jacobs-greenwood
Directed by George Marshall, and written by William Bowers and James Edward Grant (who earned an Oscar nomination for their story & screenplay written directly for the screen), this above average Western comedy features Glenn Ford in the title role. Though three of the other leads are Shirley MacLaine, Leslie Nielsen and Mickey Shaughnessy, the rest of the cast is full of familiar faces (like Ford's) from this genre, though many have merely cameo roles (like Slim Pickens as the Marshal who goes fishing every time there's trouble).The first 20 minutes of the film are the funniest, as Ford's "stranger in town" character blows through so many of the "tried and true" Western clichés, spoofing them as he goes. The latter two thirds grow more serious as Ford and Nielsen battle each other for control of the town, and MacLaine. I'm not sure where this one was filmed, but the "purple mountains majesty" and the abundant yellow aspen trees made for a beautiful backdrop.Jason Sweet (Ford) made quite an impression on the people of Powder Valley within the first few minutes of his arrival by train. After "insulting" the town's station master (Percy Helton, uncredited), a lady who's having trouble controlling her horse that turns out to be Dell Payton (MacLane), its wise guy Milt Masters (Edgar Buchanan; Roscoe Ates appears uncredited as another of its loafers), whom he later out horse trades, and its general store proprietor (Harry Harvey), he describes and then asks the town folk where their toughest hombre might be. Finding the aptly named Jumbo (Shaughnessy) in the Chinaman's (Lee Tung Foo, uncredited) restaurant, Sweet picks a fight, which he wins, and then states his intention to bring sheep to graze among the cattle on the area's public lands. On the way out, he has a brief conversation with Milt, whom he'd sized up a man without honor (e.g. willing to rat out anybody for $1), before checking into the town's only hotel.Though Dell shows up to warn him that Powder Valley is now a peaceable place without the usual Western trouble, Sweet is greeted by Jumbo, who insists upon taking him to meet his boss, "the Colonel". Sweet then demonstrates that he's easily the quickest man (with a gun) in town and that, if the Colonel wants to see him, he should come to see Sweet. However, Jumbo and a couple of other toughs later persuade, at the point of a gun, Sweet to come with them. Upon being taken to the Colonel's, where Sweet learns that Dell is his fiancée, he comes face to face with the town's leading rancher (Nielsen). As it turns out, Sweet knows this "Colonel", who is really Johnny Bledsoe, a former gunslinger like Sweet who'd decided to go straight and settled in Powder Valley six years ago. The two decide not to resolve their conflict at this time, though it's clear neither will back down - Sweet is determined to raise sheep in the valley, Col. Stephen Bedford will figure out a way to drive Sweet out of "his" town.The two men's methods are completely different - Sweet is straightforward, Bedford's are more underhanded. Though Sweet is able to use Dell and her carriage to surprise Jumbo and some other toughs, making them help his Mexican sheepherder Angelo (Pedro Gonzales-Gonzales) unload his sheep from the train, he is later manipulated by Dell himself. Her father (Willis Bouchey) and her fiancé convince her to invite Sweet to a party and then use her charm to distract him while Bedford's men round up Sweet's sheep and load them back on the train. During this time, Dell learned that Sweet once had a fiancée that was killed, and had settled down to raise sheep after winning them in a poker game. Jumbo, with pistol drawn, then "puts" Sweet, Angelo, and also Milt on the train, whose conductors are instructed to drive 200 miles before stopping to unlock it cars.However, Sweet is able to turn the tables on Bedford once again, and informs the rest of the town's people that Bedford had been using Milt to buy up all the area's public grazing lands for himself. After her father checks out Sweet's story, Dell breaks her engagement and later, with Milt, helps Sweet avoid an unfair fight with Chocktaw (Pernell Roberts), a former foe hired by Bedford to run off Sweet's sheep and kill his hired help. Once the odds are evened, Sweet easily wins the shootout with Chocktaw and Jumbo rides off to inform Bedford. Inevitably, this all leads to a showdown between Sweet and Bedford, who's naturally got more surprises up his sleeve. Whereas Bedford's trick, using a seemingly harmless (but actually armed) old pistol, enables him to wound Sweet, Sweet's shot kills Bedford. Having made his point, being too stubborn to let anyone tell him what to do, Sweet decides to have Jumbo corral his sheep to market where Milt will sell them. Naturally, Sweet then decides to become a cattle rancher and win Dell as his own.
moonspinner55
Terrific M-G-M oater with both a comedic and a romantic slant has Glenn Ford playing the new sheep farmer in a cattle community; he deliberately stirs up trouble for himself with the locals, particularly villainous old acquaintance Leslie Nielsen, when reminding them that the grazing land is his to use as well--and if they wanna run him out of town, he'll fight them to the bitter finish. Shirley MacLaine is at the peak of her charms as a sarcastic gal who initially plays both sides of the fence. Very entertaining western with colorful production makes no overtures to deep meanings or powerful statements. On the frivolous side though it may be, it is one of the most satisfying westerns of the 1950s. Screenwriters William Bowers and James Edward Grant (Oscar-nominated) have fashioned a surefire character for Glenn Ford, who is irresistible. Good show! *** from ****
aimless-46
Although "The Sheepman" is full of comic moments, none of them could quite be considered to be of the parody or even the self-reflexive variety. George Marshall's 1958 western was produced a few years before the genre began imitating television westerns by moving in that direction with films like "Cat Ballou" and "Support Your Local Sheriff". Most of this film's humor comes from the off-kilter nature of Glenn Ford's cowboy hero Jason Sweet. He is my all-time favorite Ford character, alternating between standard western hero and detached manipulator. His scenes with Mickey Shaughnessy (as town bully Jumbo) are funny because they totally break genre conventions. The Coen Brothers have used a similar technique in many of their films, writing dialogue totally mismatched with what one expects from a particular movie stereotyped character. The effectiveness of the device (and its novelty in 1958) led to William Bowers & James Edward Grant receiving an Oscar nomination for the screenplay. The story gets moving right away as the title character (Sweet) hits the town of Powder Valley, seemingly on a mission to alienate every citizen with whom he comes into contact. This also serves as a quick introduction to most of the supporting cast as he insults the railroad station master (Percy Helton), gives unsolicited advice to a young lady (Shirley MacLaine), tricks the livery stable owner (Edgar Buchanan of "Petticoat Junction" fame); and gets the better of the general store proprietor (Harry Harvey). He then picks a fight with Jumbo (Shaughnessy) and ends the day by announcing his intention to graze sheep on the nearby public lands. This puts him into conflict with a local cattleman named "The Colonel" (a very young and uncharacteristically serious Leslie Neilsen). MacLaine's often exasperated heroine would serve as inspiration for the Suzanne Pleshette and Joan Hackett characters in "Support Your Local Gunfighter" and "Support Your Local Sheriff"."The Sheepman" is refreshingly different; witty, unpredictable, and extremely entertaining.Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
