Cow Country

Though it's ingrained in me to love tiny westerns that ably coast on tropes and cliches, the more the better, this one just didn't get there. The novel idea of cattle men fighting amongst themselves was fascinating and held my interest to a degree, but it started to drag in subplots and one dimensional characters. Normally a real fave of mine, I found Edmond O'Brien uncharacteristically low key in this and absent for long stretches of the story. The three Roberts, Barrat, Lowery and especially Wilke steal the picture right out from under him. Barrat plays a wealthy entitled cattle baron and though he's supposed to be one of the ostensible good guys when all is said and done, he's nearly as reprehensible in his actions as Wilke's character who is typically cast as evil incarnate. Plus I was really bothered by a scene of our hero shooting someone in the back. Had this been an Anthony Mann western or a later Spaghetti or New Hollywood western, that could work, but in a 1953 low budget oater, it seemed out of place. Not that I don't mind defying genre conventions, but it just didn't sit well with me this time. Normally these films pass the clocks with ease on a lazy weekend afternoon, but I got antsy watching this one and felt encouraged to nitpick.