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Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Excellent but underrated film

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

THE CULPEPPER CATTLE CO. is a little-known and little-appreciated western in the Sam Peckinpah mould. It's also a coming-of-age drama about a young cowhand (Gary Crimes) who joins up with a gang of men who go on various scrapes and adventures and often find themselves outside of the law. An ensemble cast work hard to convey their characters here, with the inimitable Geoffrey Lewis standing out as a typical hard case. The dense storytelling is punctuated by the occasional burst of realistic violence, and things build to an appropriately satisfying climax. It makes for solid viewing.

"The Culpepper Cattle Co." is a good, solid coming-of-age story set in the Old West, done in the gritty post-Peckinpah style that lets us know that the characters in this tale are leading hard lives. It also becomes a tale of redemption as men neither "good" nor "bad" finally decide to take a stand and do something honourable. Director Dick Richards ("Farewell, My Lovely"), who also gets story credit, gets excellent performances out of a cast that includes many top character actors. Some viewers may not be able to stomach how violent things eventually get, but there are many fine moments along the way. There's no filler here, just simple and effective story telling, enhanced by the work of two credited cinematographers (Ralph Woolsey and Lawrence Edward Williams) and two credited composers (Tom Scott and the legendary Jerry Goldsmith).Gary Grimes of "Summer of '42" fame stars as Ben Mockridge, who more than anything yearns to be a cowboy and gets the chance to work on a cattle drive supervised by tough, business-oriented Frank Culpepper (Billy Green Bush, "Five Easy Pieces"). As Culpepper and his company press on, they must deal with a cattle rustler (Royal Dano), a horse thief (Gregory Sierra), a trapper (Paul Harper), and personality conflicts, with hot tempered Russ Caldwell (an effectively wired Geoffrey Lewis) making trouble on more than one occasion. The biggest obstacle will turn out to be miserly land owner Thorton Pierce (a memorably hateful John McLiam), who's not inclined to be very understanding.Ben's journey to becoming a man is a reasonably compelling one, and Grimes is fine in the role, but the show is stolen by his older co-stars. Also among them are Luke Askew ("Cool Hand Luke"), Bo Hopkins ("The Wild Bunch"), Wayne Sutherlin ("The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid"), and Matt Clark and Anthony James from "In the Heat of the Night". Also look for appearances by Charles Martin Smith, Hal Needham, Arthur Malet, and Dennis Fimple.Well done overall, with some very sobering sequences and the occasional comedic touch; the action is intense and the violence, admittedly, is fairly shocking. It's enjoyable stuff deserving of a rediscovery.Seven out of 10.

This picture hit the theaters on April 16 1972 starring Gary Grimes as Ben Mockridge, Billy Green Bush as Frank Culpepper and Luke Askew as Luke. Ben Mockridge, is a 16-year-old boy who has long dreamed of living the life of a cowboy. Frank Culpepper is getting ready to take one the biggest cattle drives across Texas land that no one has seen before. Ben goes to Frank's ranch to beg him for a job and he's willing to just about anything as long as he's part of this cattle drive. However, Ben finds out that being a cowboy on cattle drive is not what he thought it was. Dealing with, loneliness, exhausting work from sun up to sun down and then some. Ben also for the first time has to use a gun to defend himself and the feeling he's left with is not a good one. Ben soon realizes that being a cowboy is only a job for those who can't find anything else to do with there lives. I grew up on a farm, I love cows, and that's why I give this movie 8 weasel stars for the cattle, country, and land that the movie was filmed on.

This movie was a great Western up until the last 20 minutes or so, but I don't believe in pacifism, and for this movie to end in this manner makes me want to puke! I couldn't believe my eyes! I cannot believe that nobody, or so few, agree and write similar opinions! For a good movie, that pompous so-called land-owner and his gang should have been destroyed, and the gang that was helping run the herd and which of the movie followed, while not perfect people as who of us truly are, deserved to fight and live! Just my opinion, but I was highly disappointed, and that kid is a wimp and loser. He learned nothing after being taken under the wing of the rest of the herders.I sure hope that somebody agrees with me...a little at least? Sniff.Out.