Texas Carnival (1949) / Z-View

Texas Carnival (1949)

Director:  Charles Walters

Screenplay by:  Dorothy Kingsley, George Wells (story)

Starring:  Esther Williams, Red Skelton, Howard Keel, Ann Miller, Keenan Wynn, Paula Raymond,
Tom Tully and Glenn Strange

Tagline:  FOR THE MILLIONS WHO LOVED “THE GREAT CARUSO” AND “SHOW BOAT” ANOTHER BIG MGM MUSICAL!

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Cornie Quinell (Skelton) and his partner, Debbie Telford (Williams) run the dunk tank at the Texas carnival.  When Cornie sees a drunk man (Wynn) being taken advantage of by two of the carnies, Cornie comes to his rescue.  It turns out the drunk is Dan Sabinas, a rich cattleman.  Dan tries to give Cornie several thousand dollars for his help.  Cornie refuses the cash.  The Dan tries to give him his car.  Again Cornie refuses and instead gets drunken Dan into a cab to take him home.  As the cab leaves, Dan invites Cornie to visit the hotel he’s staying in.

Cornie and Debbie drive Dan’s car to the hotel where Cornie is mistaken for the rich cattleman.  Because of Dan’s invite they stay in his hotel suite waiting for Dan to arrive. Cornie meets Sunshine Jackson and a mutual attraction develops, meanwhile Debbie and Dan’s foreman, Slim Shelby (Keel) begin to hit it off.  Cornie ends up loosing $17,000 in a high stakes poker game meant for Dan.

When Dan arrives, he’s sobered up and doesn’t remember meeting Cornie! Cornie has a plan though…

Texas Carnival rates 3 of 5 stars.