The wooden-as-a-tree Glenn Ford always surprised me with the roles he got from the studios instead of giving them to a much better actor, as he was a bad actor in the same way Jack Webb was a bad actor. Ford and Webb were so stiff in everything they did, with almost no believable emotional range. Even Ford said he was no actor, and he also said he could only play himself in films. Ford was more or less serviceable in his early roles of the '40's and early '50's until about 1958 when he tried his hand at comedy, where he really bombed. Then he got fat and complacent and got worse in every film thereafter, and then he retired. After his long film career of over 30 years he never was even nominated for any acting award, let alone win anything, and said he totally agreed with that as he had said many times, "I am no actor". He was right.
But, in this and almost every film he made, Jack Lemmon proved himself to be a great and almost irreplaceable character actor. To see Lemmon and Ford together in Cowboy, well, it was painful to see how much better Lemmon was as an actor even as a young man with just a few movies under his belt at that point. And, he got even better as he aged. Ford just got worse if possible, and fatter.
This Cowboy cattle drive storyline was mostly pure western action formula, with little to recommend it other than Lemmon's wonderful presence and character acting which showed him develop from a soft cityboy clerk into a savvy and tough cowboy trail boss. Quite a marvelous transformation, and one Ford could never portray in a million years.
One outrageous mistake I laughed at a lot was the red rubber-horned bull in the place-the-ring-on-the-horns scene in the Mexican rancho rodeo. You could see the very obviously fake red rubber horns attached to the bull bend backwards over and over as it attacked a horse. The horns were attached to the bull's head by a furry strap-on device that was so goofy looking and unrealistic that it looked like a joke played on the audience. But, no, it was meant to be real. The filmmaker should have left the furry strap-ons to porno flicks.
There were much better western cattle drive movies made in the 40's and '50's than this one(Red River is the best), but see it for Jack Lemmon's terrific performance and to laugh at Glenn Ford's "acting" and the ridiculous red rubber horned bull. That was really hilarious, but it was not supposed to be. It was El Cheapo special effects of the first order and a real stupid move, just like casting Ford.
But, in this and almost every film he made, Jack Lemmon proved himself to be a great and almost irreplaceable character actor. To see Lemmon and Ford together in Cowboy, well, it was painful to see how much better Lemmon was as an actor even as a young man with just a few movies under his belt at that point. And, he got even better as he aged. Ford just got worse if possible, and fatter.
This Cowboy cattle drive storyline was mostly pure western action formula, with little to recommend it other than Lemmon's wonderful presence and character acting which showed him develop from a soft cityboy clerk into a savvy and tough cowboy trail boss. Quite a marvelous transformation, and one Ford could never portray in a million years.
One outrageous mistake I laughed at a lot was the red rubber-horned bull in the place-the-ring-on-the-horns scene in the Mexican rancho rodeo. You could see the very obviously fake red rubber horns attached to the bull bend backwards over and over as it attacked a horse. The horns were attached to the bull's head by a furry strap-on device that was so goofy looking and unrealistic that it looked like a joke played on the audience. But, no, it was meant to be real. The filmmaker should have left the furry strap-ons to porno flicks.
There were much better western cattle drive movies made in the 40's and '50's than this one(Red River is the best), but see it for Jack Lemmon's terrific performance and to laugh at Glenn Ford's "acting" and the ridiculous red rubber horned bull. That was really hilarious, but it was not supposed to be. It was El Cheapo special effects of the first order and a real stupid move, just like casting Ford.