''Cow Country'' is a 1953 American
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
film directed by
Lesley Selander
Lesley Selander (May 26, 1900 – December 5, 1979) was an American film director of Western (genre), Westerns and adventure film, adventure movies. His career as director, spanning 127 feature films and dozens of TV episodes, lasted from 1936 to ...
and written by
Adele Buffington
Adele Buffington (born Adele Burgdorfer, and sometimes billed as Jess Bowers) was an American screenwriter of the silent and sound film eras of Hollywood.
Early life
Adele was born in St. Louis to Adolph Burgdorfer and Mary Elizabeth Frederick, ...
and
Thomas W. Blackburn. The film stars
Edmond O'Brien
Eamon Joseph O'Brien (September 10, 1915 – May 9, 1985) was an American actor and film director. His career spanned almost 40 years, and he won one Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
O'Brien w ...
,
Helen Westcott
Helen Westcott (born Myrthas Helen Hickman, January 1, 1928 – March 17, 1998) was an American stage and screen actress and former child actress. She is best known for her work in ''The Gunfighter'' (1950).
Early years
Westcott was the daughte ...
,
Robert Lowery,
Barton MacLane
Barton MacLane (December 25, 1902 – January 1, 1969) was an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter. He appeared in many classic films from the 1930s through the 1960s, including his role as General Martin Peterson on the 1960s NBC ...
,
Peggie Castle
Peggie Castle (December 22, 1927 – August 11, 1973) was an American actress who specialized in playing the "other woman" in B-movies. Castle was Miss Cheesecake in 1949.
Early life
Castle was born as Peggy Thomas Blair in Appalachia, Wis ...
,
Robert Barrat
Robert Harriot Barrat (July 10, 1891 – January 7, 1970) was an American stage, motion picture, and television character actor.
Early years
Barratt was born on July 10, 1891, in New York City and was educated in the public schools there. He ...
and
James Millican
James Millican (February 17, 1911 – November 24, 1955) was an American actor with over 200 film appearances mostly in western movies.
Millican was the son of Fred S. Millican, a circus owner, and Dorothy Millican.
Millican was a clos ...
. The film was released on April 26, 1953, by
Allied Artists Pictures.
Plot
Ben Anthony runs a freight line in Texas. He disappointed cattleman Walt Garnet by not going into that business. Walt's beautiful daughter Linda returns to town after a long absence and Ben still carries a torch for her, but she's now involved with another man, Harry Odell.
The cattle business is in trouble. Beef prices have dropped so low, cattle companies are being urged to sell their stock to a rendering plant. Ben tries to intervene, and eventually learns that banker Parker is colluding with Odell and the plant's owner, Sledge, to gain control of the ranchers' valuable land.
Melba Sykes and her father Tim are squatting on Walt's ranch. It turns out that Odell is not only hiding his business schemes from Linda but also the fact that he's been romancing Melba behind her back. Tim Sykes is killed, and when Sledge produces a bill of sale from the man, Ben knows it's been forged because Tim did not know how to write.
Melba boasts to Linda that her lover Odell will look out for her interest now. Linda realizes she's been betrayed and turns to Ben for solace and advice. Melba becomes furious when Odell breaks off their relationship and snaps a bullwhip at him.
A showdown ensues in a box canyon, where Parker and Sledge are planning to destroy the cattle they have rustled. Ben gets there in time to shoot them both. He is wounded himself, but will survive and also will now have Linda.
Cast
*
Edmond O'Brien
Eamon Joseph O'Brien (September 10, 1915 – May 9, 1985) was an American actor and film director. His career spanned almost 40 years, and he won one Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
O'Brien w ...
as Ben Anthony
*
Helen Westcott
Helen Westcott (born Myrthas Helen Hickman, January 1, 1928 – March 17, 1998) was an American stage and screen actress and former child actress. She is best known for her work in ''The Gunfighter'' (1950).
