Two Guys from Texas Information

Two Guys from Texas is a 1948 musical comedy film starring Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson, and Dorothy Malone. The movie was directed by David Butler, written by Allen Boretz and I.A.L. Diamond, produced by Alex Gottlieb, and released by Warner Bros. Pictures on September 4, 1948. This was a follow-up to Two Guys from Milwaukee, also starring Morgan and Carson, which in turn was an attempt to capture some of the appeal of the Bing Crosby and Bob Hope Road pictures.

Bugs Bunny cameo appearance

The film is perhaps best remembered today for featuring an animated cameo appearance of cartoon character Bugs Bunny, voiced by Mel Blanc. Friz Freleng, Warner's leading animation director, was assigned to direct the special animated dream sequence, in which Bugs gives some advice to a caricatured Jack Carson.

While Bugs Bunny was not the star of the film, his appearance stands out as a landmark in his long career. Bugs would later have a similar cameo in 1949's My Dream Is Yours, which also starred Jack Carson.

Cast

Dennis Morgan ... Steve Carroll
Jack Carson ... Danny Foster
Dorothy Malone ... Joan Winston
Penny Edwards ... Maggie Reed
Forrest Tucker ... 'Tex' Bennett
Fred Clark ... Dr. Straeger
Gerald Mohr ... Link Jessup
John Alvin ... Jim Crocker
Andrew Tombes ... The Texan
Monte Blue ... Pete Nash
The Philharmonica Trio ... Specialty Act

Film connections

Animation historians have noted the similarities between the animated dream sequence in this film and the Looney Tunes cartoon Swooner Crooner (1944). The latter, directed by Friz Freleng's colleague Frank Tashlin, concerned Porky Pig trying to reacquire the female chickens of his farm from a Frank Sinatra-esque rooster, who is driving the chicks away from the farm.

The same year Two Guys from Texas was released, animation director Art Davis parodied the film's title with a Merrie Melodies cartoon called Two Gophers from Texas, starring Mac & Tosh, better known as The Goofy Gophers. The title was spoofed yet again for Freleng's 1956 cartoon Two Crows from Tacos.