Mark Rydell directs John Wayne, Roscoe Lee Browne and Bruce Dern in this western where The Duke employs a team of children to herd his cattle when gold fever siphons away all the adults nearby.

A fun, beautiful and emotionally affecting western which celebrates and stripmines Wayne’s incomparable star power efficiently as he approaches the end of his career. His mythic but dated appeal here chimes brightly against modern elements, not just in his gruff paternalism for the rootin tootin brood of mini-cowhands, but in unpredictable harmony with Dern’s performance and Rydell’s direction – both of which scream New Hollywood in the face of the naturally old fashioned elements of the genre and adventure. Roscoe Lee Browne’s dignified and determined cook almost steals the show from the lead in a gorgeously scripted part.

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