Early years
Westcott was the daughte ...
as Linda Garnet
*
Robert Lowery as Harry Odell
*
Barton MacLane
Barton MacLane (December 25, 1902 – January 1, 1969) was an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter. He appeared in many classic films from the 1930s through the 1960s, including his role as General Martin Peterson on the 1960s NBC ...
as Marvin Parker
*
Peggie Castle
Peggie Castle (December 22, 1927 – August 11, 1973) was an American actress who specialized in playing the "other woman" in B-movies. Castle was Miss Cheesecake in 1949.
Early life
Castle was born as Peggy Thomas Blair in Appalachia, Wis ...
as Melba Sykes
*
Robert Barrat
Robert Harriot Barrat (July 10, 1891 – January 7, 1970) was an American stage, motion picture, and television character actor.
Early years
Barratt was born on July 10, 1891, in New York City and was educated in the public schools there. He ...
as Walt Garnet
*
James Millican
James Millican (February 17, 1911 – November 24, 1955) was an American actor with over 200 film appearances mostly in western movies.
Millican was the son of Fred S. Millican, a circus owner, and Dorothy Millican.
Millican was a clos ...
as Fritz Warner
*
Don Beddoe
Donald Theophilus Beddoe (July 1, 1903 – January 19, 1991) was an American character actor.
Early years
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Beddoe was the son of Dan Beddoe, a Welsh classical singer, and his wife Mary. He graduated from the ...
as Joe Davis
*
Robert J. Wilke
Robert Joseph Wilke (May 18, 1914 – March 28, 1989) was an American film and television actor noted primarily for his roles as villains, mostly in Westerns.
Early years
Wilke was a native of Cincinnati. Before going into acting, he h ...
as Sledge
*
Raymond Hatton
Raymond William Hatton (July 7, 1887 – October 21, 1971) was an American film actor who appeared in almost 500 motion pictures.
Biography
Hatton was born in Red Oak, Iowa. His physician father steered him toward a career in medicine. Howev ...
as Smokey
*
Chuck Courtney as Tom
*Steve Clark as Skeeter
*
Rory Mallinson
Charles Rory Mallinson (October 27, 1913 – March 26, 1976) was an American film and television actor.
Career
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Mallinson began his acting career after signing a contract with Warner Brothers in 1945. That year he had ...
as Tim Sykes
*
Marshall Reed
Marshall Jewel Reed (May 28, 1917 – April 15, 1980) was an American actor who appeared in over 200 films between 1943 and 1978. He was born in Englewood, Colorado.
Early years
Reed's parents were Walter George Reed and Ruth Dustin. By a ...
as Riley
*
Chuck Roberson
Charles Hugh Roberson (May 10, 1919 – June 8, 1988) was an American actor and stuntman.
Biography
Roberson was born near Shannon, Texas, the son of farmer Ollie W. Roberson and Jannie Hamm Roberson. Raised on cattle ranches in Shannon, ...
as Stubby
*
Tom Tyler
Tom Tyler (born Vincent Markowski; August 9, 1903 – May 1, 1954) was an American actor known for his leading roles in low-budget Western films in the silent and sound eras, and for his portrayal of superhero Captain Marvel in the 1941 ...
as Pete
*
Sam Flint
Sam Flint (born Samuel A. Ethridge; October 19, 1882 – October 17, 1980) was an American actor.
Flint appeared in more than 230 films, often as a "judge, lawyer, military officer, senator, sheriff, chief of police, or doctor."
Flint was ...
as Maitland
*
Jack Ingram
Jack Owen Ingram (born November 15, 1970) is an American country music artist formerly signed to Big Machine Records, an independent record label. He has released eleven studio albums, one extended play, six live albums, and 19 singles. Although ...
as Terrell
*
George J. Lewis as Sanchez
References
External links
*
1953 films
1950s English-language films
American Western (genre) films
1953 Western (genre) films
Films directed by Lesley Selander
American black-and-white films
1950s American films
{{1950s-Western-film-stub