4 for Texas

4 for Texas (1963)

The far out story of the far west

In the 1870s, two rival businessmen, Zack Thomas and Joe Jarrett, on a stagecoach heading to Galveston, Texas, must pull together to protect $100,000 from an outlaw named Matson. Once in Galveston, however, their rivalry continues, as Thomas joins up with Elya Carlson and Jarret with Maxine Richter. But Matson is still on the loose, and a scheming banker threatens both Thomas and Jarrett.

Date of release
1963-12-21
TMDB
5.2 / 10 (63)
Runtime
2h 4m
Genres
Comedy, Western
Director
Robert Aldrich

Casting

Interesting facts

4 for Texas is a 1963 American comedy Western film starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Anita Ekberg and Ursula Andress, Charles Bronson and Mike Mazurki, with a cameo appearance by Arthur Godfrey and the Three Stooges. The film was written by Teddi Sherman and Robert Aldrich, who also directed.

Production

Robert Aldrich announced the film in November 1960 as Two for Texas, based on a script by Teddi Sherman. The proposed stars were Lisa Kirk, Martine Carol and Aldo Ray. Aldrich later said that he wrote the first draft of the script but "you could change that over and over and it was still a disaster." Eventually, Aldrich and Sherman shared the writing credit.

In January 1963, Dean Martin signed to star in the film. Warner Bros., which had just released Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? with Aldrich, agreed to finance. In March, Frank Sinatra agreed to costar. This meant the film would be a coproduction among Warner Bros., the Associates and Aldrich (Aldrich's company), Claude Productions (Martin's company) and Essex Productions (Sinatra's company). The film credited the Sam Company, Sinatra and Martin.

The producers had hoped to cast Gina Lollobrigida in a leading role, but she declined. At one stage, the role of Elya was intended for Sophia Loren, who had already worked with Sinatra in The Pride and the Passion. Although she was offered $1,000,000 for four weeks of work, Loren also declined. In May 1963, Ursula Andress joined the cast, and the film was retitled Four for Texas.

At one stage, Bette Davis was scheduled to make a cameo appearance. A role had also been written for Peter Lawford, but after Sinatra expelled Lawford from the Rat Pack, Lawford's role was excised.

Filming began in May 1963 in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio with color processed by Technicolor.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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