Donde se forjan los hombres

I've only seen "Culpepper Cattle Company" once. That was in a cheap theater in Tokyo in 1973 that showed three different films for the one admission price of 350 yen, which at that time was the dollar equivalent of about $1.50. For the past 30 years I have been waiting for it to come around again, come out on video, or appear on television. One of the co-features in the theater that day was "Bad Company" with Jeff Bridges and John Savage. That is another underrated film which has never returned. What fascinated me about "Culpepper Cattle Company" was its escalation in gritty cussedness. We start out with two wild boys recklessly racing wagons. One of them joins these seemingly foul mouthed, onery lot of cowboys. On the trail a couple of even morally worse characters steal the boys horse. But the cowboys are more intimidating than they are, so they give the horse back. Then, the cowboys encounter a farmer with his hands as back up who are even more threatening than the cowboys, especially since the farmers have the drop on them. These foul mouthed, gritty, onery cowboys are, by comparison, looking better all the time. They even give up their lives so that some pilgrims can settle down in peace. And finally, we see who is absolutely the WORST in depravity. It's the pilgrims who, to add insult to injury, won't lift a hand to bury the cowboys who have given their lives for them since they have this sanctimonious thing against having anything to do with people who engage in violence.

This is an unduly neglected work that sank quickly into audience oblivion - the Vietnam seventies were not a good time for Westerns. True to the iconoclasm of the period, the producers set out to debunk the mystique of the cattle drive, and in the process take a big swipe at that arch-romancer of the Old West, John Ford. They only half-succeed. Put simply, their stab at realism is undone by too much gunplay, too much blood, and way too much conventional violence. Staples of the ordinary Western, their presence here only serves to reinforce the usual clichés. Much better when the story-telling cowboy refuses Geoffrey Lewis's challenge by quitting the drive, saying a gunfight over trifling matters makes no sense. That's certainly no cliché. The role reversal at movie's end is stunning, given what Hollywood has led us to expect. Nevertheless, it works by bringing out a latent code of honor that at times can guide even the most brutal among us. Here Ford is trumped by Kurosawa. There are many fine touches in the movie. Billy "Green" Bush is totally convincing as the ruthless trail boss; Gary Grimes, appropriately callow; and the four gunsels, alternately abusive and sullen, while Geoffrey Lewis's cold-eyed stare bespeaks a lifetime of casual cruelty. Not the best of anti-Westerns, but deserves consideration.

Had I seen "The Culpepper Cattle Company" when it was released (I was 23), my life would have been a lot different; at least, if I'd understood and accepted the message. For, "The Culpepper Cattle Company" is about as bleak and realistic as any movie ever made. Gary Grimes plays a teenager with romantic, adventuresome ideas about cowboys. He learns, tragically, something completely different, after working for a short time on a cattle drive. Grimes doesn't just learn the usual lessons; that is, the work is exhausting, dirty, always dangerous and frequently unrewarding. He learns that most causes and people are treacherous, deceitful, selfish and certainly not worth dieing or killing for. Grimes also learns a lot about himself; some of which he probably didn't want to know.

There are a lot of fine performances in "The Culpepper Cattle Company," but Geoffrey Lewis makes the strongest impression. Lewis has such crazy blue eyes, it's no surprising producer Sergio Leone tapped him for head villain in "My name is Nobody" and Eastwood did the same for "High Plains Drifter." Here, Lewis plays a man who, under different circumstances, was probably quite decent. Now, he's just mean spirited and dangerous.

"The Culpepper Cattle Company" also boasts excellent production design, gritty photography and classic, memorable score by the beloved Jerry Goldsmith. Just don't expect to leave this movie feeling upbeat, inspired or even sad. You're more likely to feel slightly depressed. That being said, I give "The Culpepper Cattle Company" an "8".

