The Cowboys

The Cowboys is a 1972 American Western film starring John Wayne and Bruce Dern.  Wayne was quoted as saying "no actor in his right mind would try to match the antics of eleven kids on screen."  But, for him, it became "the greatest experience of my life."  

When his ranch hands abandon him to join a gold rush, aging rancher Wil Andersen (Wayne) must find replacement drovers for his 400-mile (640 km) cattle drive.  A group of mysterious men led by Asa Watts (Dern) shows up asking for work, but Andersen catches Watts in a lie and refuses to hire them.

Instead, Anderson hires eleven schoolboys to go with him on the cattle drive.  He teaches them roping, branding and herding both cattle and horses.  Slowly, the boys become good cowhands, impressing Andersen.

While on the trail, Watts and his gang follow the cattle drive.  One night, the gang openly approach Anderson and the boys.  Anderson tells the boys to act like boys and not men.

Watts forces Andersen to surrender his gun. But a fistfight ensues between Andersen and Watts, with Andersen coming out on top. He starts to walk away, but Watts shoots him in both arms and a leg before shooting him twice in the torso, killing him. The boys remain passive as instructed, and the rustlers steal the herd.

After burying Anderson, the boys start acting like men and proceed to retake the herd, while punishing the cattle rustlers.

Bruce Dern was born in Chicago in 1936.  Like me, he was a student at the University of Pennsylvania, but he did not graduate.  After leaving Penn, wanting to be an actor, Dern studied at the Actor's Studio in New York City.  

Dern has continually appeared in films since the 1960s.  I remember him in Marnie (1964), Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), The War Wagon (1967), Hang 'Em High (1968), They Shoot Horses, Don't They (1969), Coming Home (1978) and Nebraska (2013).  

Bruce Dern was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for Nebraska, but lost to Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club.  At eighty-seven years-old, he is still appearing in movies.