The beef market has collasped in Texas in the mid-1870s, forcing ranchers to the verge of bankruptcy.
In fact, their only market for cattle in the Garnet Basin is a new rendering plant, where strays and scrubs are processed for their hides and byproducts.
Banker Marvin Parker (Barton MacLane) figures to profit off the cattlemen’s woes, refusing to extend their mortgages in hopes of buying their land on the cheap.
Colleagues in his scheme include Sledge and Harry Odell. The former runs the rendering plant and rustles to keep it profitable. The latter is planning to marry Linda Garnet, daughter of Walt Garnet, the biggest rancher around, so he’ll have a claim to that land.
But freighter Ben Anthony (Edmond O’Brien) is making a profit and he believes in Texas cow country enough to want to keep the ranchers afloat.
That’s partly because of his interest in Linda; that’s partly because he’s beginning to question the origin of all those hides he’s carrying in his wagons. After all, the cattlemen have banded together and agreed not to deal with Sledge’s rendering plant.
And he’s beginning to suspect that Harry Odell, his old friend, is among those causing trouble for the cattlemen.
Edmond O’Brien as Ben Anthony, forming a partnership with store owner Joe Davis in Cow Country (1953)
Helen Westcott as Linda Garnet, returning home from the Boston conservatory of music to help her father in Cow Country (1953)
Review:
A more literate and complex script than normal helps lift this B Western above average. It also helps make up for the lack of action; the first gunshot doesn’t sound until the 30-minute mark.
Among the subplots is Linda’s mistaken trust in Harry Odell, a man who vows to love her while pushing her father closer to bankruptcy and romancing a pretty nester’s daughter.
The nester’s daughter is Melba Sykes. Peggie Castle nearly steals the film in that role, relying on Odell to improve her status in life, then viciously turning on him with a whip when she realizes he never planned to marry her.
Don Beddoe plays Joe Davis, the general store owner who becomes partners with Anthony. Fritz Warner is the kindly famer who sides with Anthony too and has a very soft spot for Melba.
Robert Lowery as Harry Odell, romancing Melba Sykes sand hoping to marry Linda Garnet in Cow Country (1953)
Barton MacLane as Marvin Parker, the banker trying to squeeze ranchers off their land in Cow Country (1953)
Directed by:
Lesley Selander
Cast:
Edmond O’Brien …. Ben Anthony
Helen Westcott … Linda Garnet
Robert Lowery … Harry Odell
Barton MacLane … Marvin Parker
Peggie Castle … Melba Sykes
Robert Barrat … Walt Garnet
James Millican … Fritz Warner
Don Beddoe … Joe Davis
Robert J. Wilke … Sledge
Raymond Hatten … Smokey
Chuck Courtney … Tom
Steve Clark … Skeeter
Roby Mallinson … Tim Sykes
Marshall Reed … Riley
Chuck Roberson … Stubby
Tom Tyler … Pete
Sam Flint … Maitland
Jack Ingram … Terrell
George J. Lewis … Sanchez
Runtime: 85 min.
Peggie Castle as Melba Sykes, a nester’s daugther who hopes marriage to Harry Odell will improve her life in Cow Country (1953)
James Millican as Fritz Warner, the farmer with a soft spot for nester’s daughter Melba Sykes in Cow Country (1953)
Memorable lines:
Ben Anthony to Linda Garnett, about her dad: “He hasn’t spoken to me since the day I told him I wasn’t cut out to be any man’s shadow. Even his.”
Walt Garnet to Harry Odell, who plans to marry his daughter: “Harry, when a man does things because he’s going broke, it’s a family affair. And you’re not quite in the family yet.”
Tim Sykes, on the possibility of his daughter Melba marrying Harry Odell: “Alright, Odell, I don’t see you as any catch. But I guess being a rancher’s wife beats being a nester’s daughter.”
Tim Sykes, as Garnett orders him off his range: “Now look, Mr. Garnett, I got a right to an explanation. You can’t throw me out like a dog just cause you’re whiskers are on fire about something.”
Sledge to Harry Odell, who plans to drive cattle into a box canyon, then set off explosive: “You’re about to get a lesson on how to turn a canyon into a slaughterhouse.”
Robert Barrat as Walt Garnet, owner of the Circle G Ranch and a man determined to keep it going in Cow Country (1953)
Robert J. Wilke as Sledge, owner of the rendering plant and rustling to keep it profitable in Cow Country (1953)
Don Beddoe as Joe Davis, the store owner order to stop extending credit to ranchers in Cow Country (1953)
Edmund O’Brien as Ben Anthony, refusing to take orders from rancher Walt Garnet (Robert Barrat) in Cow Country (1953)
Roby Mallinson as Tim Sykes confronting Harry Odell (Robert Lowery) about his relationship with daughter Melba (Peggie Castle) in Cow Country (1953)
Edmund O’Brien as Ben Anthony, a man determined to sort out who’s behind the trouble in Cow Country (1953)
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