Les cow-boys

As Monogram Pictures morphed into Allied Artists, they tried to raise the quality of their projects. As the demand for their B westerns disappeared, they hired some good actors -- among them the incomparable Edmond O'Brien -- and produced this western, directed by long-time Western director Lesley Selander.

I wasn't expecting O'Brien to be convincing as a cowboy, but he is astonishingly good as an ex-cowpoke who is building an express business -- and given a huge oversupply of cattle, he's shipping an awful lot of tallow and hide, all the scrubs are good for. There's a lot more history intelligently explained here than is usual for a B western, the photography is crisp and clean and there are fine supporting actors carrying the roles -- John Millicam is particularly affecting in, for him, a large role.

Selander directs very efficiently -- you can tell that villain Barton Maclane shot his interiors in a block and the action sequences near Lone Pine, where Selander spent most of his professional career are handled to advantage.

The net effect is that everything is much better than a B western, yet the obvious economies make it at best a shaky A. Still, overall it is a superior effort and worthwhile for western fans and a surprisingly unexpected sidetrack for Edmond O'Brien.

"Cow Country" ends up being a pretty good western but I'm not sure I'm going to remember it for very long. It has a good story and a strong cast but it don't have enough to separate it from all of the other B-westerns made around that time. I enjoy a lot of those westerns but some of them don't really standout. "Cow Country" doesn't really standout. Edmond O'Brien does a nice job. His supporting cast is fine including the dreamy Peggie Castle. "Cow Country" was an enjoyable enough movie but with the exception of a great whip beatdown, there's nothing that memorable about it. (IMDB has a 600 character minimum.)

On Edmund O'Brien's birthday, 2012, Turner Classic Movies presented this movie hitherto unknown to me.

This is an astonishingly good movie, and for several reasons: It assembled some of the most talented actors in Hollywood; they were all good to even great actors (Mr. O'Brien, for example, is one of those rarities who is believable in any role, and anyone who is a good cowboy is, to me, at the top of his profession); the characters, except, of course, for the bad guys, were likable and often admirable; even the bad guys were well-rounded and believable.

There are two female leads, and both of them are good horse riders; both even know how to mount a horse, even in long skirts, as if they had been riding for years (and might have been; unfortunately, I haven't read their bios to know for sure). That is important for characters who are supposed to be natives to the West.

Don Beddoe has not only one of his best roles, he handles it beautifully. He shows he was an actor who deserved even more and even better roles.

Raymond Hatton was a veteran of movies back to the silent days. He too gives one of his best performances.

Robert Wilke also has one of his best roles, and also handles it beautifully. So often all he is allowed to do is walk on and get shot. Here his character is very integral to the entire plot. And, again, he shows he was very capable of more and bigger roles. (In our one conversation, he never expressed any regrets about his career. He might have been content or even happy. His auto license plate read, if I have the spelling right, "VILLEN." He was one of the best and one of the busiest of them.)

The writing and directing were good, if not perfect, and the only criticism I have is of the costuming. Even most of that was good, but one of the characters wore a Fredericks bra, which was popular in that era of film-making but actually deformed the female figure. (Just imagine Madonna as she so often appeared on stage.)

Otherwise, well, "Cow Country" is good enough for me to rate it a 9. I highly recommend it.

1875 crash in meat market usual cliché--the hidden (but obvious) baddie trying to take over; also the familiar cliché of the hot-headed boss and the loyal guy for no discernible reason.

This film is set in 1875 and apparently the market for beef has crashed. All the ranchers are in dire financial straights because of this. And, like about 75% of the westerns of the era, there is an evil boss-man who is trying EVERYTHING to destroy the ranchers. And, typical of this far over-used cliché, he has a private little army of thugs who steal cattle and kill in. Heck, before any of this occurred, I KNEW what was going on, as the baddie is Barton MacLane--who is almost ALWAYS the evil boss!!

"Cow Country" also has another cliché--not as over-used but still too familiar. There is the strong-willed rancher who won't listen to anyone (Robert Barrat). And, typical of this cliché, there is a nice guy who, in spite of this rancher's pig-headedness, is still very loyal and will do anything to help him (Edmond O'Brien).

Now if you haven't seen hundreds of westerns before, you may not notice these as very familiar characters. In this case, the film will probably be a lot better. All I could think was that I've seen most of this before (apart from the crash in the beef market). It's a shame, as O'Brien and Barrat were fine actors and were, frankly, better than the material they were given.

Yes, it's pretty hackneyed themes but it's well done with a couple of twists. The villains were real villains and the goodies real heroes.

Edmund O'Brian has never struck me as a handsome leading man who gets the girl eventually and, for me, is out of place here. Others play there parts well and the story line is good enough to keep you watching. I particularly enjoyed the obligatory fist fight sequence although there were some obvious stunt men substitutions.

Am surprised it, like others have been, was not remade in color to enhance the scenery and the action. Would seem ready made for the likes of George Montgomery etc.

Sit back, relax and enjoy- if you like westerns you won't be disappointed.