Robert Carradine - better known later in life as LOUIS from Revenge of the Nerds (!) - as a young cowpoke.Pee-yew! What's that I smell! Why, it's late vintage John Wayne. You know when a 1970's western begins by throwing the words "OVERTURE" on a black screen, and an overinflated yet hollow John Williams score blasts on for several minutes, that there's trouble ahead. I mean, is this an homage to Spartacus, or what? Aren't classic westerns better known for a lone rambling dude singing a souful tune?
Anyway... all the grown ups are panning for gold down the road and the only hands Wayne can hire to move his cattle 400 miles west are 12- and 14 year olds. (No kidding). Begins as feeling like a lighthearted Disney-esque production, with Wayne sizing up the little half-pints. Then, a bit of 70s cultural awareness is thrown in: "Hi! I am Scotty Schwartz! I am Jewish!" (No kidding)! Plods along, completely devoid of any tension or adventure, with Wayne leading the boys alongside campfire cook Nightlinger, played by character actor Roscoe Lee Brown - better known as Saunders from Soap! (No KIDDING)!
Sure, the western is pretty consistently a treatise on masculinity. However in this flick, the concept goes way beyond that of a fatherly John Wayne teaching a bunch of kiddos how to rope and ride. Instead of just getting calluses on their fingers -- [Spoiler alert!] -- in the final quarter of the film the tone of the movie clouds over completely as the tots take up arms and turn into bloodthirsty revenge seekers!
This is what I get for insisting on seeing every Bruce Dern flick. Thank God Eastwood was still pumping some spit and gristle into the genre, because this is an embarrassment!
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