Two Guys from Texas

Down-on-their-luck song-and-dance duo Steve Carroll (Dennis Morgan) and Danny Foster (Jack Carson) run out of gas in what seems like the middle of the Texas wilderness. Fortunately, a tony dude ranch is a short walk ahead. A chance meeting with an old friend, singer Maggie Reed (Penny Edwards), gets the boys a job there. When their auto is stolen and with empty wallets, the two settle into ranch life as "house performers," sharing the stage there with Maggie. Danny and the pretty, perky blonde appear to have an eye for one-another. Inveterate womanizer Steve immediately puts his best moves on knockout ranch owner Joan Winston (Dorothy Malone). Danny has an uncontrollable fear of animals, which keeps cropping up everywhere he goes: big, small, live or stuffed, they all throw him into a panic. Steve sets up Danny with Dr. Straeger (Fred Clark) to get some analysis. Maggie warns Joan that Steve's a lothario, and not to fall for his tricks. Still, she does ... hard enough to end up in a stressful tug-of-war with her emotions. Meanwhile, a stout and homely middle-aged Indian woman keeps getting hold of Danny by the arm and trying to drag him off for "romance." He is lucky each time to escape. Unfortunately for Steve, Straeger's prescription for Danny is that he must steal away one of Steve's girlfriends, as his fear of animals is merely a displaced fear of women. Danny sets himself to it, and makes surprising headway first time out with Joan. One good kiss from her - that leads to a few from him - is enough: he's cured! But now has a new itch that needs scratching. Along the way, a couple of crooks staying at the ranch use the duo's stolen car for a getaway in a robbery, framing the song-men. Jailed, Steven and Danny escape, and set to clearing themselves. This isn't easy, because the town sheriff, tall, handsome Tex Bennett (Forrest Tucker), is Joan's beau; lathered up by Steve's advances toward her, he's hot on their trail. The next day is the Big Rodeo, and the bandits press their luck by attempting to hold up its box office. Just evading Tex and his clambering posse, Danny ends up trapped atop a bucking bronco - and setting a new world's record for riding one. Before Tex can round Steve up, he spots the bandits and captures them in the act single-handedly. The town-folks' money is saved, and everything simmers down. Realizing he's been bested, Tex gracefully bows out and surrenders Joan to Steve. Danny immediately turns to Maggie, expecting they can pick up where at least she had left off. Nothing doing! She's fallen for the gentlemanly hunk wearing the badge and pledged herself to him. Left out, with no fear either of animals or women, Danny is crestfallen. Once again the persistent silo-sized squaw appears, tugging him by the arm. This time she manages to hang on, pointing him toward her gorgeous young daughter posing alluringly nearby, all curves and pouty lips. In the blink of an eye, Danny's in a clinch and the two are smooching up a storm. Credits roll before censors have to intervene.