Cowboy (1958)

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

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

I don't know what it is exactly, but in 'Cowboy' some elements just don't agree with me. First of all, the soundtrack: it sounds sort of jolly to me, too jolly (luckily it was absent some of the time), when the film obviously wants to be a little darker than usual. Just like Tom shooting bugs in the bathroom; it feels over the top. I read a review here by a real rider for the cattle association (donkrahn) who stated that this film is realistic, and as far as some characters go, I could believe that, but to me the dramatic side of the film was at times undermined by misplaced comedic elements (the jolly music, shooting bugs, learning to ride a horse) and a rather poor 'development' of the characters; the ending with Frank in the bath next to Tom shooting a bug and both of them laughing it up was particularly awkward.The relationship between Tom and Frank seemed at times realistic enough, but there were plenty of (too) contrived moments, for instance when they take their time to shoot the breeze while being in a wagon full of wild cattle, and their randomly being an asshole when the other one is the nice guy and vice versa. I'm not sure how I feel about Lemmon in this role. He had his moments, but I couldn't get convinced of him being a hardened cowboy.And, finally, the scene of the horse being attacked by the red-horned bull was just off-putting. Kudos to Tom for facing it without one.All in all, I liked where it was trying to go at times, but it never really got there; 5 out of 10.

Jack Lemmon, a hotel desk clerk, yearns for the life of a cowboy, listening to his pardners sing lonely prairie songs, with his horse by his side, and lazily lying under the stars, dreaming. Record abruptly stops. Glenn Ford says it's no picnic but can't talk him out of it. Their partnership started, because Jack had $3,800.00 savings to invest and Glenn wanted funds for gambling. Glenn took it. But of course. Money! But Glenn didn't know Jack! With him, came more than just another mouth to feed. From one escapade and scrape, they came to dislike each other intensely. Glenn Ford can get this expression, like he'd just as soon kill ya than look at ya. And Jack, who's not cast usually in westerns, gave right back to him. As you can tell, I liked this film very much. It didn't rose-color or make light of the lifestyle of the cowboy. Brian Donlevy, Dick York (Bewitched's Darrin #1), Richard Jaeckel, and Strother Martin give solid support. This film is very respectful of its subject matter and at the same time entertains with three-dimensional characters. Jack's character, Frank Harris, wrote the book, from which this film is based. The heart and wild spirit of the cowboy who roams and lives hard are all here in this film for you to find.

This is one of these weird movies you just need to watch and ignore that you really can't believe anything you see. After all, the film, when you think about it, makes very little sense. But, it is quite unusual and entertaining--something not often seen in this genre. So, overall, it's worth seeing.The film begins in Chicago. A mild-mannered guy (Jack Lemmon) is working at a hotel when a group of rough cowboys checks in to the place. Despite being VERY different from these rough guys, Lemmon begs the cowboy's boss (Glenn Ford) to take him on the cattle drive. This is because Lemmon is infatuated with a girl and if he travels with the cattle drive, he can see the lady on the way. Reluctantly, Ford agrees and it's soon very obvious that this city boy is way out of his element. Ford is tough and uncaring--and Lemmon is appalled by this lack of humanity. However, through the course of the film, Ford relaxes a bit and learns from Lemmon and Lemmon becomes a nasty guy--much like Ford. This conversion really was VERY tough to believe, but the plot was different.I think Lemmon was wrong for the part. While you could believe him as a city boy, seeing him as a rough and tumble cowboy later in the film never convinced me--and was pretty funny. This change was formula--but not believable. Still, as I said above, the film was different--and I love a western that is not just another carbon copy of the last.By the way, although in a MUCH smaller role, it also seemed silly to have Dick York (the first Darren from "Bewitched") playing one of the cowboys! This, too, didn't work.

"Cowboy" examines the relationship between partners in a herd, the older statesman and highly principled Ford clashing on moral and physical grounds with the younger, disrespectful, hot headed Lemmon. During a tumultuous droving journey, the two men gain a mutual respect for one another, their generational differences merging through shared experiences with marauding Indians, troublesome hired hands, and the pitfalls of controlling a thousand head of cattle.Donlevy is effective as a seasoned hired hand, eager to hang up his gun and forge a retirement nest egg, but his untimely end is denied the screen time it deserves. Reliable supporting actor Jaeckel is at his ruthless best, here taking umbrage with another drover's provocation leading to a protracted fisticuffs ending only when Lemmon intervenes moments before Jaeckel knifes his opponent. There's something sinister, maybe even psychopathic about Jaeckel's crazy eyes. A young Dick York also appears in a reasonably prominent supporting role, and in spite of his chaffs and sneer, it remains difficult to divorce him from his future 'Darren Stevens' alter ego from "Bewitched".Grand cast in a low-key western drama, the mediocre action punctuating shallow soliloquy's and sermons on honour, tradition and loyalty. Ford is consciously more aggressive than is usual persona, his steely-eyed determination more than matching Lemmon's youthful ambition. But despite some interesting moments, the plot peaks don't soar high enough to build momentum. Even the penultimate climax in which Lemmon and Ford risk life and limb to stabilise the herd on the train, lacks suspense. It may well be a tough life with perils more realistic than gunslingers and Apaches, but director Daves doesn't adequately convey this on the screen. Not a bad film at all, just unremarkable, run-of-the-mill western fare.