Cow Country

Period piece. It's the 1870s, and the market for cattle prices is dropping like crazy. The people of garnet basin meet to come up with a plan. Unfortunately, everyone is still looking out for their own best interest. The banker, the shipper, the farmer, the cattle men. When things escalate, people start turning up dead. Someone is rustling cattle and selling the hides on the sly. Ed o'brien is ben, who's willing to take on the rustlers. If only someone will help him stand up to the thugs. We know there's going to be a big showdown at some point. The sound and picture quality are quite excellent. After the big grand start, this ends up as just another western. It's good, with no hokey, drunk sheriff that never goes after the bad guys. From allied artists. It's your typical western, but a little better. Story by curtis bishop. Directed by les selander, king of the westerns. O'brien was part of some pretty big films.. liberty valence, barefoot contessa, white heat. He won the oscar for contessa!

Though it's ingrained in me to love tiny westerns that ably coast on tropes and cliches, the more the better, this one just didn't get there. The novel idea of cattle men fighting amongst themselves was fascinating and held my interest to a degree, but it started to drag in subplots and one dimensional characters. Normally a real fave of mine, I found Edmond O'Brien uncharacteristically low key in this and absent for long stretches of the story. The three Roberts, Barrat, Lowery and especially Wilke steal the picture right out from under him. Barrat plays a wealthy entitled cattle baron and though he's supposed to be one of the ostensible good guys when all is said and done, he's nearly as reprehensible in his actions as Wilke's character who is typically cast as evil incarnate. Plus I was really bothered by a scene of our hero shooting someone in the back. Had this been an Anthony Mann western or a later Spaghetti or New Hollywood western, that could work, but in a 1953 low budget oater, it seemed out of place. Not that I don't mind defying genre conventions, but it just didn't sit well with me this time. Normally these films pass the clocks with ease on a lazy weekend afternoon, but I got antsy watching this one and felt encouraged to nitpick.

1875 crash in meat market usual cliché--the hidden (but obvious) baddie trying to take over; also the familiar cliché of the hot-headed boss and the loyal guy for no discernible reason.

This film is set in 1875 and apparently the market for beef has crashed. All the ranchers are in dire financial straights because of this. And, like about 75% of the westerns of the era, there is an evil boss-man who is trying EVERYTHING to destroy the ranchers. And, typical of this far over-used cliché, he has a private little army of thugs who steal cattle and kill in. Heck, before any of this occurred, I KNEW what was going on, as the baddie is Barton MacLane--who is almost ALWAYS the evil boss!!

"Cow Country" also has another cliché--not as over-used but still too familiar. There is the strong-willed rancher who won't listen to anyone (Robert Barrat). And, typical of this cliché, there is a nice guy who, in spite of this rancher's pig-headedness, is still very loyal and will do anything to help him (Edmond O'Brien).

Now if you haven't seen hundreds of westerns before, you may not notice these as very familiar characters. In this case, the film will probably be a lot better. All I could think was that I've seen most of this before (apart from the crash in the beef market). It's a shame, as O'Brien and Barrat were fine actors and were, frankly, better than the material they were given.

It Takes Imaginative Flourishes to Make a B-Movie Different from the Overwhelming Herd of "Oaters" from the '50's...God Knows there were so Many.

Here the Plot, at its Center, is a Black-Hole Hardly Mentioned in the Genre.

Instead of the "Cow-Pokes" Job of Herding and Working as Their Moniker Implies, the "Business" is in an Arena of Angst as the Demand for "Beef-On-The Hoof" is No-Longer Lucrative, with $$$$ Value Plummeting.

That's the "Some-Thing Different" Offered Here...

Along with the Recognizable, Prolific B-Movie Actors Riding the Range, which was a Main-Stay at the Bijou and its Saturday Matinee Throughout the 1950's. Flip-Flopping with its Popular Rival Alternative...the Sci-Fi Movie.

Leslie Selander was a B-Movie Specialist with a Proclivity for the Western and Crime Flicks, Compiling a Filmography of Near 150 Credits.

The Aforementioned Twist of the Recession in "Cow Country" (a memorable Title), also had an "Ace" Up its Sleeve...

Gorgeous Peggy Castle is Done-Wrong by the Overly-Handsome Robert Lowery (a Clark Gable look-alike), and Peggy's Vengeful Wrath-Whipping is a Sight-to-Behold as She makes Her Mark All Over His Face. An Extended-Scene that is Hard to Forget, especially circa 1953.

That Particular Piece of Business, Alone, Makes This...

Worth a Watch.

On Edmund O'Brien's birthday, 2012, Turner Classic Movies presented this movie hitherto unknown to me.

This is an astonishingly good movie, and for several reasons: It assembled some of the most talented actors in Hollywood; they were all good to even great actors (Mr. O'Brien, for example, is one of those rarities who is believable in any role, and anyone who is a good cowboy is, to me, at the top of his profession); the characters, except, of course, for the bad guys, were likable and often admirable; even the bad guys were well-rounded and believable.

There are two female leads, and both of them are good horse riders; both even know how to mount a horse, even in long skirts, as if they had been riding for years (and might have been; unfortunately, I haven't read their bios to know for sure). That is important for characters who are supposed to be natives to the West.

Don Beddoe has not only one of his best roles, he handles it beautifully. He shows he was an actor who deserved even more and even better roles.

Raymond Hatton was a veteran of movies back to the silent days. He too gives one of his best performances.

Robert Wilke also has one of his best roles, and also handles it beautifully. So often all he is allowed to do is walk on and get shot. Here his character is very integral to the entire plot. And, again, he shows he was very capable of more and bigger roles. (In our one conversation, he never expressed any regrets about his career. He might have been content or even happy. His auto license plate read, if I have the spelling right, "VILLEN." He was one of the best and one of the busiest of them.)

The writing and directing were good, if not perfect, and the only criticism I have is of the costuming. Even most of that was good, but one of the characters wore a Fredericks bra, which was popular in that era of film-making but actually deformed the female figure. (Just imagine Madonna as she so often appeared on stage.)

Otherwise, well, "Cow Country" is good enough for me to rate it a 9. I highly recommend it.