|
|
Many viewers of U.S. westerns deem this one of the funniest of all satirical comedies set in the West. The so-called western defies the limits post-modernists want to put onto it. Their purpose is to argue away the reality based, secular, individual-rights basis of North American history, to argue that it was all a bad idea persons mistakenly believed in, and that we ought to be glad to be living in the Age of public interest imperialism and the corporate man. "The Sheepman" is as powerful and as humorous a refutation of totalitarianism modern-variety as any I know. The writers were the comedy specialist William Bowers, western veteran James Edward Grant and William Roberts, with the swift-paced and able direction being supplied by versatile George Marshall. The story-line retails what seems at first glance to be a superior situation from which to develop a comedy. Jason Sweet, able played by Glenn Ford, has won a herd of sheep in a poker game. He is intelligent enough to know that while cattle and sheep get along very well, the folks in the area he wants to graze them are not about to prefer science to their own stupid bigotry; so he has no choice but to make a splashy entrance into the town he has chosen. Gonzales Gonzales plays his lugubrious sheepherder foreman; Ford heads into town, leaving the sheep to him while he accomplishes three things. One is to meet ditsy but very cute Shirley Maclaine, whom he fancies immediately as much as he sets her teeth on edge. A second it to pick a fight with Jumbo, ably played by Mickey Shaughnessy, so the town--as in "Destry Rides Again"--will take notice of his defeating their toughest bully. ASnd third, he finds out an old enemy, Johnny Bledsoe, calling himself Colonel Bedford, in the person of Leslie Nielsen, is courting the lady and pretty well running the town. So from the start, Ford knows the game. Dirty tricks abound, but eventually Nielsen has to hire a gunfighter, played by Pernell Roberts, to try to ride himself of Sweet and the sheep. However, all turns our right in the end, leaving a grinning Ford in possession of everything he had set out to win. The colorful story is actually quite attractive as a production, with cinematography by Robert J. Bronner and art direction provided by Macolm Brown and William A. Horning. Jeff Alexander provided the original music, and there are fine sets by Henry Grace and Hugh Hunt and Walter Plunkett's vivid costumes to enjoy also. This is one of several excellent Gleenn Ford--George Marshall western efforts, a body of work second only perhaps to the John Wayne-John Ford team's output. Not to be missed; a favorite with viewers everywhere. In the talented cast besides Ford and an understated and intelligent Nielsen, the viewer can find such western stalwarts as Edgar Buchanan, Willis Bouchey, Slim Pickens, Buzz Henry, Roscoe Ates, Hoot Gibson, Kermit Maynard, Percy Helton and Harry Harvey.
score 8/10
silverscreen888 1 August 2005
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1140223/ |
|
20-1-2021 00:48:08