The Rare Breed (1966)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Andrew V. McLaglen

Writer:

Ric Hardman (written by)

Release Date:

25 February 1966 (West Germany)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Romance | Western

Plot:

When her husband dies en route to America, Martha Price and her daughter Hilary are left to carry out...

Plot Keywords:

Bull | Cattle | Texas | Shot In The Back | Tea

US TV Schedule:

Sat. July 11

6:00 AM

AMC

Cast

James Stewart	...	Sam Burnett
Maureen O'Hara	...	Martha Price
Brian Keith	...	Alexander Bowen
Juliet Mills	...	Hilary Price
Don Galloway	...	Jamie Bowen
David Brian	...	Charles Ellsworth
Jack Elam	...	Deke Simons
Ben Johnson	...	Jeff Harter
Harry Carey Jr.	...	Ed Mabry
Perry Lopez	...	Juan
Larry Domasin	...	Alberto
Silvia Marino	...	Conchita
Alan Caillou	...	John Taylor
Gregg Palmer	...	Rodenbush
Barbara Werle	...	Gert

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | USA:Approved (Certificate #21023) | USA:Not Rated (DVD) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Maureen O'Hara adored Jimmy Stewart, but Jimmy was not "perfect." She said "Jimmy - bless his heart - pulled another ... well, Jimmy. Jimmy was never one to happily share a scene. One day on the shoot, Maureen poured everything she had into the scene they were doing and knew, Maureen had stolen it from Jimmy. We broke, and between takes, Jimmy went to his dressing room while my new makeup man, Whitey Snyder, within a few minutes, the assistant director came to the set and announced that they were wrapping for the day. Mr. Stewart had suddenly come down with a mysterious illness and was unable to return to the set.They showed up for work the next day to finish shooting the scene, new pages of script were handed out. The scene had been completely rewritten overnight and was now impossible for Maureen to steal" Maureen was more amused then mad; there was no friction or anything.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Martha Evans: What on earth are they doing?
Charles Ellsworth: It's called bulldogging, ma'am. That's Bulldog Burnett. He works for my outfit.
Hilary Price: Well, it's a perfectly silly way to handle cattle if you ask me.

Medium Rare

This western has much going for it: great stars (Jimmy Stewart, Maureen O'Hara, and Brian Keith), interesting plot twists (is Stewart's character a thief, after all), and some comedic moments (Brian Keith is a hoot as Scottish cattle baron). Take the movie as it is, an old western that is mediocre in script with star power holding it afloat, and you'll enjoy the movie. Start picking it apart for studio shots, etc and of course you'll not enjoy it. The storyline of how Herefords came to replace Texas Longhorns sounds plausible enough. It was cute how Juliet Mills (sister of Hayley) got that Hereford bull to follow her by whistling "God Save the Queen". Juliet added quite a bit to the movie, and she was a good balance to the humorous triangle of Keith, O'Hara, and Stewart. Some reviews are harsh, yet the questions remains--How could anyone not enjoy a movie with Jimmy Stewart in it?