Short Grass (1950)

Rod Cameron plays Steve Lleweelyn, a drifting cowpoke who stumbles into a robbery, then smack dad into a range war.

But his real problems start when he’s wounded and lands in a bed at the Lynch Ranch on Willow Creek.

He’s nursed back to health by pretty Sharon Lynch (Cathy Downs) and falls in love with her. And using money taken from a dead man’s body, he buys into her father’s ranch.

Problem is, Sharon hates New Mexico and the gun violence that’s erupting as Hal Fenton tries to gobble up all the range land, including her father’s. And then Steve learns the $3,400 he gave her dad was stolen loot.

Lleweelyn eventually lands in a new cattle boom town, Silver Spur. But his old problems follow him there, including Fenton, who’s still land hungry; and Sharon, who’s now married to someone else.

Review:

Hardly one of the better Rod Cameron Westerns, partly because it’s tough to sympathize with his character, partly because the plot meanders more than a stray steer.

The $3,400 Lleweelyn hands over to Pete Lynch plays a pivotal role in the film. That would be $3,400 Lleweelyn took off the body of a killer he didn’t trust; a killer who shot him in the back. And he’s surprised it turns out to be dirty money?

Johnny Mack Brown, hero of so many series Westerns in the early 40s, has a key role as sheriff of Silver Spur. Unfortunately, making of the shoot-outs here look as though they were filmed for an early ’40s series Western.

This marked an early credited role for Alan Hale Jr. of future Gilligan’s Island fame. Oh, and check out the name of his character in this film — Chris Christofferson.

Rod Cameron as Steve Lleweelyn and Cathy Downs as Sharon Lynch in Short Grass (1950)

Cast:
Rod Cameron … Steve Lleweelyn
Cathy Downs … Sharon Lynch
Johnny Mack Brown … Sheriff Ord Keown
Raymond Walburn … Doc McKenna
Alan Hale Jr. … Chris Christofferson
Morris Ankrum … Hal Fenton
Jonathan Hale … Charlie Bissel
Harry Woods … Sam Dreen
Marlo Dwyer … Jennie Westfall
Riley Hill … Randee Fenton
Jeff York … Curley
Stanley Andrews … Pete Lynch
Jack Ingram … Jack
Myron Healey … Les McCambridge
Tristram Coffin … John Devore
Rory Mallinson … Jim Westfall
Felipe Turich .. Manuel
George J. Lewis … Diego
Lee Tung Foo … Lin

Runtime: 82 min.

Memorable lines:

Hal Fenton: “Use your head instead of your gun. Or we’re through. Play it quiet, my way. You’ll die a rich man.”
Randee Fenton, his younger brother: “If I don’t?”
Hal Fenton: “I reckon you’ll just die.”

Steve Lleweelyn: “You’re pretty cheerful for a gent who just made somebody a nasty job of grave digging.”
Les McCambridge: “Ain’t no sense in lettin’ another man’s troubles spoil the day for me.”

Cathy Downs: “Happy? Who is in this desert? My dead mother, maybe. This isn’t a happy country. It’s wild and reckless and savage. People weren’t made to live like this.”

Cathy Downs: “I’m not afraid of any man alive. I never will be.”
Steve Lleweelyn, after grabbing her and kissing her: “Always be a little bit afraid of everything.”