The Hired Hand (1971)

Peter Fonda is Harry Collings, a cowboy who’s tired of the drifting life and wants to return to the wife and daughter he abandoned six years earlier.

His longtime partner Arch Harris (Warren Oates) and young tag-along Dan Griffen (Robert Pratt) figure to head to California and all its rumored bounties instead.

Then comes a visit to a small border town. After a day and night of drinking, Dan decides to buy himself some female companionship.

That proves a deadly decision when a man who claims to be a jealous husband (Severn Darden as McVey) guns him down.

Harry retaliates by firing a bullet into both of McVey’s feet the next morning, leaving him crippled.

Then he and Arch head off to the ranch where Harry’s wife Hannah (Verna Bloom) agrees to take him back — as a hired hand, not as a husband.

She slowly softens in her feelings toward her husband; she’s been a lonely woman. Arch eventually rides on.

But then a rider shows up with a message: One of Arch’s dismembered fingers. And a warning that more will follow if Harry doesn’t return to that small border town.

Peter Fonda as Harry Collings in The Hired Hand (1971)

Warren Oates as Arch Harris in The Hired Hand (1971)

Review:

A wonderful example of how it doesn’t take a large cast and a large budget to make an excellent Western.

In his directorial debut, Fonda — with the help of script by Alan Sharp and cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond — serves up a decidedly different film.

Oates turned in a splendid performance as Fonda’s longtime friend. Bloom does the same as Fonda’s neglected wife.

He’s the man torn between the two, more comfortable with the uncomplicated friendship he enjoys with Oates, but yearning for a place to call home.

And when it’s time for violence to interrupt their lives, Fonda serves it up realistically and unflinchingly.

Verna Bloom as Hannah Collings in The Hired Hand (1971)

Robert Pratt as Dan Griffen in The Hired Hand (1971)

Directed by:
Peter Fonda

Cast:
Peter Fonda … Harry Collings
Warren Oates … Arch Harris
Verna Bloom … Hannah Collings
Robert Pratt … Dan Griffen
Severn Darden … McVey
Owen Orr … Mace
Ted Markland … Luke
Al Hopson … Bartender
Rita Rogers … Mexican woman
Ann Doran … Mrs. Sorenson
Megan Denver … Janey Collings
Michael McClure … Plummer
Gray Johnson … Will

Runtime: 93 min.

Steven Darden as McVey in The Hired Hand (1971)

Rita Rogers as the Mexican woman in The Hired Hand (1971)

Memorable lines:

Arch Harris: “You can always tell a man’s got something on his mind when he keeps talkin’ to people he don’t know.”

Harry Collings, when Arch announces plans to leave for California: “Out there where he’s going, Hannah, it’s cold on your own.”

Arch Harris, as he heads to California: “I’ll bring you back a bottle of that ocean water.”

Owen Orr as Mace, one of McVey’s men, in The Hired Hand (1971)

Ted Markland as Luke, one of McVey’s men, in The Hired Hand (1971)

Peter Fonda as Harry Collings and Warren Oates as Arch Harris in The Hired Hand (1971)

Megan Denver as Janey Collings in The Hired Hand (1971)