The Sheepman (1958)

Too much of everything

Such a frustrating disappointment

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Man rides into town like he owns the place. Not exactly making instant friends in the town of Powderville, Jason(Glen Ford)is not the kind to mince words, he knows human nature all too well, can judge people pretty well indeed. He's a ballbreaker and would've made a fine businessman if he'd been born many years later past the old west, because Jason immediately upon entering town, finagles a good saddle and horse from those who normally could swindle more vulnerable, trusting folks..yes, sir, Jason understands all too well how to handle himself against tricksters who take advantage.Jason even provokes a fight with "the toughest man in the territory", Jumbo(Mickey Shaughnessy) to prove a point..he's bringing sheep within cattle country and anyone who has a problem with that will have to settle it with him. Well, the richest cattleman in the territory does have a problem with Jason, Colonel Jon(Leslie Nielsen)and he's got the town in his favor, and will do whatever it takes to run his adversary out of Powderville. Being a good judge of character is an asset for Jason as he faces opposition at every turn, only snookered by a woman to be married to the Colonel..the lovely, delightful, fiery red-head Shirley MacLaine(just glows in this movie and has marvelous chemistry with Ford who she spars with during their spirited encounters).It's simple, Jason will not conform to the Colonel's demands, rebelling against competition because he's not gonna allow someone to order him away, he's just too stubborn. Intruding upon cattle land is certain to raise the ire of a community who doesn't have a fondness for a sea of sheep to be grazing all over the territory. When a clever ruse(a celebration by the town, welcoming Jason as a new member, as fishy as it does appear)temporarily puts Jason on a train out of town goes awry, the Colonel hires gunfighters to settle the score..one among them being responsible for the killing of Jason's fiancé during a bank robbery, the other two put in prison by him. One thing's for certain, when Ford gets those angry eyes, and you make him mad, your ass is grass.If seeing Ford squaring off with future BONANZA alum Pernell Roberts in a gunfight isn't enough, western fans get to watch him in a showdown with NAKED GUN's Leslie Nielsen..how cool is that?! Good fun with hilarious support from Edgar Buchanan as Milt, a man who might sell his own mother if the price is right(although, as someone always with dollars on his mind, he does often warn Jason about possible set-ups and strange behavior) and Shaughnessy as Jumbo, the Colonel's stooge who is upended by Ford numerous times, an enjoyable foil/laughingstock, the movie plays to the hilt.

Although "The Sheepman" is full of comic moments, none of them could quite be considered to be of the parody or even the self-reflexive variety. George Marshall's 1958 western was produced a few years before the genre began imitating television westerns by moving in that direction with films like "Cat Ballou" and "Support Your Local Sheriff". Most of this film's humor comes from the off-kilter nature of Glenn Ford's cowboy hero Jason Sweet. He is my all-time favorite Ford character, alternating between standard western hero and detached manipulator. His scenes with Mickey Shaughnessy (as town bully Jumbo) are funny because they totally break genre conventions. The Coen Brothers have used a similar technique in many of their films, writing dialogue totally mismatched with what one expects from a particular movie stereotyped character. The effectiveness of the device (and its novelty in 1958) led to William Bowers & James Edward Grant receiving an Oscar nomination for the screenplay. The story gets moving right away as the title character (Sweet) hits the town of Powder Valley, seemingly on a mission to alienate every citizen with whom he comes into contact. This also serves as a quick introduction to most of the supporting cast as he insults the railroad station master (Percy Helton), gives unsolicited advice to a young lady (Shirley MacLaine), tricks the livery stable owner (Edgar Buchanan of "Petticoat Junction" fame); and gets the better of the general store proprietor (Harry Harvey). He then picks a fight with Jumbo (Shaughnessy) and ends the day by announcing his intention to graze sheep on the nearby public lands. This puts him into conflict with a local cattleman named "The Colonel" (a very young and uncharacteristically serious Leslie Neilsen). MacLaine's often exasperated heroine would serve as inspiration for the Suzanne Pleshette and Joan Hackett characters in "Support Your Local Gunfighter" and "Support Your Local Sheriff"."The Sheepman" is refreshingly different; witty, unpredictable, and extremely entertaining.Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Many viewers of U.S. westerns deem this one of the funniest of all satirical comedies set in the West. The so-called western defies the limits post-modernists want to put onto it. Their purpose is to argue away the reality based, secular, individual-rights basis of North American history, to argue that it was all a bad idea persons mistakenly believed in, and that we ought to be glad to be living in the Age of public interest imperialism and the corporate man. "The Sheepman" is as powerful and as humorous a refutation of totalitarianism modern-variety as any I know. The writers were the comedy specialist William Bowers, western veteran James Edward Grant and William Roberts, with the swift-paced and able direction being supplied by versatile George Marshall. The story-line retails what seems at first glance to be a superior situation from which to develop a comedy. Jason Sweet, able played by Glenn Ford, has won a herd of sheep in a poker game. He is intelligent enough to know that while cattle and sheep get along very well, the folks in the area he wants to graze them are not about to prefer science to their own stupid bigotry; so he has no choice but to make a splashy entrance into the town he has chosen. Gonzales Gonzales plays his lugubrious sheepherder foreman; Ford heads into town, leaving the sheep to him while he accomplishes three things. One is to meet ditsy but very cute Shirley Maclaine, whom he fancies immediately as much as he sets her teeth on edge. A second it to pick a fight with Jumbo, ably played by Mickey Shaughnessy, so the town--as in "Destry Rides Again"--will take notice of his defeating their toughest bully. ASnd third, he finds out an old enemy, Johnny Bledsoe, calling himself Colonel Bedford, in the person of Leslie Nielsen, is courting the lady and pretty well running the town. So from the start, Ford knows the game. Dirty tricks abound, but eventually Nielsen has to hire a gunfighter, played by Pernell Roberts, to try to ride himself of Sweet and the sheep. However, all turns our right in the end, leaving a grinning Ford in possession of everything he had set out to win. The colorful story is actually quite attractive as a production, with cinematography by Robert J. Bronner and art direction provided by Macolm Brown and William A. Horning. Jeff Alexander provided the original music, and there are fine sets by Henry Grace and Hugh Hunt and Walter Plunkett's vivid costumes to enjoy also. This is one of several excellent Gleenn Ford--George Marshall western efforts, a body of work second only perhaps to the John Wayne-John Ford team's output. Not to be missed; a favorite with viewers everywhere. In the talented cast besides Ford and an understated and intelligent Nielsen, the viewer can find such western stalwarts as Edgar Buchanan, Willis Bouchey, Slim Pickens, Buzz Henry, Roscoe Ates, Hoot Gibson, Kermit Maynard, Percy Helton and Harry Harvey.

I enjoyed seeing Leslie Nielson as a young man, and was quite taken with him...I love him in everything he's in, even as a bad guy! He does better in comedy than drama, though, in my opinion. Shirley MacLaine was beautiful, and her voice sounded higher than it did in "Two Mules for Sister Sara", the western she was in with Clint Eastwood.