Cowboy

1958
Approved
1h 32m

IMDb RATING

6.7/10

3.6K

YOUR RATING

Jack Lemmon and Glenn Ford in Cowboy (1958)

Play trailer2:49

1 Video

31 Photos

Drama Western

An idealistic tenderfoot Chicago hotel clerk is taken on a cattle-drive to Mexico by famous trail boss Tom Reece but discovers that cowboy life isn't what he expected.An idealistic tenderfoot Chicago hotel clerk is taken on a cattle-drive to Mexico by famous trail boss Tom Reece but discovers that cowboy life isn't what he expected.An idealistic tenderfoot Chicago hotel clerk is taken on a cattle-drive to Mexico by famous trail boss Tom Reece but discovers that cowboy life isn't what he expected.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.7/10

3.6K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 2 nominations total

Videos1

Trailer 2:49

Cowboy

Photos31

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The trumpeter in the cantina was Raphaël Mendez, who in the 1950s was considered by many professional musicians to be one of the finest trumpet players in the world, if not the best.

Goofs
In a rail car containing the shipment of cattle, Tom Reese, an 'experienced' cattle-handler, attempts to help up a fallen steer by pulling the animal's head so that it can get up on its front legs then, presumably, on to its hind legs. No bovine will normally get up like this, and it's easier for it, firstly, to raise itself up on its hind legs by lunging forward, then put its front legs under it to stand up. To help this animal get up, you must lift its rear end by grabbing either the tail root or its backside.

Quotes
Charlie, Trailhand: I wouldn't go in there for a bottle of whiskey and a redhead to pour it.

Connections
Featured in Dennis the Menace: Dennis Goes to the Movies (1959)

Soundtracks
Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
Music by George N. Allen
Frequently referenced in George Duning's musical score

User reviews56

Review

Featured review

9/10

A Good Realistic Western

As one of the other reviewers pointed out, this whole film is based on a few lines of an autobiography where the protagonist Frank Harris joins a group of cattle RUSTLERS for a spell. So in fact that as tough as Glenn Ford and his crew are, at least they're on the right side of the law.

Also Frank Harris is probably best known for the first definitive life of Oscar Wilde. And Harris like Wilde was born in Ireland. Might have been nice if Jack Lemmon had played him with a brogue.

Another reviewer pointed out that Jack Lemmon did not fit into the western film. True enough, but in fact this is the story of a tenderfoot who goes on a cattle drive and has quite the adventure.

Still and all Cowboy is a pretty good realistic western about life on a cattle drive. These drovers aren't any kind of heroic, but they do the job that has to be done. Jack Lemmon's ideas about cowboys are taken from the dime novels of the period. He gets rid of his romantic notions, but fast.

Among the supporting cast Brian Donlevy comes off best as the world weary former town marshal who joins the drive to get away from his job and meets a tragic end.

Cowboy came out in 1958 which was the height of Glenn Ford's career. Ford did some of the best westerns of the 1950s and Cowboy ranks right up there.