The Rare Breed ** (1966, James Stewart, Maureen O’Hara, Brian Keith, Juliet Mills, Don Galloway) – Classic Movie Review 7149

James Stewart and Maureen O’Hara are attractive and appealing stars but they are largely wasted in director Andrew V McLaglen’s lethargic, sentimental 1966 Western that is as clean as a whistle, with smooth performances, a straightforward script (by Ric Hardman) and no rough edges anywhere. It is loosely based on the real life of rancher Colonel John William Burgess.

O’Hara stars as English widow Martha Price, who sets out to fulfill the wishes of her late husband, who dies en route to America, to introduce Hereford cattle into the American West. So she travels along with her daughter Hilary (Juliet Mills) from England to St Louis with a prize Hereford bull called Vindicator, which they believe will produce a superior strain if crossed with a longhorn cow.

Stewart plays Sam ‘Bulldog’ Burnett, the sceptical, crusty cowhand who is hired to deliver Vindicator to its new home in Dodge City, but appears to be neither honest nor reliable.

Brian Keith plays Alexander Bowen, a grumpy Scottish frontiersman with his eye on the widow Martha, and Jack Elam is Deke Simons, the heavy who causes a dangerous stampede.

The Rare Breed boasts a very good cast, then, and it would be much the poorer without them, and it all looks impressive – director McLagen was taught by John Ford – but the cosy, dull screenplay lets it down. The Rare Breed ends up as a simple family outing that entertains lightly but lacks real distinction. Notably, though, it features an early score by John Williams (billed as Johnny Williams). There are enough good ingredients to make it worth a look.

Also in the cast are Don Galloway as Jamie Bowen, David Brian as Charles Ellsworth, Ben Johnson as Jeff Harter, Harry Carey Jr as Ed Mabry, Perry Lopez as Juan, Larry Domasin as Alberto, Silvia Marino as Conchita, Alan Caillou as John Taylor, Gregg Palmer as Rodenbush, Barbara Werle as Gert, Joe Ferrante, Jim O’Hara, R L Armstrong, Larry J Blake, Bob Gravage, Charles Lampkin and Ted Mapes.

The Rare Breed is directed by Andrew V McLaglen, runs 97 minutes, is released by Universal, is written by Ric Hardman, is shot in Technicolor by William H Clothier, produced by William Alland, scored by John Williams, and designed by Alexander Golitzen and Alfred Ybarra.

It was partly shot in the Coachella Valley, California. The train scenes were filmed in the Red Hills near Jamestown, Tuolumne County, California, using the Sierra Railway’s Number 3 locomotive.

Andrew V McLaglen (1920–2014).

Andrew V McLaglen died on 30 August 2014, age 94. Maureen O’Hara died on 24 October 2015, aged 95. They were more or less contemporaries, born within a month of each other, he in Wandsworth, London, she in Ranelagh, County Dublin, Ireland, and both enjoyed long, brilliant lives.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7149

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