The Cowboys

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The Cowboys

PG,

1972,

2h 8m,

Western

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Watchlist

Watchlist

75%

16 Reviews

Tomatometer

88%

5,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

75%

Tomatometer

16 Reviews

88%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

A grizzled veteran rancher, Wil Andersen (John Wayne) is almost ready to embark on a big cattle drive when his crew abruptly quits to join in a gold rush. Left with no alternative, Anderson enlists the help of a group of local schoolboys. Training the youngsters to be cowboys, Andersen manages to get the drive underway, but their long journey is placed in jeopardy when the devious bandit Long Hair (Bruce Dern) sets his sights on stealing the herd.

Pauline Kael

The New Yorker

Sep 29, 2023

The Cowboys which features one of the most torpid cattle drives since the invention of motion pictures, is an incomparable index to the confusion of values in the movie business right now.

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Oct 23, 2004

2.5/4

The scenes along the way of the kids learning to be cowboys are good, warm fun, and it's a shame they had to go for the unlikely, violent, and totally contrived last thirty minutes.

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

Aug 20, 2021

3/4

...a better-than-average Wayne vehicle...

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Aug 27, 2020

10/10

Dern certainly has no difficulty donning the guise of a villain.

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Mark Jackson

Epoch Times

Jun 10, 2020

3/5

A summer of brutally hard work, hunger, camping in the elements, and rattlesnake danger will certainly turn boys into men. In this case, however, it appears to supernaturally turn boys into a seasoned platoon of modern-day special operations warriors.

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Barbara Shulgasser

Common Sense Media

Jan 3, 2017

4/5

Classic action-packed Western has lots of cursing, violence

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Abraham G

Feb 20, 2019

A fine group of child actors who do well with this mature story.

Jan 31, 2019

The best inspiring movie ever made! With the best movie score ever composed!

Hagrid S

Mar 22, 2018

My favorite John Wayne film..It's the only JW film I ever saw in a theater..I was 7,and I was riveted throughout.It made me wish I could've gone on the fictional perilous journey with them.

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Albus M

Mar 9, 2018

John Wayne at his best. The child actors perform on par with Wayne and brown. the main villain , Dern, really makes the audience hate him. I love this movie.

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Leia P

Feb 19, 2018

A Good John Wayne Movie

Ron S

Aug 10, 2017

One of John Wayne best films.

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Mark Rydell

Director

John Wayne

Wil Andersen

Roscoe Lee Browne

Jebediah Nightlinger

Bruce Dern

Long Hair

Colleen Dewhurst

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Synopsis

A grizzled veteran rancher, Wil Andersen (John Wayne) is almost ready to embark on a big cattle drive when his crew abruptly quits to join in a gold rush. Left with no alternative, Anderson enlists the help of a group of local schoolboys. Training the youngsters to be cowboys, Andersen manages to get the drive underway, but their long journey is placed in jeopardy when the devious bandit Long Hair (Bruce Dern) sets his sights on stealing the herd.

Director: Mark Rydell
Producer: Mark Rydell
Screenwriter: Irving Ravetch, Harriet Frank Jr., William Dale Jennings
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Warner Brothers/Seven Arts
Rating: PG
Genre: Western
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 13, 1972, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2008
Runtime: 2h 8m

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