“Finding
a spoilt and stubborn teenaged
boy stranded in the middle of nowhere,
an experienced cow-herder is forced to
take him along on a cattle drive — a
decision he regrets when the greenhorn,
the spoilt son of a wealthy railroad
owner, turns out to be disruptive; but the
cowboy and greenhorn begin to bond in
the fine Western movie Cattle Drive...”
WHILE ON A CATTLE DRIVE to San Diego, cattle-herder Dan Mathews (Joel
McCrea: Ride The High Country) finds a teenaged boy stumbling on foot
through the rocky terrain.
The boy, who left the train when it stopped to take on water and was left behind,
tells him he is Chester Graham Jr (Dean Stockwell: Quantum Leap), son
of a wealthy railroad owner, after whom he is named. As they cannot leave the
boy in the middle of nowhere, Dan persuades trail boss Cap (Howard Petrie) to
take him on and let him earn his keep, against the wishes of his men.
“Cattle
Drive
is a rootin’ tootin’ Western
with the feel-good factor and a very
satisfying ending...”
Although
at first the boy behaves like a spoiled brat, he comes to trust Dan and actually
begins to grow up and take responsibility.
Dan grows fond of him and they face the dangers of the trail together as they
drive the cattle to San Diego, where the boy is to be reunited with his father,
Chester Graham Sr (Leon Ames) who has been so wrapped up in his business that
he has had little time for Chester.
As Chester, known to Dan as Chet, works for his keep for the first time in his
life, he and Dan get closer and he learns the hard way the value of working
for a living and respect.
Having found an older man who seems more like a father than his own father,
how will Chet adapt to the life he will return to at the end of the trail? Will
Chester SR recognise his son's needs?
Cattle Drive is a rootin' tootin' western with the Feelgood factor and
a very satisfying ending. If you love westerns and adventures with a moral story
you'll love this.
Shot in Death Valley, California, and Paria, Utah, Cattle Drive also
features: Chill Wills (Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid) as Dallas; Henry
Brandon as Jim Currie; Bob Steele as Charlie Morgan; Chuck Roberson (Cahill:
United States Marshall) as Chuck Saunders; Harry Carey Jr (The Searchers)
as Train Passenger; and Griff Barnett as Conductor O'Hara.
Director of Photography is Maury Natteford, ASC; Written by Jack Natteford and
Lillie Hayward; Produced by Aaron Rosenberg; and Directed by Kurt Neumann.
*
The
Hollywood Classics/Universal Pictures coming-of-age Western Cattle Drive
is released on DVD in the UK, courtesy of Simply Media, on 18 April 2016. Certificate:
U | Year: 1951 | Running Time: 74 Minutes Approximately | Catalogue Number:
164453 | RRP: £12.99.
"Cattle Drive is a rootin' tootin' Western with the Feelgood factor and
a very satisfying ending" ~ Maggie Woods
“Finding
a spoilt and stubborn teenaged