A rich landowner of Wyoming fights to prevent the Texas herds from trampling his rich meadows.A rich landowner of Wyoming fights to prevent the Texas herds from trampling his rich meadows.A rich landowner of Wyoming fights to prevent the Texas herds from trampling his rich meadows.
- Webb Carter
- (as Bob Ivers)
- John
- (uncredited)
- Spanish Saloon Girl
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis film barely broke even at the box office, earning MGM the small profit of $20,000 according to studio records.
- GoofsThe sign on the main street states the altitude is 8101 feet. The actual altitude is 6062 feet.
- Quotes
Sam Brassfield: [there is a knock on the door] The door's open.
Clay Mathews: Sam... , Getting to be a big man, Sam.
Sam Brassfield: I own some land.
Clay Mathews: ...with a fence around it.
Sam Brassfield: That's right.
Clay Mathews: There are getting to be too many fences for me, Sam. My business depends on open range.
Sam Brassfield: Well then maybe you ought to change your business, Clay.
Clay Mathews: No, Sam. I don't see it that way. 'Way I see it, as soon as this National Cattle Trail Bill passes, my business'll just be starting.
Sam Brassfield: I don't expect it to pass. I'm doing everything I can to stop it.
Clay Mathews: Well, kinda puts us on different sides of that fence I was talking about, don't it?
Sam Brassfield: You can say that.
Clay Mathews: Sam, I don't want to fight with you. I think a lot of you. You remember that first day you come to work for me down the brush country?
Sam Brassfield: I remember it.
Clay Mathews: Just back from the war... your land. gone... your folks dead. You were some green, boy but you learned fast.
Sam Brassfield: You trying to say something, Clay?
Clay Mathews: I figure you might still learn fast. I'm offering you a chance to put in with me, Sam.
Sam Brassfield: I figure you know the answer.
Clay Mathews: You're being a fool, boy.
Sam Brassfield: It's possible.
Clay Mathews: Sam, we're friends. I taught you a lot about the cow business. You think I'd go into this if I didn't know what I was doing? I got a million dollars in back of me.
Sam Brassfield: You have a lot of cattle in Texas, Clay. Wyoming is the last spot on Earth you have to sow 'em. You're a man between a rock and a hard place looking for a way out.
Clay Mathews: Alright, Sam. S'pose what you say is true, I'll still make a million dollars. Any reason why you shouldn't be a part of it?
Sam Brassfield: Yeah, plenty of reason, Clay but I doubt you'd understand it
This was hardly the grand send off MGM gave him, but it's an entertaining B western. It played the bottom half of double features in 1963. Taylor had been off the screen for three years doing his The Detectives Television series. He no longer had the box office clout he once had.
The plot involves Taylor, a Wyoming cattle rancher pitted against a big time operator played by Robert Middleton who wants to have a National Cattle Trail which means unfenced open country. Middleton wants to bring cattle from Texas, more than the range will support, make a quick profit and leave. Plot is very similar to Kirk Douglas's Man Without a Star. Middleton's hired a gunman played by Richard Devon.
Middleton is also using William Windom against Taylor. Taylor is wooing Windom's sister played by Joan Caulfield.
What makes this western a bit unusual is that in addition to settling things in the traditional western way, Taylor and Middleton are busy lobbying the President of the United States who's in Wyoming for a visit.
In fact that part of the story is true. President Chester A. Arthur made a publicized trip to the Yellowstone National Park, the first visit by a sitting president to the western territories. Probably the only time Chet Arthur was ever portrayed on screen and here he's played by Larry Gates.
The cast is made up of people who've done westerns before and a veteran director in Tay Garnett. He got the film done on location in less than two weeks. Good if you have seasoned players who know exactly what to do.
I would also point out that Robert Loggia played Taylor's Mexican ranch hand and turned in a memorable performance right at the start of his distinguished career.
Nice B western with a plot centered around a little known true story of the west.
- bkoganbing
- Nov 12, 2005
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Cattle King of Wyoming
- Filming locations
- Daley Ranch - 3024 La Honda Drive, Escondido, California, USA(ranch annexed by the city in the 1980's, purchased outright in 1997 for a nature preserve)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $535,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 28 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 2.00 : 1