Conagher

First, let me say, for you "Conagher" fans out there, it has finally been released on DVD, in May 2005, by Warner Home Video.

Second, on behalf of my wife, this is her favorite western of all time.

And she has seen a bunch of them!

In addition to being a cowboy movie, it's a romance. A realistic one, too. Katherine Ross' strong female character provides an excellent counterpoint to Elliot's rough cowboy ways.

Sam Elliot gives his finest performance, I think. He certainly seems to be having fun while doing it, too.

In many ways, this movie reminds me of "Will Penny", another fine western, starring Charlton Heston. If you liked "Will Penny", you will like "Conagher".

This was a solid lower-key Louis L'Amour-written western, meaning a little bit less action than the normal film of its genre. The action scenes they did have in here were short, too.

This is mainly a movie with several stories weaved in it: 1 - Cowhands slowly being sifted out as the times change and they are no longer needed; 2 - traitors among the main group, men who go to a competing gang of rustlers; 3 - a story of a lonely widow who has to take care of two kids after he husband disappears (killed).

Katharine Ross is the mother ("Evie Teale") who turns cook at a lonely stagecoach stop that also is being eliminated. She is a good woman, and it's nice to see the female star of "Butch Cassidy And the Sundance Kid" still looking good out there is the prairie over 20 years later. Also refreshing to see was her young boy "Laban," one of the nicest, most respectful kids I've ever seen on film: the exact opposite of the many brats I've seen on film in the last quarter of the 20th century. Cody Braun was excellent as the son, and, that's the only movie role he ever played.

The man "Evie" eventually falls for is the hero of the film, "Conagher," played by Sam Elliott. If anyone in the modern era of films ever looked like he was born to play a cowboy, it has to be Elliott. He has the weathered looks and the voice that go perfectly with westerns.

Overall, this is another beautifully-photographed, nice story and a real "keeper" for those who love a good fim of this genre.

This is one of the best "true Westerns" ever, a tribute to the faithfulness of the makers to the book, and the labor of love done by the makers (Sam Elliott and Catherine Ross themselves). Sam and Catherine stuck to the text for the script, despite PC pressures to change some scenes.

The depth of love and respect for the original is also conveyed by the gracious touch of having Louis L'Amour's daughter portraying the starting-over former saloon girl stuck in the Indian battle at the stage station. The casting is near-perfect, even if most of them were the Elliott's good friends (and several were in Sam's other films).

The realistic look at ranch hand life strikes chords of memory with Monty Walsh. The action scenes were more reality-based than the 50's through 70's Westerns, such as the primitive look of the final saloon fight scene. And the costumes look straight out of a Matthew Brady photo book of a Western settlement, with the characters showing the dirt and grit which true pioneers experienced.

The developing love story between Con and Evie is beautifully captured by the camera, often without a word, as "the eyes tell the story". Ross plays the part perfectly of the dutiful, faithful frontier wife. And you "feel her pain" as she struggles with loneliness, and his as he struggles with an identity crisis and feelings of inadequacy to be the husband of a woman so noble. Sam deserved the Golden Globe for Best Actor he won, with a quietly powerful portrayal of the honest cowpoke.

All in all, a delightful and classically beautiful story of the Old West. I grew up in one of the last Western towns to "go modern", a real cow town which experienced some of the last (and biggest) gun battles in US history. This movie made me proud to be from my home area.

If you think you see some similarity between this film and the John Wayne classic western Hondo you're a sharp person. That's because both were written by Louis L'Amour and both have a cowboy hero aiding a woman alone on the frontier with her children.

Katherine Ross plays the woman who has a small ranch that also serves as a stagecoach station.. But that small amount of base income is about to be cut off as a new station is being built, As for her ranch, Ross's husband is gone for some months now on a cattle buying trip with no word when or if he's returning.

Sam Elliott is our title character hero and he's riding line for Ken Curtis's ranch and doing his best to keep thieves off the range. Curtis is beset by rustlers and Elliott does get tempted to look the other way. But like Hondo Lane, Conagher is your straight up cowboy hero, the kind we seldom see in our more cynical age.

Real life marrieds Sam Elliott and Katherine Ross have some tender scenes as she and he would like to get together. But as long as the missing husband's status is still missing they will be true to their moral code.

The supporting cast has a several familiar western faces. My favorite is Barry Corbin the stagecoach driver who even with his company not subsidizing Ross, he has a great personal concern for Ross and her kids.

Conagher answers in a positive way the question of whether we see westerns like we used to see. Most affirmatively with this one.

What can you say when something's perfect?

This movie is a love song to the west and to the man who made us love it too, Louis L'Amour. They got it all RIGHT in this one ... the script, the breathtaking cinematography, the casting, the acting, the costumes, the sets, the scenery, the direction, and the overall feel of the piece. And the frosting on the cake is that the book comes alive here, respectfully and faithfully transfered to film.

We see the tough and solitary life of a cowpuncher as it was, the dirt, the sweat, the never ending dust, the loneliness, no punches pulled. It exudes values and ethics while never preaching, and it shows the courage of one woman alone with children in the west. It's a tribute, a slice of history, a love story, and a lesson in standing up for what's right. Mostly it's just plain beautiful.

I think the thing that impresses me most about this movie is the casting ... not only the leads and supporting players, but the casting right down to the smallest bit part. And none of the roles are more perfectly cast than those of the children who manage to transcend time from now to then. The rest of the supporting cast reads like a Who's Who of American Westerns ... Barry Corbin, Ken Curtis, Buck Taylor, Dub Taylor ... and the newcomers here hold their own well in this distinguished bunch.

I try not to watch this movie more than once a year. That's difficult for me because I miss it between viewings like I miss an old friend. And every time I rewatch it my heart yearns to return to the west. This film is easily in a class with "Will Penny," and can stand proudly with any western ever made. Watch it.

PS: Yeah, it's got plenty of action too.