Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Artivels Undescribable Perfection

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

JohnHowardReid 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").

weezeralfalfa This low budget color western stars Joel McCrea as John Cord, recently released from 5 years in prison, and being dragged behind a horse down the main street. He's badly skinned up when the Hamiltons arrive from their ranch, and cart him off to recuperate. Ralph Hamilton, a cattle baron, is friendly toward Cord, even though he is blamed for being responsible for Hamilton being blind, when Cord's wranglers tore up the town after a cattle drive. Hamilton knows Cord is the best trail boss around and wants him to lead a drive to market at an Army post. He wants it done soon, in the dry season, and to get there ahead of a rival herd, owned by Garth. After hesitation, Cord takes the job, hiring some of the very men who dragged him behind a horse. There are several key relationships I don't understand or find fault with. The most important is the relationship between Cord and Garth. I don't understand why Cord signed on as Garth's trail boss, then went over and signed up as Hamilton's trail boss, during approximately the same time and route? He never seems to function as Garth's trail boss, but sneaks over to his camp on several nights to do some jawing. Garth's herd is several days ahead of Hamilton's. Cord suggests that Garth go via Horse thief Creek, rather than Dismal River, because the latter is more likely to be dry. Garth agrees in Cord's presence, but after he leaves, says Cord probably told them things backwards, so his herd goes via the much shorter Dismal River. Unfortunately, it lives up to its name, and is bone dry. In consequence, all Garth's cattle die of dehydration. In contrast, Cord takes Hamilton's herd via Horse thief Creek, which is well watered. Several of Cord's men previously had quit, not believing the herd would make it. One meets Garth at the destination, and he says he will hire gunslingers to steal Hamilton's herd.(Never mind that they are presumably branded with Hamilton's brand, and his own cattle probably would have gotten there first if he had taken the route recommended by Cord). This man reports back to Cord about Garth's intention. Cord takes some of the men and rides to hopefully meet Garth's bunch. They set up an ambush, which is successful(The riders fall off their horses in a convenient but amateurish way, and their horses are never hit.) Garth runs over to some rocks and Cord follows. Guess what happens.Cord's relationships with the 2 young ladies: Sandy and Janice, are awkward. Janice and Cord clearly were very close prior to Cord's imprisonment. Soon thereafter, she married Ralph Hamilton, even though he was blind. Perhaps she took pity on him, or perhaps she hoped to live comfortably with his ranch set up and his brother's help. Now that Cord is free and working for Hamilton, their old flame burns brightly at times. My expectation was that Ralph would die somehow, opening up the possibility of a Cord-Janice marriage. I think the fact that Ralph was still alive when the drive was over was the main reason why Cord turned down an offer of partnership, and decided to ride into the sunset. He didn't want Janise's continued presence to act as temptation.As for Cord's relationship with Sandy, she seems to be characterized as a late teen, in contrast to the older Janice. Through most of the film, she refers to Cord as "Uncle John". I don't know if he was her real uncle, or merely functioned as such at one time. In any case, Cord clearly was at least 2X her age, which is not unheard of. But, Cord used this as an excuse to brush off her romantic overtures. He claims she has a lot to learn before he might accept her as his wife. He also claims he will probably be back some day to claim her. Don't count on it, Sandy.This screenplay is unusual in that usually the cattle baron is one of the bad guys, lording it over the small ranchers. Available at You Tube at present.

ianlouisiana 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.

boblipton 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.