Matcollis
This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.
Bardlerx
Strictly average movie
Edwin
The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.
Spikeopath
The Sheepman is directed by George Marshall and written by William Bowers, James Edward Grant and William Roberts. It stars Glenn Ford, Shirley MacLaine, Leslie Nielsen, Mickey Shaughnessy, Edgar Buchanan, Willis Bouchey, Pernell Roberts, and Slim Pickens. Music is by Jeff Alexander and cinematography by Robert J. Bronner.Utterly delightful semi-comic Oater, The Sheepman pitches Ford as sheep farmer Jason Sweet, who arrives in Powder Valley - a place ruled by cattle ranchers only - and upturns the applecart by announcing he intends to let his sheep graze on the lands there. Trouble, motives and back stories will out!With the exception of some poor rear projection work, this is a pic that's constructed with style and humour. The opening is a doozy as Sweet quickly puts down a marker in the town, with a glint in his eye and a punch of some force. It's an irresistible characterisation by Ford, deftly blending humour with machismo, setting up the rest of the film by firmly pulling us viewers onto his side. Supporting cast are bang on the money, doing justice to well written characters (the screenplay was Oscar nominated), with the writing also having some nous via twists and a commitment to never let the story be boring or twee.An absolute must see film for fans of the irrepressible Glenn Ford. 8/10
snicewanger
This is one of the 1950's best westerns in the Destry Rides Again mode of tongue-in-cheek westerns and foreshadows Support Your Local Sheriff by a decade. It's ideally cast and is certainly one of Glenn Ford's finest roles. He and Shirley MacLaine have marvelous chemistry. Familiar faces Edgar Buchanan, Mickey Shaughnessy,Willis Bouchey,Percy Helton,and Slim Pickins are around to give it the proper old western flavor and Leslie Nielsen is slickly handsome as Ford's rival for Shirley's affections. Pernell Roberts is an effectively slimy villain. Director George Marshall was an old hand at combining comedy with action and The Sheepman is one of his best efforts. The screenplay by James Edward Grant and William Bowers was nominated for an Academy Award.The Sheepman still holds up well today and will appeal to anyone who is a fan of western's,comedies,or just plain entertaining movies. It's good, clean, old fashioned fun and a prime example of one of those kind of films"that they just don't make anymore!" More's the pity
silverscreen888
Many viewers of U.S. westerns deem this one of the funniest of all satirical comedies set in the West. The so-called western defies the limits post-modernists want to put onto it. Their purpose is to argue away the reality based, secular, individual-rights basis of North American history, to argue that it was all a bad idea persons mistakenly believed in, and that we ought to be glad to be living in the Age of public interest imperialism and the corporate man. "The Sheepman" is as powerful and as humorous a refutation of totalitarianism modern-variety as any I know. The writers were the comedy specialist William Bowers, western veteran James Edward Grant and William Roberts, with the swift-paced and able direction being supplied by versatile George Marshall. The story-line retails what seems at first glance to be a superior situation from which to develop a comedy. Jason Sweet, able played by Glenn Ford, has won a herd of sheep in a poker game. He is intelligent enough to know that while cattle and sheep get along very well, the folks in the area he wants to graze them are not about to prefer science to their own stupid bigotry; so he has no choice but to make a splashy entrance into the town he has chosen. Gonzales Gonzales plays his lugubrious sheepherder foreman; Ford heads into town, leaving the sheep to him while he accomplishes three things. One is to meet ditsy but very cute Shirley Maclaine, whom he fancies immediately as much as he sets her teeth on edge. A second it to pick a fight with Jumbo, ably played by Mickey Shaughnessy, so the town--as in "Destry Rides Again"--will take notice of his defeating their toughest bully. ASnd third, he finds out an old enemy, Johnny Bledsoe, calling himself Colonel Bedford, in the person of Leslie Nielsen, is courting the lady and pretty well running the town. So from the start, Ford knows the game. Dirty tricks abound, but eventually Nielsen has to hire a gunfighter, played by Pernell Roberts, to try to ride himself of Sweet and the sheep. However, all turns our right in the end, leaving a grinning Ford in possession of everything he had set out to win. The colorful story is actually quite attractive as a production, with cinematography by Robert J. Bronner and art direction provided by Macolm Brown and William A. Horning. Jeff Alexander provided the original music, and there are fine sets by Henry Grace and Hugh Hunt and Walter Plunkett's vivid costumes to enjoy also. This is one of several excellent Gleenn Ford--George Marshall western efforts, a body of work second only perhaps to the John Wayne-John Ford team's output. Not to be missed; a favorite with viewers everywhere. In the talented cast besides Ford and an understated and intelligent Nielsen, the viewer can find such western stalwarts as Edgar Buchanan, Willis Bouchey, Slim Pickens, Buzz Henry, Roscoe Ates, Hoot Gibson, Kermit Maynard, Percy Helton and Harry Harvey.
zogobnl
The interface between cattle ranchers and sheep herders is played for more amusement than viciousness. This movie came out before the violence reached the degrading state, but still has lots of excitement and suspense. Families with fairly young children can see this together without fear, boredom, or embarrassment. While it may not quite meet the current PC view of women, it still shows the female lead with a lot of personality and originality, without trying to make the men look stupid.
