source: The Culpepper Cattle Co.

Trailer—The Culpepper Cattle Co.

The Culpepper Cattle Co.

Words of wisdom from The Culpepper Cattle Co., a brave, raw, unflinching glimpse into America's frontier history. You can practically smell the leather, manure and sweat dripping from the screen. I appreciate this film because it doesn't sugarcoat the harshness of frontier life. Hoarding cattle couldn't have been the easiest job in the world to do, not to mention having to look over your shoulders 24/7 for poachers and the like. Good background music, tight direction and believable acting made this a powerful film. Recommended.

Long before Clint Eastwood made "Unforgiven", "The Culpepper Cattle Company" was THE standout film for a glimpse into the lives of people trying to survive in a tough, unsympathetic old West. Gary Grimes played the part of a youngster itching to become a man on the drive. Like the audience members, Grimes is full of romantic vision, which is almost immediately dashed when he gets himself hired by Frank Culpepper (Billy Green Bush). What happens thereafter is that Grimes and the audience must cope with the fact that (in those days) there was no law, and often no justice. The meek suffered, and the sentimental get run over by the ruthless and bitter. The quality of the camera work and the sparse sets create the sense of stepping into a time bottle. The story and characterizations are utterly believable and often haunting. Make no mistake, this is the west that was, and credit goes to the film's makers for this sleeper of a classic.

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.

If you want to see a very unusual Western Film which has a story very much down to earth about how the Wild West handled situations that did not please them. Cattlemen found out the hard way that they had better keep their cows off of other Cowboys property. Some of these Cattlemen had their guns taken away from them and were fined Two-hundred Dollars for damages done to their grazing land. There is a very real battle that continues between the Cattlemen and Ranchers and this picture clearly shows that taking the law in your own hands was never a solution to any problem. This film kept me guessing just how the picture would ever end and I was quite surprised at the various twists and turns. All the actors gave great performances and this is definitely a great unusual Western.

I first saw this film in the 70s, and ranked it as one of the best westerns I'd ever seen. Watching it again 25 years later, it's as good as ever. The performances are great across the board, and the story, characters, and photography have a hard edge that gives the whole thing an air of authenticity. This is how I imagine the real west must have been: a tough life, with quick and often violent justice and retribution. It hardly ever shows up on TV, which I can't understand. The performances of Geoffrey Lewis and Billy Green Bush are spot-on. I couldn't believe this was one of Lewis' first movies; he portrays the semi-psychotic Russ Caldwell perfectly. As mentioned in other reviews, the climax is slightly flawed, abrupt and stretches credibility a bit, but it's still effective. I would have liked one more final scene with the Kid and Frank, though.

This is easily one of the best westerns made. So overlooked and no real good reason why. It was so well done and the cast is some of the best western actors you can get!!!! Everybody connected with the making of this film did an outstanding job and Billy Green Bush was the stand out performance as the trail boss. The realism was unmistakeable! A very well done film and highly reccomended to all. This film MUST be released onto DVD soon!

Others have summarized this film quite well. I would only add that it's unique in being the only good film I can readily remember that consists of nothing but supporting players. Not a star among 'em. Billy Bush Green, Geoffrey Lewis, Luke Askew, Bo Hopkins and many others are indelibly played, e.g., the stuttering barkeep who keeps a "genuine former virgin" in the back room; the Mexican cantina owner who keeps a rattlesnake in a jar and wins money from customers by betting they can't hold their hand against the glass when the snake strikes; the preacher who declares of the land his followers stop at as the "place God has chosen for us" until the shooting starts and he decides to move because "God was only testing us." Gene Autry and Smiley Burnette it ain't. Catch it if you can.