Released in 1966, "Texas Across the River" is a Western parody that takes place in 1845, starting at the Louisiana wedding of debutante Phoebe Ann Naylor (Rosemary Forsyth) to Don Andrea (Alain Delon), a Spanish nobleman. When the wedding is interrupted by Cavalry men (e.g. Stuart Anderson & Peter Graves), Don Andrea flees across the river to Texas, where he hooks up with Sam Hollis (Dean Martin) and his Native pal, Kronk (Joey Bishop), who are delivering weapons to Moccasin Flats. Don Andrea soon saves a Native lass, Lonetta (Tina Aumont), which attracts the attentions of a Comanche war party (Michael Ansara, Linden Chiles, etc.). Meanwhile the cavalry are hot on their trail. You have to be in the right mode to enjoy "Texas Across the River," as it's full of mid-60's goofy humor (think Gilligan's Island or I Dream of Jeanie in the Old West). I personally chuckled from beginning to end and enjoyed it more than "Support Your Local Sheriff" (1969). It's just a fun movie with a great cast and locations, not to be taken seriously.Speaking of which, one notable critic lambasted the movie for having Bishop play Hollis' Indian sidekick. I guess he didn't get the joke: The movie's poking fun at all the Westerns that used obvious white folk to play Natives; it's the same thing with Aumont playing the Indian cutie, who looks anything but Native American. Directed by Michael Gordon, the movie was a fair hit at the box office. It runs 101 minutes and was shot in Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, Universal City & San Diego, California. GRADE: B

Starting out I didn't know what to make of this Western. Joey Bishop as an Indian? It had to be the first time he rolled his eyes that I figured out the writers were playing it strictly for laughs here, with Dean Martin leading the charge in this funny Western parody. The Cheyenne Indian tribe in particular cracked me up every time Yellow Knife (Linden Chiles) referred to his father Iron Jacket (Michael Ansara) as 'Dad'. Nothing is safe from the writers' satirical pen in this flick, even the Cavalry gets a workout with Peter Graves leading his soldiers with that non-sensical call to arms that sounded like 'Ha-Roar - Har!' every time they changed direction. I can only imagine what the outtakes for this picture must have been like. To their credit, Rat-Packers Martin and Bishop managed to keep a straight face pretty much throughout the story, but I bet they had to shoot a fair share of scenes more than once to get beyond the hysterics.Best gag - Sam Hollis (Martin) to Kronk (Bishop) - "Why weren't you born a Comanche?" Kronk - "Mother run too fast!" 'Suna Mah Gun'.

When this film was made back in 1966,I don't think there was a "genre"of film parodies,I guess they just called them "comedies".Well welcome to the earliest western comedy I can remember.Even before"Blazzing Saddles"which I consider the gold standard of western comedy.Except for some very poor editing and super imposing,its a well made film.That might be my only complaint.There are many funny Texas jokes and some funny if a little politically incorrect,lines as well. But the real fun is the casting of Dean Martin and Alan Delon,both of whom played serious roles in major westerns.Martin earlier in "Rio Bravo" and Delon later in "Red Sun".You also have to LOVE Peter Graves as Capt. Stimpson in a hint to the comedy yet to come from this fine actor.Even Joey Bishop as a Indian named Kronk is low key funny.Finally Michael Ansara as Iron Jacket,a Comanche chief is funny.The rest of the cast works well also.So if your looking for a good funny western parody and have already seen "Saddles"check it out.It's worth a few laughs. Especially jokes about that"poison black water"

This is a great fun movie that was released during the mid sixties wave of western spoofs. It has some jokes which fall a bit flat with 40 years of distance, but all comedy has a very short shelf life. In fact, there are gags in this film that not only stand the test of time, they amaze me at how well written and ahead of there time they seem to be. I love the cavalry orders being unintelligible. I love the Indians not getting anything right. I love Joey Bishop. The writers were very hip to western clichés, and took some brilliant unexpected turns with the script. It may not be a perfect movie, but if you love a good western spoof, then this is a great movie! Uh - ruhr - hur!