Der große Zug nach Santa Fe

Solid script, good plot, strong performances - especially from the young Dean Stockwell - and superb scenery make for a very entertaining film. Nothing gimmicky in technique but solid and professional with a decent pace. Story has an excellent moral being the taming of a spoilt Eastern kid by a gang of experienced cowboys on a cattle drive. It is, however, not a typical kid's picture - it has a wide appeal and works for adults as well as children. Reviewed January 2001 on a very rare appearance on British television.

Young Dean Stockwell is one spoiled kid, but with his father Leon Ames running a railroad, he's hardly got time for the kid. After Dean gets lost on the New Mexico desert when his father's train stops to take on water, he's found by Joel McCrea who's the top hand of a Cattle Drive going to Sante Fe.

That Cattle Drive is the making of young Dean. Under the tutelage of Joel, the kid turns out to be quite a good hand.

If the story sounds familiar like everyone else who reviewed this film, we all noted the obvious similarity between Cattle Drive and Captains Courageous.

McCrea and Stockwell had worked well together before in Stars in My Crown for MGM the year before. Though Cattle Drive is a good film, I can't recommend Stars in My Crown highly enough.

Look also for a nice performance by Chill Wills as the cook on the drive. A man definitely good to stand in with as we learned in Monte Walsh.

There's no violence in Cattle Drive, there's no women in it either. We do learn Joel does have a girl friend as he shows a picture of Frances Dee to all who will look.

It's a shame that Cattle Drive is not out on VHS or DVD it's a perfect family film to rent.

Attractive Western with only a couple of shots , emotion and no blood-letting .Entertaining Western that seems to be a peculiar version to classic Captains Courageous by Víctor Fleming with Spencer Tracy . Concerns a lost boy : Dean Stockwell who missed himself at desert from the train of his father : Leon Ames . Then, a cowboy : Joel McCrea , meets the spoiled kid and he teaches him about cattle driving and to track down wild horses . Both of whom attempt to chase and tame a brave Mustang .The Story of the Grat Santa Fé Stampede¡

Nice and film with thrills , cattle drive and stimulating outdoors. Plenty of esplendor and animal fury , but no shootouts , only cattle drive and usual stampedes .This is a kind of alfresco charming tale , a refreshingly different movie , paying tribute to Joel McCrea and Víctor Fleming's Captains courageous .Here shows up a lot of wildlife with impressive Mustangs running across countries and mountains . These scenes about horses were later reused for other movies as Black Horse Canyon 1954 , this Cattle Drive and Fury series .

The picture was well starred by Joel McCrea as the expert cowboy , a world-wise person and wanna-be rancher . McCrea was a B actor , though he ocassionally played A films as Sullivan's Travels , The Most Dangerous Game , and Sam Peckinpah's Ride in High Sierra . Joel performed a lot of Westerns , as his interpretations are ideally suited for this genre , such as : Union Pacific , Buffalo Bill , The Virginian , Ramrod , South of Saint Louis , Four faces of the West , The Oklahoman . He is well accompanied by the always sympathetic and incombustible Chill Wills , Leon Ames as the wealthy railroad owner , Howard Petrie , Bob Steele , Harry Carey Jr , and the usually baddie Henry Brandon . And , of course , the prodigy child Dean Stockwell to follow a very long career as cinema as TV . The flick packs a luxurious , brilliant cinematography by Maury Gertsman and was well directed by Kurt Newman . Rating :6.5/10 . Worthwhile Watching .

Most Westerns, apart from comedies, are about conflicts- heroes versus villains, cavalry versus Indians, sheriff versus outlaws- which can only be settled by violence. "Cattle Drive", however, is different. It is the story of a spoilt teenager, Chester Graham Junior, the son of a millionaire railway tycoon, who is travelling through the West on one of his father's trains. When the trains stops briefly to take on water, Chester is accidentally left behind, but he is rescued by a gang of cowboys on a cattle drive. The men have no time to take him in search of his father; they insist that he must accompany them to their destination, Santa Fe, and that he must help them with their work if he wants to be fed. At first young Chester's arrogant and snobbish attitude alienates the men, but he soon learns the importance of humility, hard work and cooperation, and wins them over. One of the cowboys, Dan, becomes his special friend. Dean Stockwell makes a personable young hero, teaming up well with the veteran actor Joel McCrea. (McCrea tended to specialise in Westerns, although I always think of him as the hero of Hitchcock's "Foreign Correspondent").

The film is said to be based upon Kipling's sea-story "Captain's Courageous", but I must admit that I have never read that book or seen the 1937 film that was based on it. The plot, however, can be seen as a distilled and simplified version of the literary genre known as the "Bildungsroman", a German word which literally means "education novel" but which can also be translated as "novel of character formation". The basic plot of such a novel is "young man (or woman) learns important lessons about life", and Dickens's "Great Expectations" is a good English language example.

At just over an hour and a quarter it is a very short film, even by the standards of the time. It is, however, an example of two trends that were to mark the development of the Western in the fifties. Firstly, it is shot in colour against the background of some spectacular scenery, actually in Utah and California's Death Valley, although the action supposedly takes place in New Mexico. The generic "Wild West town" set used for Santa Fe bears little resemblance to the real city of that name. Secondly, there is a greater emphasis on character than on action, although there are some exciting scenes of a cattle stampede and a sub-plot about Dan's attempts, with Chester's help, to capture and tame a wild black stallion. There is nothing particularly deep or significant about the film; some much better character-driven Westerns, such as "The Naked Spur" and "The Big Country" were to be made over the next few years. By these standards "Cattle Drive" is a lesser Western, but it is still a watchable and entertaining one. 6/10

The lost genre being the good, challenging family/children's movie.

There were many series Westerns, and later TV variants like Cisco and Hoppy, but "Cattle Drive" is a lovely example of a cinema Western movie for kids but also to be enjoyed by the family. Shortish but with barely a false or draggy moment.

From the reviews already logged, it's obviously warmly remembered by those who saw it as children when it first came out.

Here in the UK it has been shown several times in the last few years and, as I write (March 2012) it's getting consecutive airings on a free to view digital channel.

No surprise: it's a terrific little film, one of two or three in similar vein that McCrea made around that time.

Joel McCrea obviously had an affinity with children, but, then again, wasn't he just a marvellous actor in whatever he did?

To the many points mentioned by the reviewers I would add another-the wonderful music.