Western

The Culpepper Cattle Co.

Working as an assistant on a long cattle drive, the young Ben Mockridge contends between his dream of being a cowboy and the harsh truth of the Old West.

Release Date : 1972-04-15

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : 20th Century Fox

Production Country : United States of America

Alternative Titles : The Culpepper Cattle Company

Cast

Character Name : Ben Mockridge

Original Name : Gary Grimes

Gender : Male

Character Name : Frank Culpepper

Original Name : Billy Green Bush

Gender : Male

Character Name : Luke

Original Name : Luke Askew

Gender : Male

Character Name : Dixie Brick

Original Name : Bo Hopkins

Gender : Male

Character Name : Russ

Original Name : Geoffrey Lewis

Gender : Male

Character Name : Missoula

Original Name : Wayne Sutherlin

Gender : Male

Character Name : Thorton Pierce

Original Name : John McLiam

Gender : Male

Character Name : Pete

Original Name : Matt Clark

Gender : Male

Character Name : Cook

Original Name : Raymond Guth

Gender : Male

Character Name : Nathaniel

Original Name : Anthony James

Gender : Male

Character Name : Tim Slater (as Charlie Martin Smith)

Original Name : Charles Martin Smith

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mr. Slater

Original Name : Larry Finley

Gender : Male

Character Name : Old John

Original Name : Bob Morgan

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mrs. Mockridge

Original Name : Jan Burrell

Gender : Female

Character Name : Burgess

Original Name : Hal Needham

Gender : Male

Character Name : Wallop

Original Name : Jerry Gatlin

Gender : Male

Character Name : Rutter

Original Name : Bob Orrison

Gender : Male

Character Name : Print

Original Name : Walter Scott

Gender : Male

Character Name : Cattle Rustler

Original Name : Royal Dano

Gender : Male

Character Name : Trapper

Original Name : Paul Harper

Gender : Male

Character Name : Cantina Bartender (as Jose Chavez)

Original Name : José Chávez

Gender : Male

Character Name : Doctor

Original Name : Arthur Malet

Gender : Male

Character Name : Tascosa Bartender

Original Name : Ted Gehring

Gender : Male

Character Name : One-Eyed Horsethief

Original Name : Gregory Sierra

Gender : Male

Character Name : Spectator

Original Name : John Pearce

Gender : Male

Character Name : Wounded Man in Bar

Original Name : Dennis Fimple

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bartender in Piercetown

Original Name : William O'Connell

Gender : Male

Character Name : Former Virgin

Original Name : Lu Shoemaker

Gender : Male

Reviews

John Chard

@John Chard

2024-05-16

When Little Mary Became A Man. The Culpepper Cattle Co. is a splinter of the Western genre that was tagged as revisionist. Often the makers of such Oaters went for a more grizzled look at the West, even demythologising the Hollywood Westerns that had proved so popular for decades. Directed by Dick Richards, The Culpepper Cattle Co. is one such picture. Young Ben Mockridge (Gary Grimes) wants to be a cowboy, to work on the drives and hone his gun play skills. When trail drive boss Frank Culpepper (Billy Green Bush) is in town, Ben begs him for work and is thrilled to be hired as the cook's Little Mary. What he isn't so thrilled about is actually what it's really like out there on a drive... And so it comes to pass, young Ben is at the bottom of the cowboy ladder and Richards and his writing team ensure there is no glamour to be found. The drive is beset with thievery and rustling, killings, stampedes, inner fighting and very hard work for very little pay. The men on the trail all look the same, they dress the same, they smell the same, they are all worked hard and understand the same weary banter. What camaraderie there is is kept to a minimum, they are a team in a working sense, but their loyalty only comes to the fore when they are tasked with fighting and killing' enemies. The bars are not all bright and sparkly, with a well suited man playing a piano, no these are dingy holes with dirty glasses. No bordello babes either, just a hapless lassie loaned out for services by a barkeep who has in his own mind some tenuous right to have her in his keep. This is purposely downbeat, with the photography by Lawrence Edward Williams and Ralph Woolsey emphasising this fact by stripping back the colours for authenticity. While Jerry Goldsmith and Ralph Woolsey's musical score is deftly restrained, perfectly so. The story moves to its final conclusion, a confrontation that excites and depresses equally so, for even in the whirl of bullets and thundering hooves, the realisation dawns on Ben, and us, that nothing changes the life of the cowboys out there on the drives. It's live, work and die. Cowboyin is something you do when you can't do nothing else - Indeed! 9/10