The Cowboys (1972)

A rag-tag group of young teenagers volunteer to help John Wayne get his 1500 head of cattle to market, 400 miles away, and Wayne is stuck in a jam because all of his hired hands get the gold fever and run off. Faced with bills and the habit of driving his cattle every summer, Wayne takes on the role of drive master, mentor, teacher, and father to the lot of them. And the inexperienced teens prove resourceful and reliable, maturing quickly on the dusty trail. OK, none of the young actors in the film went on to any big Hollywood success. But, their limited acting skills actually added to the schtick of the set-up.Trailed and eventually ambushed by rustlers, the kids lose Wayne and their herd in a flurry of bullets that put the Duke in the grave. An endearing drive cook, Roscoe Lee Brown (cudos) steps up as the step-father of the crew, and the boys go after the rustlers to retrieve the herd in memory of Wayne.A good story, solid writing, and on-site cinematography make the movie, with Wayne's performance, of course. Direction is subpar, especially with the typical Hollywood intentional gaffs. The rustler gang consists of nine men, but after the boys ambush and kill four of them, there are suddenly ten members of the gang coming after them. It's annoying that directors want the viewer absorbed into the visual tale, but also to forgive the inconsistencies and the details. At some points along the drive, it looks like Wayne is really driving 1500 head. At other times, it looks like the entire herd is about 80 cattle, and at other times, it appears to consist of maybe 200 head. This kind of laziness in direction only serves to distract the viewer.All in all, a deserving film, with a young Bruce Dern playing a really, really bad outlaw. A typical Western prop character that you can really hate if you are into the action.A worthwhile two hours spent with a good film despite some flaws.

This is my all time favorite John Wayne movie. It shows the evolution from boys to men. At the beginning of the movie we have a group of untested lads who by the end of the movie develop into true men.Will Andersen is a great influence on the boys and Roscoe Lee Browne is a true joy to the picture. The acting is superb and the action is riveting. I would recommend this film to anyone who enjoys coming of age stories.

Released in 1972 and directed by Mark Rydell, "The Cowboys" stars John Wayne as an aging rancher who is forced to hire pubescent drovers for a 400-mile cattle drive from Bozeman, Montana, to Belle Fourche, South Dakota, after his ranch hands abandon him for a gold rush. Roscoe Lee Browne plays the wise black cook while Slim Pickens & Colleen Dewhurst have small roles. This is a realistic, almost epic Wayne Western focusing on the long cattle drive and the amateur boys learning to be men. It lacks the fun brawling and unrealistic elements of John's contemporary Westerns of the 60s-70s (e.g. the quick-draw nonsense in "El Dorado"). A Martinez stands out as the outcast Hispanic amongst the kids while Bruce Dern is notable as a menacing ne'er-do-well. The almost shocking confrontation that opens the final act is a highlight and the boys' just strategy is great: KILL 'EM ALL. The film runs 134 minutes and was shot in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Warner Brothers Burbank Studios, California. The screenplay was based on William Dale Jennings's novel. GRADE: A-

John Wayne plays a rancher in desperate need of cowboys for a cattle drive after his men quit to try their luck at mining gold. So he's forced to take on a group of schoolboys and teach them the ways of the cowboy. An enjoyable western with a good cast. Duke's terrific and has fine support from Roscoe Lee Browne, Slim Pickens, and Colleen Dewhurst. The younger actors playing the cowboys of the title are all pretty good. Robert Carradine makes his film debut here. Bruce Dern is a particularly nasty villain. Nice music and solid script. It's a little longer than it needs to be but I don't think it wears out its welcome. It's got humor, drama, and action. Not his best but one of the better movies Duke made in the '70s.