Yesterday evening, Katherine and I watched The Cowboys (1972), which I own on DVD as part of The John Wayne Collection. I'm not the biggest fan of John Wayne, but I have nothing against him, either. He's a decent actor, and I like the fact that he doesn't try to play younger men in all his movies. He looks every bit his age in The Cowboys, right down to the hitch in his walk and his stiff, upright posture in the saddle. (He was 65 when the movie came out in 1972, so he must have been 63 or 64 during filming.)
The movie is about a cattle rancher who desperately needs hands for a trail drive. All the adult men in the vicinity of his ranch have gone off to the gold fields, so Wayne's character, Wil Andersen, hires boys. It's a coming-of-age story more than anything else. The boys are put through various trials that test their mettle. There are a few scenes of violence, but nothing too troubling. The scenery is gorgeous. (The film was shot in New Mexico and Colorado.) All in all, I enjoyed the movie. I have a couple of other John Wayne movies to watch down the road.
Here is the trailer.
