Tushka Bergen is Alice May Richards, the young woman struggling to hold onto her family’s beloved horse ranch, Minnamurra, in this Western from down under.
Alice has no idea her father is facing financial struggles until he puts the ranch’s prized stallion, Barbicon, up for auction at an annual horse sale.
A neighbor named Allenby (Shane Briant), obsessed with obtaining Minnamurra, bids on the horse, but loses to young well-off businessman Ben Creed (Jeff Fahey).
He’s had business dealings with Richards, is enchanted with young Alice May and knows the family doesn’t want Minnamurra stock to wind up in Allenby’s hands.
But Alice May is in a rebellious phase and more enchanted with wrangler Jack Donaghue (Steve Vidler), a good-looking young man with a bad boy reputation, even though he’s on a noble mission at the moment.
Both wind up in Melbourne — Alice May because she’s attending finishing school their under guidance of Aunt Maude; Jack because he’s formed a Land League with business parnter Bill Thompson, hoping that the small ranchers can compete with the larger land owners in Australia if they pool their resources.
Thompson turns out to be a crooked business partner, spoiling Jack’s plans. And Alice May is forced to rush back to Minnamurra because her father has taken ill.
It’s only then that she learns the extent of her father’s financial woes. Allenby might well wind up with Minnamurra, in spite of Ben Creed’s attempts to save the property.
Alice May sees one last chance to save the land: Convincing the British government to buy Minnamurra horses for use in the Boer War. Then rushing 100 of those horses to the shore in a desperate horse drive Allenby is sure to want to stop.
In order to do that, she’ll need the help of her first lover, Jack Donaghue, and the man she’s falling for, Ben Creed.
Tushka Bergen as Alice May Richards, hatching her plan to save Minnamurra in Wrangler (1989)
Jeff Fahey as Ben Creed, the wealthy young businessman who can’t get Alice May Richards and Minnamurra off his mind in Wrangler (1989)
Review:
More soap opera from down under than Western from down under, in spite of a wonderfully filmed horse drive through desert sands and down an ocean shore.
It’s just a bit difficult to feel too much sympathy for Alice May, a spoiled young girl who lives in a home that looks more like a palace than a ranch house.
Or for Ben Creed, who’s playing polo when he isn’t gobbling up mortgages or determining who is and isn’t worthy of a loan.
And how evil is Allenby? Just to prove he’s really, really bad, we get a scene in which Alice May visits, only to find him releasing snow white birds from a cage so he can blast them out of the air as target practice.
Not terrible, by any stretch. But there’s also nothing very special about this film.
Steven Vidler as Jack Donaghue, the wrangler and former lover Alice May Richards turns to in her hour of need in Wrangler (1989)
Shane Briant as Allenby, the neighbor trying to get his hands on Minnamurra in Wrangler (1989)
Directed by:
Ian Berry
Cast:
Jeff Fahey … Ben Creed
Tushka Bergen … Alice May Richards
Steve Vidler … Jack Donaghue
Richard Moir … Bill Thompson
Shane Briant … Allenby
Frederick Parslow … James Richards
Cornelia Frances … Caroline Richards
Michael Winchester … Rupert Richards
Sandy Gore … Maude Richards
Drew Forsythe … Henry Iverson
Robert Davis … Lord Kitchener
Andrew Sharp … Major Tim Swift
Kevin Healy … General Partington
Owen Weingott … General Smith
Colin Taylor … Taylor
Conor McDermottroe … Peagrum
Runtime: 91 min.
aka::
Outback
Minnamurra
The Fighting Creed
Frederick Parslow as James Richards, Alice May’s father, burdened by debt in Wrangler (1989)
Sandy Gore as Aunt Maude Richards, Alice May’s guardian in Melbourne in Wrangler (1989)
Memorable lines:
Alice May Richards, after Jack Donaghue kisses her for the first time: “Things aren’t that simple. I’m being sent to Melbourne. To be finished.”
Jack Donaghue: “Well, I reckon you’re just fine as you are.”
Aunt Maude: “You know, Alice, there are times when one has to swallow one’s pride to taste the finer fruits in life.”
Bill Thompson, as he and Allenby learn of the horse drive: “I’m in favor of stopping them. But you just can’t shoot people.”
Allenby: “They’ve stolen my horses! That’s what you do with horse thieves.”
Richard Moir as Bill Thompson, offering Allenby information that might help him acquire Minnamurra in Wrangler (1989)
Robert Davis as Lord Kitchener, considering Minnamurra as a source of horses for the Boer War in Wrangler (1989)
){kind=link}