Canyon River

This 1956 Western is short and sweet (it's 80 mins). The plot is a little more complicated than many other minor westerns like this. Geo. Montgomery is a rancher who wants to cross-breed some cattle to make them heartier for the frigid Wyoming winters. He goes to Oregon with his ranch foreman (Peter Graves) to bring back some good breeding stock. But on the way to Ore. Graves gets shot up pretty bad by some horse-stealing Indians and is left behind at a lady's residence to recover (played by Marcia Henderson). What Montgomery doesn't know is before he left for Oregon good old P.G. had him set up for slaughter on the way back so he could steal the herd and along with an unscrupulous businessman and his slimy henchman (Walter Sande and Robert J. Wilke) set themselves up in the ranching business. But there are yet more complications to come on the road to ranching happiness . . . but you'll have to see the movie to find out the rest.

UPDATE: This movie was released on DVD by Warner Home Video on 3/23/09, but I've still got my long out-of-print videocassette of CANYON RIVER on the old Allied Artists Video Corporation label.

"Canyon River" is a remake of "The Longhorn", a film I have not yet seen...so I cannot compare the two. However, if it's close to being as good as "Canyon River", it's well worth your time.

Steve (George Montgomery) is a cattleman with vision. Instead of the usual longhorn cattle, he wants to bring in some new breed to improve the quality and value of the meat. However, this means driving the cattle from Oregon to Wyoming...a HUGE distance. But there are two problems he doesn't foresee. First, his foreman and best friend, Bob (Peter Graves), is a jerk down deep and has arranged to betray Steve to a crooked rancher, Maddox. The plan is to steal the cows and divide them between Bob and Maddoc...and Steve has no idea he's going to be betrayed. To make things worse, once they arrive in Oregon, Steven can't find hands willing to make the long drive. In desperation, he hires a tough group of ex-outlaws and troublemakers. So, you assume, one way or another...Steve is screwed. See the film...see what happens.

This film has several things going for it. First, Montgomery is excellent in the lead...more believable and less bulletproof than the usual cowboy hero. His character is also written very well. Second, the supporing characters are really good...with Marcia Henderson and Alan Hale, Jr. Providing great support. The same can be said for Graves...though seeing him in a western sure feels odd! Overall, a surprisingly good and effective film...one I really liked.

Canyon River (AKA: Cattle King) is directed by Harmon Jones and written by Daniel B. Ullman. It stars George Montgomery, Marcia Henderson, Peter Graves, Richard Eyer, Walter Sande, Robert J. Wilke and Alan Hale Jr. A CinemaScope/De Luxe Color production, music is by Marlin Skiles and cinematography by Ellsworth Fredricks.

Montgomery plays rancher Steve Patrick, who along with his mischievous foreman Bob Andrews (Graves), embarks on a lucrative cattle drive from East to West along the Oregon Trail. What Steve doesn't know is that there are plans afoot to relieve him of everything.

Standard Oater this one but never boring and as a production it looks very nice indeed. The problem mainly is that it gets caught between two aims, it clearly wants to portray the harshness of a cattle drive and build suspense by way of back stabbing ideals and group dynamic pressures, but it never utilises the plot possibilities.

The set-up is fine, Steve Patrick is a top man, a guy you want on your side, but the only cattle hands he can raise for the job are outlaws and ruffians. Led by George Lynch (Hale Jr.) they are one of the most none threatening bunch of crims to grace a 50s Western! There's some expected problems on the trail, but when the biggest gripe from the tough guys is that they have no meat to eat, you know that peril is in short supply.

With Janet Hale (Henderson) and her young son Chuck (Eyer) joining the trail as cook and aspiring cowboy respectively, there's the inevitable romantic strand slotted into proceedings, complete with absent father yearnings. Again this is pretty much wasted as a chance to put some bite into the tale, this in spite of the rumbling love triangle arc. Action is in short supply, with a little gun play, a fist-fight and some stampede control briefly raising the pulse, while the villains are only peripheral characters (a shame to see Wilke underused).

Yet for all its missed opportunities, the story is a good one. The basis of driving cattle the wrong way as opposed to the norm, and in Winter time as well, is interesting. As is the fact that Steve is cross-breeding the cattle to withstand the Winter months, with the commodity of beef being crucial to the cowboy's livelihood. There's clearly some thought gone into the screenplay, even if the makers forgot to add suspense to the tantalising threads that they dangle throughout. 6/10

George Montgomery is Steve Patrick, a cattle rancher with a plan to create a new, improved crossbreed that will be hardy enough to withstand the unforgiving Wyoming winters. But first he must drive his herd of cattle to his Wyoming ranch. The problem is that no respectable cattle hand is interested in travelling into the bad weather out of season, so he's forced to hire a band of ne'er-do-wells. What he doesn't realise is that his best friend Bob (Peter Graves) is planning to double-cross him by engineering an ambush at the eponymous Canyon River with the local bad guy when the drive is nearly over. Added into the mix is the comely widow (Marcia Henderson) with a young son whom both Steve and Bob fall for, thus stirring Bob's resentment of his friend even further.

Canyon River is one of those modest Western programmers that have no pretensions of artistic merit but which simply strive to tell a straightforward story in as efficient and economical a way possible. The story is fairly unusual for this kind of film. There's not that much gunplay, as the plot focuses more on the simmering tensions that exist between Steve, Bob and Janet and the band of rogues led by cuddly Alan Hale Jr. Chances are you've probably never come across such a lacklustre band of outlaws as this bunch; Montgomery's character only has to give Hale a few smacks across the chops to win his undying loyalty, and the rest of the crew only pay attention to the fetching young widow when she's dishing up chow on the trail. It's this lack of any prominent bad guys – Bob is essentially a good guy gone temporarily astray – that robs what is otherwise a decent little movie of the level of suspense it needs.

Harmon Jones was not a great director by an efficient one, providing solid material. This one is certainly not his best, because without any major surprises and too many things already seen one billion times before. It is fast paced, taut, shot in beautiful settings. Peter Graves and George Montgomery characters don't bring much but that remains entertaining for an excellent B western.