Rod Cameron is Mike McCall, a cattle king at a time when settlers are moving westward, threatening the range.
Those settlers, like a man named Dawson and his pretty daughter Connie (Gale Storm), have purchased land through the government’s land grant laws.
What they don’t know is that the viability of the land for farming is dependent on the McCall family’s willingness to share their water rights.
And Mike McCall isn’t interested in sharing, not if it means having nesters erecting fences all over his grazing land.
But he’s fighting his battle with few allies. Even longtime Sheriff Aaron Ball (Johnny Mack Brown) knows times are changing.
And the businessmen behind the land sales have lots to gain and everything to lose if they can’t separate McCall from his water.
Rod Cameron as Mike McCall, trying to avoid being ambushed in Stampede (1949)
Gale Storm as Connie Dawson, trying to mend fences with a new neighbor in Stampede (1949)
Review:
A fiery performance by a very young looking Gale Storm and a stampede with an unusual ending highlight this otherwise run-of-the-mill Western.
That said, it’s also a bit unique in that neither the settlers or cattle king is portrayed as the villains of the piece.
That role is left to the businessmen willing to manipulate both for the almighty dollar.
As young as she looked, Storm was 27 at the time and had her three sons on set, according to IMDb.
The screenplay was co-written by Blake Edwards, future director of Pink Panther fame.
Don Castle as Tim McCall, Mike’s jovial younger brother in Stampede (1949)
Steve Clark as John Dawson, building on his new land in spite of the cattleman’s warning in Stampede (1949)
Directed by:
Lesley Selander
Cast:
Rod Cameron … Mike McCall
Gale Storm … Connie Dawson
Johnny Mack Brown … Sheriff Aaron Ball
Don Castle … Tim McCall
Donald Curtis … Stanton
John Miljan … T.J. Furman
Jonathan Hale … Steven Varick
John Eldredge … Cox
Adrian Wood … Whiskey
Wes Christensen … Slim
James Harrison … Roper
Duke York … Maxie
Steve Clark … John Dawson
I. Stanford Jolley … Link Spain
Marshall Reed … Henchman Shives
Philo McCullough … Restaurant proprietor
Runtime: 76 min.
Johnny Mack Brown as Sheriff Aaron Ball, caught between an old friend and a changing West in Stampede (1949)
Johnny Mack Brown as Sheriff Aaron Ball, caught between an old friend and a changing West in Stampede (1949)
Memorable lines:
Connie Dawson, upon meeting cattle king Mike McCall: “Do I smile sweetly? Or do I bow?”
Mike McCall, upon learning Dawson plans to fence his land: “Dawson, I ride this way to town. I make that ride twice a day. Habit stands up a lot longer than fences.”
Tim McCall, as shots ring out in their direction: “What’d you do, steal the mayor’s wife or something?”
Mike McCall: “I killed someone.”
Tim: “Nothing to worry about then.”
Mike McCall: “You talk mighty big for a little girl.”
Connie Dawson: “Take a look at this gun. It makes me grow like a weed.”
Donald Curtis as Stanton, a land speculator at odds with cattleman Mike McCall in Stampede (1949)
Donald Curtis as Stanton, a land speculator at odds with cattleman Mike McCall in Stampede (1949)
Donald Curtis as Stanton, a land speculator at odds with cattleman Mike McCall in Stampede (1949)
Donald Curtis as Stanton, a land speculator at odds with cattleman Mike McCall in Stampede (1949)
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