Cattle grazed on the land while sheep basically picked the land clean, ripping the grass out by the roots so it didn't grow back. Didn't think you were going to get that sort of introduction to a western now, did you? That's the basic problem in many cattle vs. sheep westerns, including the 1958 oater The Sheepman. I'd seen this movie a few years ago but watched it recently on Turner Classic Movies when I thought I had not seen it. I watch a fair share of westerns so they start running together at a certain point...my bad. A good, entertaining and relatively harmless western, typical of so many 1950s westerns.
In the western town of Powder Valley where the cattle dominates the land, a stranger, Jason Sweet (Glenn Ford), arrives one day on the train. He quickly makes his presence felt, buying a saddle, buying drinks, picking a fight with the town tough guy. What's he up to? Jason is making sure everyone knows he's not a man to be tangled with because the next day his herd of sheep are inbound on the train. The cattle owners want nothing to do with Jason's herd, and they don't intend to go along quietly. The big man in the area who controls everything, Colonel Bedford (Leslie Nielsen) -- who Jason knows from his opposite side of the law past -- leads the charge to stop him, but the situation gets murky when Jason meets Dell Payton (Shirley MacLaine), Bedford's fiance. Now it is more than just a cattle and sheep situation, and the solution doesn't seem like an easy one.
This is a western that is pretty typical of a 1950s genre entry. Director George Marshall handles his straightforward, no frills story with his typical professionalism. The movie is only 87 minutes long so there is not much in the way of wasted time here. The story knows where it wants to get, especially that first half hour as Jason "introduces" himself around Powder Valley. That's the aspect of the comedic western that works best, an easy going, fun introduction. From there on in, things settle in with the good guys taking on the bad guys. Until late in the movie, the bad guys -- Nielsen included -- aren't even that bad. Finally Ford's Jason is pushed too far though, and he has to respond.
Realizing I've probably written this with all my Glenn Ford movie reviews, I think Ford is one of the most under-appreciated western stars that came out of the 1950s and 1960s. He doesn't have the name recognition that a John Wayne would, mostly because his westerns aren't considered classics. Ford probably belongs with Randolph Scott for his star caliber, solid, quality westerns that don't often wow you, but are always entertaining. As sheep herder Jason Sweet, he brings his typical western persona to the part. Ford was always very natural on-screen, showing off an ease that could give the impression he wasn't acting at all. He is likable though from the start, and you're rooting for him. Pointless bit of movie trivia, Ford wore the same hat in all his westerns. Not the same hat style, the actual hat. It still looks relatively clean here.
Playing the part of the female love interest, Shirley MacLaine makes the most of her appearance. So often this character -- the center of a pointless, needless, and unnecessary love triangle -- is forced into the story for the sake of having the character around. Not much is done to actually develop MacLaine's Dell character, but if nothing else she's trying, and that's all you're looking for at times. Anyone with an IQ over 10 or so knows from the second she is introduced she'll end up with Ford's Jason, but they've got to keep us guessing a little, right? MacLaine isn't the damsel in distress thankfully, just a frontier woman caught in a bad situation. Her chemistry with Ford in their scenes together is easily seen, and their dialogue/conversations have an easy flow to them throughout.
Because there isn't a ton else to analyze about this one, we get more cast analysis and criticism! Yeah for people! Before he became most well-known for The Naked Gun movies, Nielsen was a dramatic actor capable of drama, comedy, and action. He's not the baddest of bad guys until late in the movie, but he has some good back and forths with Ford. The rest of the cast includes some very recognizable western faces including Mickey Shaughnessy as one of Nielsen's henchmen, Edgar Buchanan as the wily, shifty stable owner who knows everything and everyone, Willis Bouchey as Dell's father, Pernell Roberts as Choctaw Neil, a gunslinger and adversary of Jason's, Slim Pickens as the town marshal who goes fishing when trouble arises, and Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez as Angelo, one of Jason's sheepherders.
Not a great western, but certainly not a bad western. Just sort of in between, a western you can watch every couple years without getting bored or worn down.
The Sheepman <---trailer (1958): ** 1/2 /****
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