Skip to main content

The Cowboys

Tomorrow is John Wayne's 100th birthday, and to honor him, I'd like to talk about my favorite John Wayne movie--The Cowboys (1972).

John Wayne plays Wil Anderson who, with his wife played by Colleen Dewhurst, owns a cattle ranch. It's cattle drive time, but his crew leaves for the lure of the gold rush, and the only one to help is the cook. Anderson pays a visit to the local school house and hires on all the boys who are taller than the line on the chalkboard. Their parents allow them to go, believing the adventure will turn them all into men. The only boy Anderson rejects is a hot blooded young man who shows up to show off his horse-riding skills. Cimarron is played by A Martinez, and my gosh was he cute. And my gosh didn't I have a crush on young Martinez when I was a girl of ten.

Along the trail, the boys, the cook, and Anderson are followed by a band of cattle rustlers lead by the nasty Bruce Dern. Dern is good at being bad, and in The Cowboys, he is very bad.

Roscoe Lee Browne plays Jedediah Nightlinger, the cook with the chuck wagon who is the only other adult accompanying the boys. He is wise and witty and careful with his words. When he is faced with being lynched by the cattle rustlers, he delivers this prayer:
"I regret trifling with married women. I'm thoroughly ashamed at cheating at cards. I deplore my occasional departures from the truth. Forgive me for taking your name in vain, my Saturday drunkenness, my Sunday sloth. Above all, forgive me for the men I've killed in anger... and those I am about to."
In The Cowboys, an aged, overweight, and tired John Wayne is as tough as when he was young and trim. He convincingly plays father, teacher, mentor to a band of children, and they truly do become men. I loved this movie as a young girl and wished I could be out on the trail, and I love it still, although now I am content to imagine from the comfort of my sofa. We're burnin' daylight.

Comments

Sassy Sundry said…
I think I'm allergic to him, but I'll wish him a Happy 100th anyway.
8:12 AM
dive said…
When I was litle, there were only two things that could bring all the neighbourhood kids running indoors to cluster round the tiny black and white telly; one was the shout of "Tom and Jerreeeeee!" and the other was "John Wayne movie".

When I grew up I found him thoroughly reprehensible, especially after the unforgivable excresence that was the Green Berets (who these days would try to glorify the Mai Lai massacre), but as it's his birthday I'll try to remember his early John Ford Westerns.

Happy birthday, Marion.
11:05 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An Offending Pile

So, I'm standing in my living room letting my mind wander for a minute or two as I stare out the window and watch the day go by, and I see my neighbors walking their dogs down the street. They are nice neighbors who are always friendly and responsible with their property. That is to say they aren't like the other neighbors who heap rubbish behind their house like Ma and Pa Kettle and let their dogs bark for thirty minutes at a time . Anyway, I see the nice people walking their dogs, a big golden retriever who is as sweet as can be and as dumb as a post—he once ate a sock and nearly died before it was surgically removed—and a new golden retriever puppy. Then I see Neighbor Wife suddenly run down the street with the big dog. Then I see Neighbor Husband stopped in front of my house with the puppy on its leash. And then I see the puppy taking a huge dump in my grass. Let me tell you, that is not done in this town unless the dog owner has a plastic bag handy and is ready to pick up ...
16 comments
Read more

Long Live Anita Bowser

You know I occasionally check my hometown newspaper's website to scan the obituaries (morbid, I know, but I'm at that age). Over this past weekend, I read the obituary of Indiana State Senator Anita Bowser . She was a noted Democrat who championed causes protecting the neediest in the state's population. She was respected on both sides of the aisle for her intelligence and plain and outspoken approach to law making. The picture on her senate page is lovely. I remember none of those things about Anita Bowser . My first year or so in college was spent at a branch of Purdue University, and in the early 80s, Anita was a political science professor. She taught my American Government class my freshman year, and she was a mess. Somewhere in my old text book, I have a sketch of her drawn on a particularly dull day in class--her hose sagged at her ankles, her slip showed at least half an inch all the way around, her hair had been slept on but not brushed, and her bright red lip stic...
18 comments
Read more

A New Ride

I have a new car. I have a new car. I have a new car. I traded in my big-ass Pacifica for a Camry Hybrid. It's pretty. See? It has keyless ignition (which seems to serve no purpose but to keep you from having to put the key in the ignition). It has heated seats. It has dual climate control. It has a talking map with little flags to represent the location of restaurant--for example, Bob Evans is marked with an American flag, and a pizza shop is marked with an Italian flag. It has a sunroof which I will never open because the passing wind sucks out my ears. It also has Sirius radio, and so now I have my very own Broadway channel and the Amaazing Seth Rudestsky. I think Seth and I are going to become good friends. Cars don't bring happiness, but this one brings show tunes.
13 comments
Read more