Raça Brava

Entertaining and pleasant western comedy with acceptable interpretation, though no much action . It stars the great James Stewart as an ageing cowboy hand who helps two English women , as he is still looking for a deep dream and blazing with determination . As a ranch hand agrees to escort a Hereford bull to Texas where the widow of an English breeder , the prissy Mauren O'Hara, and daughter , Juliet Mills , plan to crossbreed the big bull with longhorn cattle . Stewart acquires a a fanatical belief on the potential of the bull and he sets out in blizzard to prove it .

Amusing Western comedy including action , stampede , thrills , shootouts , fights , human as well as warm roles and a love story . The plot is plain and simple , as a widow insists that she and her daughter accompany Stewart on a dangerous trip which features every kind of Western calamity imaginable . James Stewart gives an attractive acting as an obstinate cowboy who stubbornly wishes to get the crossbread when all others believe the attempt to be failed and he sets out to prove them wrong . And charming performances from Mauren O'Hara , Juliet Mills, and a red bearded Brian Keith as an extravagant Scots-accented rancher who has a whisky bottle and a bagpipe on his hand instead of a gun , an acting that sticks in the mind long after . Support cast is frankly good such as David Brian , Don Galloway , Perry Lopez, Harry Carey Jr , Ben Johnson , Barbara Werle, and an ominus bit part, with special mention , for usual baddie Jack Elam .

Colorful and evocative cinematography by William Clothier , adding genuine wide open spaces atmosphere . Imaginative and enjoyable score by the maestro John Williams , who gives a nice musical realization , including catching leitmotif. This engaging and richly coloured motion picture was decent and professionally directed by Andrew V McLagen . He was an expert in all kinds of genres as Wartime such as Dirty dozen next mission, Sea wolves, On wings of eagles , Wild Geese, The Devil Brigade, Breakthrough and Western such as Chisum, Shenandoah, McLintock, The Blue and the Gray , The way west , Bandolero , Undefeated , Cahill United United States Marshal and this Rare Breed. Rating : 6 , acceptable and passable. Well worth watching . The motion picture will appral to James Stewart and Mauren O'Hara fans .

I am a big fan of both James Stewart, and Maureen O'Hara's bodies of work so it was a big disappointment to see that their combination on screen performances was not magnetic, but more like mixing oil and water together.

Adding to the terrible casting was a miscast Brian Keith as a red-haired unshaven Scottish immigrant cattle rancher who falls head over heels for Maureen O'Hara who plays a widowed mother named Martha Price causing a love triangle with Jimmy Stewart as her other potential beau.

Is it a western? Is it a comedy? Is it a Disney style film? If you mix the three together then you know what happens when you drop a few teaspoons of oil into water, .... it just doesn't work.

Even Jimmy Stewart and Maureen O'Hara who I love dearly are entitled to make a bad meal once in awhile and this film Rare Breed was under cooked.

I give it a 5 out of 10 IMDB rating

RELEASED IN 1966 and directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, "The Rare Breed" chronicles events in St. Louis and Texas in 1884-85 when an English woman (Maureen O'Hara) and her daughter (Juliet Mills) conscript a lanky cattleman (James Stewart) to try and get their hornless British bull to mate with the longhorns of Texas, but they have to deal with venal thugs (Jack Elam), a curmudgeon ranch mogul (Brian Keith) and the harshness of nature itself.

The film meshes drama with lighthearted amusement in the manner of a screwball Disney family comedy, "fun" brawls reminiscent of John Wayne Westerns of that era, dead-serious sequences and romance. I didn't feel this inconsistent tone marred the movie; after all, doesn't real life include all of these things? The exception would be the "fun" brawling scenes which, while lively, are not true to life. In real fights people get broken noses, black eyes, bruises and broken bones. Anyway, the cast is great, but I didn't find the drama that engaging, especially the entire last act. Furthermore, the indoor sets substituting for outdoors are obvious and smack of old-fashioned movies & TV Western fare of the time period.

About a third of the way in there's an exceptional stampede sequence that includes a heart-stopping on-set accident involving the wagon carrying Martha (O'Hara) and Hilary (Mills) ahead of the stampede. The stunt women were supposed to be thrown clear, but the wagon rolled over them. Thankfully, the dipping ground underneath the wagon allowed the stuntwomen, Stephanie Epper and Patty Elder, enough room to survive without being crushed, although they did experience minor wounds and shock. In the same sequence a young man is forced to try to run UP the canyon wall in stark terror as the charging cattle threaten.

THE FILM RUNS 97 minutes and was shot in Jamestown, Mecca, Coachella Valley, Mojave Desert and Universal Studios, California. WRITER: Ric Hardman.

GRADE: C

Not only a good story but the acting was terrific in this western where a woman, played by Maureen O'Hara, comes to America with her daughter. Her husband died and she had to take over. It was the introduction of Hereford cattle into the American West that was her husband's dream. They enlisted help from Sam, played by James Stewart, who struggles to bring a bull to breed in Texas. The whole journey is fraught with many dangers and Sam doubted the survival potential of this 'rare breed'. If you like good stories, I recommend this one highly. 7/10

The Rare Breed is the second of four films James Stewart did with director Andrew V. McLaglen. This is a fictionalized account about how Hereford cattle came to the great state of Texas. In this film Stewart brought a breeding bull together with his owners, Maureen O'Hara and Juliet Mills.

The question of course is whether the breed can stand up to a harsh and cruel Texas winter and breed calves. I guess since in real life there are a whole lot of Hertford cattle all over the USA now, the answer is they could. Of course in the film it involved some sacrifice in regard to some notions the women had, especially Juliet Mills who regards the bull Vindicator as a family pet.

Stewart's character, Sam 'Bulldog' Burnett has a bit of the rogue to him, but he certainly turns out to be the decent reliable Jimmy Stewart that movie audiences for three generations loved. Irish born Maureen is a proper English lady and Juliet Mills does very well as the daughter.

In her memoirs Maureen O'Hara said that some scenes she states she stole from Jimmy Stewart got cut from the final print. In watching The Rare Breed tonight, there were some illusions to some banter and a horse race that we just see the finish of. I'm sure that was what she was referring to although it's pure speculation as to the reason for the edit.

But if Maureen was worried about scene stealing, the guy who stole the film completely is Brian Keith. He plays the Scotch Texas cattle baron with proper brogue and a wild appearance. When we first see him, he's a real frontier character with a possible aversion to soap and water. Maureen has a civilizing affect on him and Keith becomes a rival to Stewart for her affections. He's quite a sight in the uniform of his former Highland regiment playing the bagpipes.

The Rare Breed doesn't rank up there with most of the Anthony Mann westerns of the Fifties. But it's entertaining enough and nothing anyone in the cast need be ashamed of.