Cattle Empire (1958)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.

Copyright 1958 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening: not recorded. U.S. release: 15 April 1958. U.K. release: May 1958. Australian release: 1 May 1958. 7,459 feet. 83 minutes.SYNOPSIS: When John Cord, tough and hated cattle boss, returns to Hamilton after spending five years in prison for allowing his men to shoot up the town after a cattle drive, he is attacked by a mob. Later, local leaders approach him and ask him to drive their cattle to Fort Clemson. The drive is long and tough and only Cord has the kind of experience that can get the job done. He agrees and plans a double-cross.NOTES: Claimed to be the 100th film in which Joel McCrea appears.COMMENT: A good cast and promising plot, somewhat undermined by routine handling and lack of development. All the same, it looks grand enough in 'Scope to more than carry the entertainment day. Mr. McCrea is his usual rugged self (though it's hard to believe that any judge and jury would be so collectively lacking in character insight as to convict him). Miss Talbott makes not only a mighty fetching heroine, but according to the studio Press Sheet, "she did all her own stunts. She owns a riding stable near Glendale, California, which keeps her fit for such acrobatics. This is her 2nd appearance opposite McCrea, her first being The Oklahoman." Also in the cast, serial queen Phyllis Coates ("Jungle Drums of Africa", "Panther Girl of the Kongo").

Plot-- Trail-driver Cord (McCrea) is blamed for letting his cattle crew wreck a town. After prison, he consents to head up a trail drive that will save the same town's finances. But the town's in competition with an outside cattleman to be first to arrive at the buyer's base and get the contract. So who will win, and can Cord be trusted. Despite the great Joel McCrea and a grabber opening, this is a bland western. The only action, until the showdown, is loping cattle going here and there and who knows where. The rambling script fails to gel into any kind of suspense, with one talky scene after another to accommodate the many characters and subplots. Meanwhile the large supporting cast flounders getting no help from director Warren. The one compensation —the scenic eastern Sierras— is marred by contrast with poorly designed nighttime sets that take us back to the studio. Considering this was a TCF production, I'm surprised it was so poorly put together. Maybe they were trying to capitalize on the McCrea name. But by this time, he was in his mid-50's, still quietly commanding, but aging, nonetheless. At least they don't have him riding into the sunset with one of the girls. Mostly he sits astride his horse and gives orders. As a fan of the ace cowboy, I wish there were more to compliment. But unfortunately, there isn't.

Mr Joel McCrea appeared in two of cinema's finest works at opposite ends of his career,"Sullivan's Travels" near the start and "Ride the high country" near the finish over 20 years later.In between,many of his roles were like that of John Cord in "Cattle Empire",a tarnished hero with a past.A trail boss wrongly convicted of allowing his men to wreck a town in a drunken orgy,Cord returns to Hamiltonville after being released from prison and is promptly arrested and dragged through the streets by horses ridden by irate townsfolk,only to be rescued by a former friend who was blinded in the incident that put Cord behind bars. Hired to take 5,000 head of cattle across unforgiving country to save the town from bankruptcy,Cord also agrees to take another herd in opposition to the original one,thus virtually guaranteeing to ruin Hamiltonville and gain his revenge. Directed by Charles M.Warren,also an experienced writer and producer, "Cattle Empire" is a bit of a journeyman's movie but is enlivened by Mr McCrea deciding to play the part of Cord as if he were John Wayne. As if that wasn't enough to peak our interest there are two brothers called George Washington Jeffery and Thomas Jefferson Jeffrey who run the chuckwagon and shave each other's beards,a pretty gal who dumped Cord when he went to prison and married the blinded man,and a villain racked with guilt who knows the truth about what happened in Hamiltonville five years earlier. The villain rides along at night singing "Streets of Laredo" in a shaky tenor as a tribute to an earlier Warren movie of that name that earned him a W.G.A. nomination in 1950. Ambitious neither in reach nor grasp,"Cattle Empire" is nevertheless a good example of the sadly long - defunct genre of the low - budget but thoughtful and well made western.And Mr McCrea is splendid in it.

In its time the American B western was possessed of a form as rigid as any dramatic form in existence. There would be half a dozen plots that could be used for a western and the story was usually told in a conservative fashion, using techniques that ran back to when William S. Hart, popularizer of the Good Bad Man in the movies, was one of the leading western stars. The conservatism was a combination of practicality and art: the Bs were the stomping grounds of silent A directors who wished to continue to work.... and the fact that the story took place in the outdoors meant that the outdoors formed a good part of the story.In this one, Joel McCrea is the Good Bad Man -- a great trail boss whose men got out of control and wrecked a town. Now the town is struggling to make a comeback, and has hired McCrea to lead the drive -- and much of the town has come along on the drive The movie is beautifully shot and the plot has a revenge drama quality that makes it peculiarly interesting. Unhappily, most of the acting talent, once you get past McCrea, is less than first rate. Still, it does have its not inconsiderable charm and its easy assumption of what may seem like bizarre attitudes may give you the start of an understanding of the genre.