Cattle Empire

Last updated

Cattle Empire
Cattle Empire.jpg
Film still
Directed by Charles Marquis Warren
Written by Daniel B. Ullman
Endre Bohem
Eric Norden
Charles Marquis Warren
Produced byRobert Stabler II
Starring Joel McCrea
Gloria Talbott
Cinematography Brydon Baker
Edited by Fred W. Berger
Music by Paul Sawtell
Bert Shefter
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date
  • 1958 (1958)
Running time
83 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Cattle Empire is a 1958 American Western DeLuxe Color movie in CinemaScope directed by Charles Marquis Warren, starring Joel McCrea and released by 20th Century Fox. The film also features Gloria Talbott, Don Haggerty, Phyllis Coates, and Bing Russell and serves as something of a forerunner for director Warren's subsequent television series Rawhide starring Eric Fleming and Clint Eastwood, which used the picture's writer Endre Bohem, as well as some of its supporting cast (Paul Brinegar, Steve Raines, Rocky Shahan, and Charles H. Gray).

Contents

Plot

The story starts with John Cord (Joel McCrea) apprehended by the townsfolk, who have roped him, and are dragging him through the streets with the intent to kill him. Cord is despised for a range of things done to the town by his cattle crew he was responsible when they went on a wild drunken rampage.

Cord is saved from death by Ralph, a prominent cattle owner and major businessman of the town, who turns up with his wife and his brother. Ralph is blind, and Cord is shown to be responsible for that, as well. Despite this, Ralph reveals that he has, in fact, invited Cord to the town. As the most experienced cattle man in the area, he is the only one who can drive the townsfolks and his cattle to Fort Clemson, where they can be sold. The town is on the verge of economic collapse, and the sale of the cattle will save the town.

Cord is a skilled cattleman and one of the few people capable of driving the cattle across land, at a time of the year when little grass is available and many of the rivers are dry. He initially refuses the offer from Ralph. He later meets the rival of Ralph, Garth, who wants to drive his own cattle to Fort Clemson. Cord accepts an offer from Garth to drive the cattle, and then goes back to accept the offer from Ralph, as well, secretly plotting his revenge against the townsfolk, while committing to get Garth's cattle to Fort Clemson first. He departs the town on the cattle drive with Ralph, his wife, many of the townsfolk who tried to kill him, and a young girl who is in love with him. Things occur on the cattle drive, though, which lead Cord to reconsider his revenge on the townsfolk of Hamilton. [1]

Cast

Related Research Articles

<i>Tales of the Texas Rangers</i> Western old-time radio and television police procedural drama

Tales of the Texas Rangers is a 20th century Western old-time radio and television police procedural drama which originally aired on NBC Radio from 1950 to 1952 and later on CBS Television from 1955 to 1958. Film star Joel McCrea voiced the radio version as the fictitious Texas Ranger Jace Pearson, who uses the latest scientific techniques to identify criminals. His faithful horse, Charcoal, helps Pearson to track down the culprits. The radio shows, some of which are available on the Internet, are reenactments of actual Texas Ranger cases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garth Ennis</span> Northern Irish–American comics writer

Garth Ennis is a Northern Irish–American comics writer, best known for the Vertigo series Preacher with artist Steve Dillon, his nine-year run on Marvel Comics' Punisher franchise, and The Boys with artist Darick Robertson. He has collaborated with artists such as Dillon and Glenn Fabry on Preacher, John McCrea on Hitman, Marc Silvestri on The Darkness, and Carlos Ezquerra on both Preacher and Hitman. His work has won him recognition in the comics industry, including nominations for the Comics Buyer's Guide Award for Favorite Writer in 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frances Dee</span> American actress (1909–2004)

Frances Marion Dee was an American actress. Her first film was the musical Playboy of Paris (1930). She starred in the film An American Tragedy (1931). She is also known for starring in the 1943 Val Lewton psychological horror film I Walked With a Zombie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel McCrea</span> American actor (1905–1990)

Joel Albert McCrea was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he became best known.

<i>Ramrod</i> (film) 1947 film by André de Toth

Ramrod is a 1947 American Western film directed by Andre de Toth and starring Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, Preston Foster and Don DeFore. This cowboy drama from Hungarian director de Toth was the first of several films based on the stories of Western author Luke Short. De Toth's first Western is often compared to films noir released around the same time. Leading lady Veronica Lake was then married to director de Toth. The supporting cast features Donald Crisp, Charles Ruggles, Lloyd Bridges and Ray Teal.

<i>Rawhide</i> (TV series) American Western television series

Rawhide is an American Western television series starring Eric Fleming and Clint Eastwood. The show aired for eight seasons on the CBS network on Friday nights from January 9, 1959 to September 3, 1965 before moving to Tuesday nights from September 14, 1965 until December 7, 1965, with a total of 217 black-and-white episodes. The series was produced and sometimes directed by Charles Marquis Warren, who also produced early episodes of Gunsmoke. The show is remembered by many for its theme song, "Rawhide".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jody McCrea</span> American actor (1934–2009)

Joel Dee "Jody" McCrea was an American actor. He was the son of actors Joel McCrea and Frances Dee.

