The Rare Breed (1966)

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 .

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

I just saw bits of this film for the first time today and kept at it because all of the leads were some of my all time favorite actors. I can't speak for the quality of the film since I didn't see it all, but it seems apparent that no lesser light than James A. Michener not only saw it, but liked it a lot since the basic plot line about the great British bull being brought to America by an English widow and then dying in a record blizzard after leaving his stamp on a new generation of crossbreeds is used almost verbatim in "Centennial" which was published nine years after this film was released.Anyway, what I saw I enjoyed. I can't not enjoy O'Hara, Stewart and Keith!!!

Under the direction of Andrew V. McLaglen, who understood the John Ford mystique, "The Rare Breed" is a Western of consummate integrity which misses fire by not coming down firmly as either drama or comedy; it does however pass the time amiably enough… Stewart again plays a cynical, hard-bitten man who has become disillusioned with human nature… But his insight and understanding are well transmitted… The title refers to a certain breed of cattle, and not to men, rare, courageous, or other-wise… O'Hara is an Englishwoman who comes to America with her daughter, Juliet Mills, bringing a prize Hereford bull named Vindicator… Her husband has died on the way, and she is delivering the bull to a cattle baron (Brian Keith) in Dodge City… Her late husband has always declared that the Hereford could be successfully interbred with the indigenous American Longhorns…Originally Stewart had planned to kidnap the bull and hand it over to a rival dealer, but he falls under the spell of O'Hara's womanly integrity, and becomes her ally… Soon a triangle is set up between Stewart, O'Hara and Keith, with predictable results…The dramatic elements are not totally neglected in the film… The rivalry between the ranchers, the poignant situation of the young lovers, O'Hara's attempts to set right to the surroundings that she, a new widow, finds extraneous, are all set forth skillfully by McLaglen's directorial hand