Working as an assistant on a long cattle drive, the young Ben Mockridge contends between his dream of being a cowboy and the harsh truth of the Old West.
Cinematography
Bleached, sun-scorched vistas that mock the romance.
Direction
Richards makes every cattle crossing feel like a funeral.
Director
Dick Richards
Gary Grimes
Ben Mockridge
Billy Green Bush
Frank Culpepper
Luke Askew
Luke
Bo Hopkins
Dixie Brick
Geoffrey Lewis
Russ
Wayne Sutherlin
Missoula
John McLiam
Thorton Pierce
Matt Clark
Pete
Raymond Guth
Cook
Anthony James
Nathaniel
Charles Martin Smith
Tim Slater (as Charlie Martin Smith)
Bob Morgan
Old John
Jan Burrell
Mrs. Mockridge
Hal Needham
Burgess
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Richards' directorial debut after shooting iconic Marlboro ads — he literally built his career on cowboy fantasy, then spent his first film destroying it. The irony is thick enough to choke on.
Released as the Western was dying, it's a funeral procession for the genre itself. By 1972, audiences wanted their myths dismantled, not celebrated.
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