Rancho Bravo

Middle-aged cowboy James Stewart agrees to transport Maureen O'Hara's Hereford bull (the first in North America) to to it's new owner Brian Keith, while at the same time making an underhanded deal to deliver it to a rival cattleman. Things get complicated when O'Hara and her daughter take it upon themselves to accompany Stewart.

This light-hearted western is offbeat and original enough to provide some entertainment and Stewart is great as the reluctant champion of a new breed of bull, but the story just isn't as compelling as it should have been and sometimes pretty silly, especially Keith (under a mountain of hair!) as a backwards Scottish rancher.

Jack Elam and Ben Johnson make the most of their limited roles as a vicious saddle-tramp and Stewart's aging, crippled mentor.

Director Andrew V. McLaglen's "The Rare Breed" (1966) has a surprising amount of historical interest, both to students of the old west and to western genre film buffs. It is actually a fairly accurate (if fictionalized) account of the displacement of Longhorn cattle on the Texas range by intentional interbreeding with more conventional bulls (in this case a Hereford named Vindicator).

Just as interesting is the film's position as one of the early intentional parodies of the western genre. While less obvious than in "Cat Ballou" (1965), the self-reflexive elements and parody are there if you look close. The most obvious are Brian Keith's overplayed (almost expressionistic) Scotsman and McLaglen's juxtaposition of classic John Ford outdoor scenery with obvious sound stage shots-including matte paintings by Albert Whitlock. And McLaglen rounds out his cast with genre favorites Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., and Jack Elam.

But "The Rare Breed's" real claim to fame is as the first "chick flick" western. It is likely to appeal more to women than men viewers as the story is told from the point of view of its heroine Hilary Price (Juliet Mills), who sets out with her parents to bring a small herd of cattle from Hertfordshire (England) to the American west. Unfortunately her father dies on the ocean voyage so Hilary and her mother Martha (Maureen O'Hara) are faced with the daunting task of completing what had been her father's dream.

Mills is wonderful in this role and it really suits her. She is a placid observer of the strange land in which she finds herself while her mother is almost savagely reactive. Yet Mills gets all the really good lines as Hilary injects a lot of wit and wry humor into the story. McLaglen gives real dimension to only two of the characters, Hilary and "Bulldog" Sam Burnett (Jimmy Stewart). Burnett is a cowhand who starts out to swindle the two women but ends up being completed by them; eventually becoming a father/husband replacement to Hilary and Martha respectively, as well as a complete believer in their mission to change the nature of the American cattle industry.

But Burnett has to come a long way to make this transition as he begins by calling the symbolically named Vindicator a muley bull (because it has no horns). His reaction does not get him off to a good start with the protective Hilary, who has raised Vindicator from a calf. The bull follows her around like a dog and is easily quieted with a verse from "God Save the Queen".

Entertaining but not riveting, this unique example of the genre is a nice change of pace. Unfortunately the scenes between Keith and O'Hara will make you think more of Disney's original "The Parent Trap" than the film you thought you were watching.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

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.

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