On C List of Movie Reviews

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The Culpepper Cattle Co. (1972)

Rate: 10
Viewed: 5/22

5/22: The Culpepper Cattle Co. was there first, not Unforgiven.

Dusty and realistic, it has a cast of hardened men who lead a cattle drive from Texas to Fort Lewis, Colorado. A kid is eager to join them but soon finds out how unfit he's for the cowboy life. It's been a series of poor decisions, causing everybody to resent him. Bad things happen, and there are consequences to pay for while law and order isn't a valid concept. The ending is Peckinpah-esque. According to Wikipedia:

"The Culpepper Cattle Co. has been praised for its attention to detail and period atmosphere. A subtle example is seen when Frank Culpepper leans against a water barrel and his arm above the wrist is exposed—it is white, untanned. People rarely took off any clothing in public (there is a comic moment when the cook is embarrassed to be seen with his shirt off), and the idea of an 'all-over' tan would have been absurd, if not incomprehensible. Only working folk had a tan. Cowboys were 'fish-belly white' over most of their bodies."

The performances are very good, coming from Billy Green Bush, Luke Askew, Bo Hopkins, and Geoffrey Lewis. They play tough characters. While Anthony James doesn't appear until the final third, Gary Grimes serves as a representative for the audience and does a fine job. At the beginning, he shows a gun to another boy; that's Charles Martin Smith making his screen debut. It'll be another year before he's famous for American Graffiti.

All in all, if you want to see a realistic cowboy picture, The Culpepper Cattle Co. should be your first choice.

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