1972: Directed by Dick Richards; Color. Gary Grimes, Billy Green Bush, Luke Askew, Bo Hopkins, Geoffrey Lewis, Wayne Sutherlin, Charles Martin Smith, Ted Gehring, Paul Harper, Dennis Fimple, Royal Dano, Walter Scott, William O’Connell, Gregory Sierra, Jan Burrell, Bob Morgan, Hal Needham, John McLiam, Arthur Malet, Jerry Gatlin, John Pearce.
This is a stunningly photographed tale of a 16-year old farm boy, Ben Mockridge (Gary Grimes), who begs tough cattle boss Frank Culpepper (convincingly played by Billy Green Bush) to take him along on a cattle drive. Ben finds out the hard way, however, that the life of a cowhand is not as glorious as he had once presumed, and that it is downright exhausting, both physically and mentally.
Standouts in the film are trail hires on the drive: Russ (Geoffrey Lewis), Luke (Luke Askew), Dixie Brick (Bo Hopkins) and Missoula (Wayne Sutherlin) –four sticks of dynamite waiting to go off… and the story eventually gives them the chance to do so.
The entire film has a realistically grimy and gritty feel; its cowboys, cattle and horses, plus an abundance of dust flying about, make the viewer ponder if Culpepper came to life from a series……………………………………………………………..