The Cowboys
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{{Infobox Film
| name = The Cowboys
| image = Cowboys 1972.jpg
| caption = 1972 movie poster
| director = [[Mark Rydell]]
| producer = Mark Rydell
| writer = Irving Ravetch<br>Harriet Frank, Jr.<br>based on the novel by<br>William Dale Jennings
| starring = [[John Wayne]]<br>[[Roscoe Lee Browne]]<br>[[Bruce Dern]]<br>[[Colleen Dewhurst]]<br>[[Slim Pickens]]
| music = [[John Williams]]
| cinematography = [[Robert Surtees]]
| editing = Robert Swink<br>Neil Travis
| distributor = [[Warner Bros.]]
| released = [[January 13]], [[1972]]
| runtime = 131 min
| country = [[United States|U.S.]]
| awards =
| language = [[English language|English]]
| budget = $6,000,000 (estimated)
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:11338
| imdb_id = 0068421
}}
'''''The Cowboys''''' is a [[1972]] [[Western (genre)|western]] [[film|motion picture]] starring [[John Wayne]], [[Roscoe Lee Browne]], [[Slim Pickens]], [[A Martinez]] and [[Bruce Dern]]. [[Robert Carradine]] makes his film debut. Based on the novel by William Dale Jennings, the screenplay was written by Irving Ravetch, Harriet Frank Jr., and Jennings, and directed by [[Mark Rydell]].
==Story set-up==
[[Image:TheCowboys1972.jpg|left|220px]]
When his hired men abandon him for the lure of the [[Black Hills Gold Rush]] in the 1860s, a central [[Montana]] [[cattle ranch|cattle rancher]], Wil Andersen (Wayne), faces the prospect of financial disaster if he can't find any [[cowboy]]s for his yearly 400-mile long [[cattle drive]] to the [[railhead]] at [[Belle Fourche, South Dakota]]. Anse (Pickens), the town bartender, thoughtfully suggests that Andersen hire the local school boys as cowboys.
At first Andersen dismisses this idea as foolishness, but with the help of his wife, Annie (Sarah Cunningham), who reminds him of what he was like at that age, he changes his mind and goes to the schoolhouse to recruit them. The boys all show up at the ranch, admit to not being true cowboys, but prove they can ride by helping [[Horse breaking|break]] a horse. (The only adult actor playing a boy was A Martinez, as Cimarron.) Cimarron is not hired-on immediately because Cimarron pulled a knife while fighting with Slim Honeycutt (Carradine).
While Andersen is training the boys to break horses at the ranch, a group of men led by "Long Hair" Asa Watts (Dern) shows up asking for work. Andersen would like to hire these more experienced and seasoned men, but feels uneasy about them, and then when he catches Watts in a lie about who he has worked for in the past, Watts comes clean that they are fresh out of prison and can't get a job. With his suspicions confirmed, he tells Watts that he won't use him and will stick with the boys. Jebediah "Jeb" Nightlinger (Lee Browne), a [[Moors|Moorish]] [[black people|Black]] camp cook arrives with a [[chuck wagon]], making Anderson's trail crew complete.
With Nightlinger's arrival the training has to continue while out on the trail to Belle Fourche. Under Andersen's tutelage the boys learn to [[Calf roping|rope]] and [[livestock branding|brand]] livestock and on the trail, how to [[Herding|herd]] the cattle and horses. But nobody is aware that the gang of [[cattle raiding|cattle rustlers]] led by Watts, who want easy money like the men looking for gold, but don't want to work that hard to get it, are shadowing them.
==Characters, controversy and symbolism==
This survival story of learning and maturation through hardship, hard work and discipline, propounds the values of truth, loyalty, and fighting for what you believe in.
The Nightlinger character teaches the boys diversity and respect in their initial exchange after Jeb enters the bunkhouse. In the comical tension-relieving scene, Fats says, "Well sir, you're the first [[nigger]] we've ever saw [''sic''].", After some prodding, Jeb confirms that he's black everywhere, "Except for the whites of my eyes." The oldest boy, Slim, then proclaims, "See he's the same as us, except for that color." Jeb laughs-off being "just like you" with a fantastic Moorish tale of seduction, mayhem and heroism that thrills the boys, who ask if it is true. Jeb only says, "If it isn't, it ought to be."
Anderson and Nightlinger are both [[American Civil War | Civil War]] veterans. On the trail, the ramrod Anderson, accepts council from the outspoken Nightlinger on perhaps being too rough on the boys. The world-weary Jeb diplomatically manages an encounter with Kate ([[Colleen Dewhurst]]) and her traveling [[brothel]].
Around the evening campfire, Slim picks out a [[Antonio Vivaldi | Vivaldi]] tune on his guitar in stark contrast to when the boys later are caught raucously singing ''[[Home on the Range]]'' while getting drunk on stolen liquor.
After accidentally coming across the rustler gang, Long Hair threatens to slit Dan's throat if he reveals their presence. Out of mortal fear Dan betrays the trust of the group by remaining silent (until after it is too late). The reality of death is confirmed that very night when Dan is responsible for Charlie's death.
The film is known for depicting Wayne's cold-blooded killing after being shot in the back by Dern's character. This resulted in co-star Dern earning a bad reputation in Hollywood that made it difficult for him to get subsequent roles. During filming of this scene, Wayne warned Dern, "America will hate you for this." Dern wryly replied, "Yeah, but they'll love me in Berkeley."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://socialissues.wiseto.com/Articles/164255792/?print |title= John Wayne: Mr. America, Kirkwood, R. Cort, The New American, American Opinion Publishing, Inc. May 28 2007}}</ref>
Another well-known scene was that of a [[minor]] using [[profanity]]. "[[Stuttering]] Bob" was unable to alert them to danger. After Wayne chews the child out, the boy mutters, "Son of a bitch.", only to have Wayne coax him to say it repeatedly. The boy angrily builds longer curses until the boy is no longer stuttering, with, "You God damned mean, dirty son of a bitch!". To which Wayne finally responds, "I wouldn't make it a habit calling me that, son.".
Fatherhood, and more specifically, the father-son relationship is a recurring theme. Andersen has lost two of his own sons. He becomes a surrogate father to his "cowboys" during their cattle drive and eventually risks his own life to save them from a deranged killer. This father-son dynamic takes on a Christian [[resurrection]] metaphor at the end when his cowboys, baptized by violence in their quest to avenge his death, return to the scene of Andersen's murder with a [[headstone | tombstone]] and are mysteriously unable to locate his body. The tombstone inscription reads: "Wil Andersen: Beloved Husband and Father".
==Television adaptation==
In [[1974]], Warner Bros. developed a [[television series]] for [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] starring [[Jim Davis]], Diana Douglas, and [[Moses Gunn]]. [[David Dortort]] (best known for [[Bonanza]] and [[The High Chaparral]]), produced the series. Only A Martinez, Robert Carradine, Sean Kelly and Clay O'Brien were in both the movie and the television series. At the last moment, ABC decided to reduce the show's format from one to one-half hour, a change which made it difficult to tell stories effectively considering the show's large cast. This arguably explained the show's unimpressive ratings and subsequent early cancellation.
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0068421|title=The Cowboys}}
*{{amg title|id=1:11338 |title=The Cowboys}}
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[[Category:1972 films]]
[[Category:Western films]]
[[Category:Warner Bros. films]]
[[Category:American films]]
{{western-film-stub}}
{{Americanfilms1970s}}
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