bell
George Chesebro
The Hoosier Hot Shots
Ken Trietsch
Hezzy Trietsch
Gil Taylor
Gabe Ward
Deuce Spriggens and His band
The Plainsmen
Carolina Cotton
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Storyline Roundup: (note: SPOILERS)
In the year of 1890, the town of Crescent City is being controlled by a crooked gambler named Brady (MacDonald). He gets Curt Chambers (Curtis) elected as sheriff, but immediately regrets his decision when he sees that Curt will not be easy to control. Curt chooses his friend, Big Boy (Williams) to be his deputy.
Meanwhile, the Warren family, brothers Hezzy, Ken, Gil, Gabe, sister Jean (Donnell), and father Andy (Clyde), come back to town with their medicine show, selling Andy tonic made with "secret ingredients." Jean and Curt used to know each other before he enlisted in the army, and a romance blooms between them as soon as Curt stops her runaway wagon. He pretends to have been injured in the process, but Jean quickly sees through his ruse, and they both enjoy it.
Brady gets a special charter with the town mayor to open the gambling joints up again as private clubs, undoing all of Curt's work. Curt realizes that the mayor is completely controlled by Brady, and that he himself will have to run for mayor in the upcoming election if the town will ever get cleaned up.
He starts his campaign against Smith, the old mayor whom Brady wants re-elected, and things are going good . . . until Jean decides to run, too.
Jean gets all the women voters on her side, and all the women get their husbands on their side, and Jean is pulling ahead in the campaign. Brady starts to worry that Jean could be elected, so he launches the story that her father has been cheating the townsfolk by selling them tonic that is nothing more than spring water and bitters.
The town abandons Jean, and the Warrens blame the story on Curt. Curt goes to talk to the Warrens, and Big Boy finds one of Brady's men and "convinces" him to tell the Warrens the truth. That puts Curt and the Warrens—especially Jean—on good terms again, and Curt thinks that the story about Andy's tonic may be less true than even Andy thinks.
Racing against the time because they need to be back before everyone votes, Curt and Big Boy ride into a neighboring town to have the tonic tested by a chemist. They are ambushed at along the way, but manage to lose their attackers and make it to town, unharmed. The chemist says that the tonic actually contains a mineral element "of great medicinal value," and that he will ride back to Crescent City to tell the folks there about the tonic.
Meanwhile, the Warrens, Lulu Belle, Deuce and his gang, and the Dinning Sisters are stalling for time. Just when they can't hold out any longer, and people start filing into the polling place, Curt, Big Boy, and the chemist ride up. They had a little trouble on the way in, but lost their assailants with the help of some nitrous oxide—aka laughing gas—and they are just in time to save the day.
The town turns against Brady, and Jean withdraws from the election. "I can't very well run against my future husband, who I'm sure will make you a very good mayor!" she says.
Curt gets sworn in as mayor, and the movie closes in song.
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| Curt being sworn in as sheriff |
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| Bad guys, Brady and Tom |
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| "Injured" Curt |
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| Hoosier Hotshots |
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| Lulu Belle and Big Boy |
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| Cleaning out a saloon |
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| The Dinning Sisters |
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| Curt singing during his campaign |
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| The End |
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Songs:
Some Days You Can't Make a Nickel (performed by the Hoosier Hotshots)
Never Tangle With Old John Law (written by Ken Curtis) (performed by Ken Curtis with Deuce Spriggens and His band, and the Plainsmen)
"Wait At the Gate For Me Katie" (performed by the Hoosier Hotshots)
Prairie Serenade (written by Ken Curtis and Lee Penny) (sung by Ken Curtis)
I Still Remember (sung by the Dinning Sisters)
Down the Trail to San Antone (written by Deuce Spriggens) (performed by Ken Curtis, Deuce Spriggens and His band, and the Plainsmen)
There'll Be Some Changes Made (written by Benton Overstreet and Billy Higgens) (performed by the Hoosier Hotshots)
When Payday Rolls Around (written by Bob Nolan) (performed by Deuce Spriggens and His band, the Plainsmen, and Carolina Cotton)
Valley of the Sun (written by Ted Grouya and Donald Kahn) (performed by the Dinning Sisters)
I'd Like to Be a Cowgirl But I'm Afraid of Cows (written by Mac Boyle and Van Ness) (performed by Carolina Cotton with Deuce Spriggens and His band)
"He Swung a Senorita" (performed by the Hoosier Hotshots)
Finale: Down the Trail to San Antone/ He Swung a Senorita (performed by Ken Curtis, Deuce Spriggens and His Band, the Plainsmen, and the Hoosier Hotshots)
*Songs titles in quotations marks are just guesses; the songs might be called something else.
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That Texas Jamboree is a 1946, Columbia studios film.
67 minutes running time.
Directed by: Ray Nazarro
Produced by: Colbert Clark
Screenwriter: J. Benton Cheney
Story by: Paul Gangelin
Director of Photography: George B. Meehan, Jr.
Film Editor: Aaron Stell
Set Decorations by: George Montgomery
Art Direction by: Charles Clague
Musical Director: Mischa Bakaleinikoff