Greenhorn (1972)

Greenhorn: Directed by Dick Richards. With Gary Grimes, Billy Green Bush, Luke Askew, Bo Hopkins. Young farmboy who always wanted to be a cowhand talks a tough trail boss into hiring him on a cattle drive.

“Had I seen u0026quot;The Culpepper Cattle Companyu0026quot; when it was released (I was 23), my life would have been a lot different; at least, if Iu0026#39;d understood and accepted the message. For, u0026quot;The Culpepper Cattle Companyu0026quot; is about as bleak and realistic as any movie ever made. Gary Grimes plays a teenager with romantic, adventuresome ideas about cowboys. He learns, tragically, something completely different, after working for a short time on a cattle drive. Grimes doesnu0026#39;t just learn the usual lessons; that is, the work is exhausting, dirty, always dangerous and frequently unrewarding. He learns that most causes and people are treacherous, deceitful, selfish and certainly not worth dieing or killing for. Grimes also learns a lot about himself; some of which he probably didnu0026#39;t want to know.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere are a lot of fine performances in u0026quot;The Culpepper Cattle Company,u0026quot; but Geoffrey Lewis makes the strongest impression. Lewis has such crazy blue eyes, itu0026#39;s no surprising producer Sergio Leone tapped him for head villain in u0026quot;My name is Nobodyu0026quot; and Eastwood did the same for u0026quot;High Plains Drifter.u0026quot; Here, Lewis plays a man who, under different circumstances, was probably quite decent. Now, heu0026#39;s just mean spirited and dangerous.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;The Culpepper Cattle Companyu0026quot; also boasts excellent production design, gritty photography and classic, memorable score by the beloved Jerry Goldsmith. Just donu0026#39;t expect to leave this movie feeling upbeat, inspired or even sad. Youu0026#39;re more likely to feel slightly depressed. That being said, I give u0026quot;The Culpepper Cattle Companyu0026quot; an u0026quot;8u0026quot;.”