Glenn Ford plays Jubal Troop, who stumbles onto Shep Horgan’s ranch weary and half frozen after being thrown from his horse. Shep (Ernest Borgnine) takes him in, gives him a job and grows to trust him so much that he eventually names him foreman.
But Troop has spent his life fleeing trouble; he considers himself bad luck. When he was young, his father saved him from drowning. His mother asked him why he was the one to survive. Troop hasn’t had a home since. And he senses trouble on the ranch.
One form of trouble is Horgan’s wife, Mae (Valerie French), a lovely lass from Canada who rejected 23 marriage proposals before saying yes to a man who called himself a Wyoming cattle baron. She hadn’t considered how lonely life could be for a woman on a 10,000-acre ranch, especially for one who doesn’t love her husband. Now she wants Jubal.
Another form of trouble is Pinky (Rod Steiger), one of Horgan’s most capable hands. He’s already had an affair with Mae and is jealous of the attention she pays to the newcomer, not to mention Troop’s new role as his boss. He’s just waiting for a chance to turn Shep against Jubal, and Mae might give him that chance.
Review:
Intelligent, well-done, suspenseful film with a fine cast. Steiger is wonderful as the whining Pinky. Valerie French makes the film in her role as the woman who can’t stand the touch of the man she’s married. And this marks one of Ford’s finest Westerns.
The rest of the cast is also full of familiar faces. Charles Bronson plays a fellow cowboy who befriends Troop. Felicia Farr, in one of her first films, is the young girl who falls for Troop. She’s part of a religious sect that rests up on Shep’s land, with Jubal’s blessing.
Directed by:
Delmar Daves
Cast:
Glenn Ford … Jubal Troop
Ernest Borgnine … Shep Horgan
Rod Steiger … Pinky
Valerie French … Mae Horgan
Felicia Farr … Naomi Hoktor
Basil Ruysdael … Shem Hoktor
Noah Beery Jr. … Sam
Charles Bronson … Reb Haislipp
John Dierkes … Carson
Jack Elam … McCoy
Robert Burton … Doctor Grant
Runtime: 101 min.
Memorable lines:
Sam, a Horgan rider: “Sometime I think it’s giving God the worst of it to say he invented man.”
Pinky: “Now, if you a cowhand, how come you stink of sheep dip?”
Jubal: “I hired out to a sheep ranch because it was the only job I could get.”
Pinky: “Most cowhands would die before they herd sheep.”
Jubal: “Show me one.”
Jubal: “Maybe I am running from something — bad luck. I carry it with me.”
Shep Horgan: “Where was you aiming to take it? You ever stop to figure that maybe it takes more energy to keep running away than to stop and fight it out.”
Judal: “Hey, Pinky, you know what your problem is? You got a whole bunch of splinters in your britches. Why don’t you try pulling them out?”
Jubal: “This is a fine ranch.”
Mae Horgan: “For men, horses and bulls. For a woman, it’s 10,000 acres of lonesome.”
Mae Horgan: “No matter if you love me? And don’t tell me you don’t. I can tell when a man wants me.”
Jubal: “There’s is a difference, you know?”
Mae: “Then I’ll settle for the difference.”
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