This first-rate Western draws its riveting tale and power from the interaction of finely drawn roles as well as adventure and action . Good and enjoyable western with a great casting and a sensational starring , teenager Gary Grimes , in a coming-of-age story . This exciting film packs Western action , go riding , thrills , emotion , shoot-outs and results to be quite entertaining . It contains a magnificent main cast as Gary Grimes , Billy Green Bush facing off bandits and a tough land baron ; in addition , a top-drawer support cast as Luke Askew , Bo Hopkins , Geoffrey Lewis , Royal Dano , Gregory Sierra , Matt Clark , Jerry Gatlin , Anthony James and film debut of Charles Martin Smith . This is a nice flick containing a little bit of charming humor about naively adolescent , friendship , violence in Sam Peckinpah style and sense of comradeship among people . It's a sympathetic western , with a beautiful cinematography , glamorous scenery and great soundtrack . It deals with a young adolescent farmboy named Ben Mockridge (Gary Grimes) who always wanted to be a cowhand talks a two-fisted trail boss (Billy Green Bush)into hiring him on a cattle drive . Soon after, though, the teen finds out existence on the range is neither what he expected nor what he's been wishing . As Ben Mockridge feels life in a Wild West farm town has nothing better to offer , as he only enjoys horse-cart racing with his friends , so he begs cattle company owner Frank Culpepper to engage him as youngest cowboy for a long cattle trail and his mummy barely notices . He then is hired for the dangerous journey that turns out to be worst than expected , suffering hard-working activities , stampede , robbing , gun-play and many other things .

Formidable Western full of action , fascinating drama , cattle round-up , crossfire and fabulous performances . It's a wonderful adventure film format "western" itinerant, filled with entertaining events , danger and life lessons . This exciting film packs good feeling as friendship , faithfulness , companionship and violent as well as touching scenes on the final . The screenplay is plain and simple, with a conventional plot , but ultimately gets overcome . Gorgeous outdoors with decent production design by Carl Anderson and Walter Scott who takes a secondary role . Filmmaker gets to remain the Western emotion , moving scenes and suspense until the ending . The young starring player Gary Grimes (Summer of 42, Class of 44)is phenomenal , his role as an ingenuous teenager is top-notch , he performed similar character as a naive cowboy in other films (The Spikes gang and Marshal Cahill) ; however , he virtually disappeared without much trace and nowadays is retreated and working as a teacher . And there shows off Charles Martin Smith at the beginning of the movie , both of whom played together in ¨The Spikes gang ¨as two young gunfighters , Charles will have too much success on the future as a prestigious secondary (Starman, Untouchables) and a good filmmaker .

Cool cinematographer Ralph Woolsey prowls his camera splendidly through some wonderfully seedy , deserted and rocky settings . Evocative and atmospheric musical score by the great Jerry Goldsmith. This agreeable Western was well directed by Dick Richards , recreating compellingly this thrilling story ; being debut of Richards and whose best movie resulted to be ¨Farewell my lovely¨ . Furthermore , before entering the film industry , Dick Richards was a contributing photographer for Life magazine , subsequently turning into filmmaking . Dick is a good craftsman who has directed a few films but of great quality , such as this ¨The Culpepper Cattle¨ , ¨Death valley¨ , ¨Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins ¨ and ¨March or die¨ which along with ¨The Culpepper Cattle Co¨ were both financed by the great producer of blockbusters Jerry Bruckheimer . Besides , Dick found the script for 'Tootsie' and co-produced it with Sydney Pollack . Rating : above average , essential and indispensable watching for Western genre fans .

I feel this is possibly the best Western I have ever seen. It portrays gritty people with simple outlooks to life. I believe this must truly show what the west was like - simple, rough, dirty, bad fitting clothes, etc. I was raised on Disney movies and when you compare this to them you get a real feel for what happens when a kid decides to chase a dream in the world of adults. My favorite line is when the kid tells one of the cowboys that being a cowboy is the greatest job in the world. The guy responds, " Kid, being a cowboy is what you do when you can't do anything else".

I suggest this as required viewing for anyone with an interest in the Old West.