Main Cast: Dean Martin, Alain Delon, Rosemary Forsyth, Joey Bishop, Tina Marquand
Release Year: 1966
Country: US
Run Time: 101 minutes
Plot
Dean Martin stars as an amiable gunrunner in the tongue-in-cheek western Texas Across the River. Martin teams up with fugitive from justice Alain Delon, a Spanish nobleman engaged to the beautiful Rosemary Forsyth. Amidst several Indian attacks, hairbreadth escapes and wild chases, Martin does his utmost to steal Rosemary away from Delon. If you were entertaining thoughts of taking this thing seriously, please bear in mind that Joey Bishop co-stars as a very urban-looking Indian. Watch for future character star Richard Farnsworth as a Native American medicine man. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Alexander Golitzen - Art Director, William D. de Cinces - Art Director, Helen Colvig - Costume Designer, Rosemary Odell - Costume Designer, Vincent Dee - Costume Designer, Michael Gordon - Director, Gene Milford - Editor, Frank De Vol - Composer (Music Score), Joseph E. Gershenson - Musical Direction/Supervision, Sammy Cahn - Songwriter, Jimmy Van Heusen - Songwriter, Bud Westmore - Makeup, Russell Metty - Cinematographer, Harry Keller - Producer, James S. Redd - Set Designer, John McCarthy - Set Designer, Buzz Henry - Stunts, Robert "Buzzy" Henry - Stunts, Wells Root - Screenwriter, Ben Starr - Screenwriter, Harold R. Greene - Screenwriter
The film opens with the marriage of Phoebe Ann Naylor (Rosemary Forsyth) to Don Andrea Baldazar, El Duce de la Casala (Alain Delon) in Louisiana. The festivities are broken up with the arrival of Yancey Cottle (Stuart Anderson) and his relatives, who form a U.S. cavalry unit under the command of Cottle's cousin, Captain Rodney Stimpson (Peter Graves). When Cottle is killed Don Andrea is charged with murder, he flees, promising to meet up with Phoebe Ann across the river in Texas, not yet a U.S. state. In the wake of the failed wedding, Phoebe Ann is sent to Texas to lie low until the scandal blows over, her wagon train is helped by Sam Hollis (Dean Martin) and his Indian sidekick, Kronk (Joey Bishop). Along the way, Hollis gets separated from the wagon train and meets up with Don Andrea, whom he calls Baldy, and the two form an antagonistic relationship, as well as a love-triangle with Phoebe Ann, made more complex by the Indian maiden Loneta (Tina Aumont), and the men's attempts to keep a Comanche raiding party at bay.
Although available in Region 2DVD, the film was never released in North American Region 1 and the VHS version is long out of print. The title song for the film, also known as "Texas Across the River", was written by Sammy Cahn and James Van Heusen and performed by The Kingston Trio.[1]
