Cowboy

I found this movie to be excellent. I think it did not find an audience because of its dark tone. It explores the concept of death in a unique way for a western. The light comedy interspersed was a nice relief. Definitely worth watching for any western fans. Glenn Ford was magnificent. Jack Lemmon, while showing his flair for comedy, was subtly profound. The movie itself is profound in a subtle way. We can relate to Lemmon's character easily-stuck in a boring job and wishing for something more. Finding something more however, doesn't bring the joy he thought it would. He changes and grows;his relationship with Ford is terrific. This is not a western that glorifies the life of the cowboy. Rather, you see the grim, hard life that tries to suck the sweetness of man out of him.

Cowboy is directed by Delmer Daves and adapted to screenplay by Edmund H. North and Dalton Trumbo from Frank Harris' book My Reminiscences as a Cowboy. It stars Glenn Ford, Jack Lemmon, Víctor Manuel Mendoza, Anna Kashfi, Dick York, King Donovan, Brian Donlevy and Richard Jaeckel. Music is by George Duning and cinematography by Charles Lawton Junior.

Based on Frank Harris' memoir, the story finds Lemmon as Harris, a Chicago hotel clerk who in an attempt to prove he is a man and impress the girl he loves, wrangles his way onto a cattle drive being led by rough and tough cowpoke Tom Reece (Ford). He soon finds that out there on the range, in amongst the dust, beef and perils of the west, that life is far from glamorous.

Once you buy into Lemmon as a Western character, accepting his transference from utter greenhorn into a man of the drive, it really becomes a very good film. It's a sort of debunking of the cowpoke myths whilst playing out as a character study of two men, who are polar opposites, as they build an understanding and ultimately help each other to grow and learn. Along the way, from Chicago to the Rio Grande, there is fights, death, stampedes and tests of loyalties and manhood. The great Delmer Daves directs it without fuss or filler (how nice that the romantic arc is rightly a side issue and doesn't get in the way) and Lawton's photography brings the sprawling landscapes to life.

Lead cast members are excellent, with Ford once again providing rich characterisation by way of layered acting, and Lemmon rises up to the challenge of genre work outside of what he would be known for. In support Donlevy is his usual excellent self, making what could have been a clichéd character (aging gunfighter wants to leave his past behind) interesting with emotional depth, and Mendoza as the Ramrod is good foil for Ford. There's some quibbles, such as Dick York hard to take seriously, Jaeckel and Strother Martin (uncredited) wasted and some of the humour doesn't come off. But this is a very enjoyable film, one that thrives on having some character depth and actually something worthy to say. 7.5/10

Jack Lemmon's second dramatic role and his only western was this bowdlerised version of Frank Harris' unreliable memoirs 'My Life Out West' which represented a further step in the move by Delmer Daves - a director incapable of making a dull film - from rugged outdoor fare to romantic melodramas when he took Lemmon out of his accustomed urban environment and teamed him with Glenn Ford; who later the same year himself made a memorable venture into comedy with 'The Sheepman'.

As might be expected much of the humour derives from Lemmon looking incongruous in a stetson, while in a supporting role Brian Donlevy is permitted rather more depth than usual.

Frank Harris was a hotel clerk who had always dreamed of becoming a ranch hand. When circumstances provided him with an opportunity, he did just that. The movie which is based on his real life exploit is called " Cowboy." In it Jack Lemmon plays Harris who buys a partnership with Cattle boss Tom Reese (Glen Ford) and is reluctantly hired on as a tenderfoot cowboy. Directed by Delmer Daves, Harris encounters all the hardships warn him by Tom Reese. What he further learns is the hard lessons concerning life and death on the trail. Reese is a hard brand who bestows the harsh lessons on his apprentice to such a degree, that what he develops into, is a replica of an uncaring, unsympathetic tough as leather trail hand. From an audience point of view, Ford fits comfortable in his role, but Lemmon seems a bit out of his element. Still, it's fun to watch as both men work to ply their craft. A good film with the addition of experienced cast members, like Brian Donlevy and Dick York. Recommended to Ford and Lemmon fans. ***

As one of the other reviewers pointed out, this whole film is based on a few lines of an autobiography where the protagonist Frank Harris joins a group of cattle RUSTLERS for a spell. So in fact that as tough as Glenn Ford and his crew are, at least they're on the right side of the law.

Also Frank Harris is probably best known for the first definitive life of Oscar Wilde. And Harris like Wilde was born in Ireland. Might have been nice if Jack Lemmon had played him with a brogue.

Another reviewer pointed out that Jack Lemmon did not fit into the western film. True enough, but in fact this is the story of a tenderfoot who goes on a cattle drive and has quite the adventure.

Still and all Cowboy is a pretty good realistic western about life on a cattle drive. These drovers aren't any kind of heroic, but they do the job that has to be done. Jack Lemmon's ideas about cowboys are taken from the dime novels of the period. He gets rid of his romantic notions, but fast.

Among the supporting cast Brian Donlevy comes off best as the world weary former town marshal who joins the drive to get away from his job and meets a tragic end.

Cowboy came out in 1958 which was the height of Glenn Ford's career. Ford did some of the best westerns of the 1950s and Cowboy ranks right up there.