<i>The Leech Woman</i> 1960 film

The Leech Woman is a 1960 black-and-white American horror film directed by Edward Dein, produced by Joseph Gershenon, and starring Coleen Gray, Grant Williams, Gloria Talbott and Phillip Terry. The plot follows a middle-aged American woman, desperate to be young again, who uses an ancient, secret African potion to regain her lost youth and beauty. The potion works, but only temporarily, requiring repeated usage.

<i>The Virginian</i> (1946 film) 1946 film

The Virginian is a 1946 American Western film directed by Stuart Gilmore and starring Joel McCrea, Brian Donlevy, Sonny Tufts, and Barbara Britton. Based on the 1902 Owen Wister novel of the same name, the film was adapted from the popular 1904 theatrical play Wister had collaborated on with playwright Kirke La Shelle. The Virginian is about an eastern school teacher who comes to Medicine Bow in Wyoming and encounters life on the frontier. The film is a remake of the 1929 movie with Gary Cooper and Walter Huston. There have been several versions of the story, beginning with a 1914 film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and including a 1960s television series that bore little relation to the book other than the title. The film was originally distributed by Paramount Pictures, and is currently owned by EMKA.

<i>Wichita</i> (1955 film) 1955 film by Jacques Tourneur

Wichita is a 1955 American CinemaScope Western film directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Joel McCrea as Wyatt Earp. The film won a Golden Globe Award for Best Outdoor Drama. The supporting cast features Vera Miles, Lloyd Bridges, Edgar Buchanan, Peter Graves, Jack Elam and Mae Clarke. The film's premiere was held in Wichita, Kansas, at The Wichita Theatre, 310 East Douglas, with the stars in attendance. Vera Miles had been Miss Kansas in 1948 and was third runner up in the Miss America pageant. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association awarded the film with "Best Picture - Outdoor Drama" in 1955.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Brinegar</span> American actor

Paul Alden Brinegar Jr. was an American character actor best known for his roles in three Western series: The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Rawhide, and Lancer.

<i>Wichita Town</i> American TV series or program

Wichita Town is a half-hour Western television series starring Joel McCrea, Jody McCrea, Carlos Romero, and George Neise that aired on NBC from September 30, 1959, until September 23, 1960.

<i>Stars in My Crown</i> (film) 1950 film by Jacques Tourneur

Stars in My Crown is a 1950 Western film directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Joel McCrea as a preacher whose faith tames an unruly town by inspiring the townspeople to change. It was based on the 1947 novel of the same name by Joe David Brown.

<i>Tumbleweed</i> (film) 1953 film by Nathan H. Juran

Tumbleweed is a 1953 American Western film directed by Nathan Juran and starring Audie Murphy, Lori Nelson, and Chill Wills. The film is based on the story "Three Were Renegades" by Kenneth Perkins, originally published in the December 1938 issue of Blue Book. IMDb and other sources mistakenly call the film a remake of the 1948 film Relentless, which was based on a similarly named story, "Three Were Thoroughbreds," by Perkins. The later story, "Three Were Renegades," was published as a sort-of sequel to the earlier story, "Three Were Thoroughbreds," and the plotlines of the two films mirror the plotlines of their respective source stories.

<i>Cattle Drive</i> 1951 film by Kurt Neumann

Cattle Drive is a 1951 American Western film directed by Kurt Neumann and starring Joel McCrea, Dean Stockwell and Chill Wills. Much of the film was shot in the Death Valley National Park, California and Paria, Utah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Marquis Warren</span> American film director

Charles Marquis Warren was an American motion picture and television writer, producer, and director who specialized in Westerns. Among his notable career achievements were his involvement in creating the television series Rawhide and his work in adapting the radio series Gunsmoke for television.

<i>The Unseen</i> (1945 film) 1945 film by Lewis Allen

The Unseen is a 1945 American film noir mystery film directed by Lewis Allen and starring Joel McCrea. It's based on the 1942 novel Midnight House by Ethel Lina White.

<i>The Gunfight at Dodge City</i> 1959 film

The Gunfight at Dodge City is a 1959 American DeLuxe Color Western CinemaScope film. It was produced by the Mirisch Company, directed by Joseph M. Newman, co-written by Martin Goldsmith and Daniel B. Ullman and starred Joel McCrea as Bat Masterson.

Fort Massacre is a 1958 American western film directed by Joseph M. Newman, starring Joel McCrea, Forrest Tucker, John Russell and Susan Cabot. A possibly mad cavalry commander leads his troops through dangerous Indian territory.

<i>Trooper Hook</i> 1957 film by Charles Marquis Warren

Trooper Hook is a 1957 American Western film directed by Charles Marquis Warren and starring Joel McCrea as the title character and Barbara Stanwyck as the woman he frees from the Indians. The fact that during her captivity she has had a son by a much-feared chief makes her situation very difficult.

References

  1. "Cattle Empire (1958) - Charles Marquis Warren | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie".
  2. Lentz, Harris (1996). Western and Frontier Film and Television Credits 1903-1995: Section I. Actors and actresses. Section II. Directors, producers, and writers. McFarland. p. 89. ISBN   9780786402175 via Google Books.