John Wayne had been a star for decades, when this film was released. A person would think it wasn’t possible, for Wayne to be upstaged. That nearly happens with Bruce Dern. He plays a vile man, Asa Watts, (Longhair). He starts out by lying to Will Andersen. (John Wayne). He then follows him throughout the movie with his gang. Dern’s character commits one of the most heinous acts in a movie.
Will Andersen is an experienced cattleman. He wants to drive his herd to market. The problem is all of his hands have left him. There is a gold rush in town, and they’ve gone to seek their fortune. He goes into town, and talks to the barkeep, Anse Petersen, (Slim Pickens). His advice to Andersen is to recruit schoolboys. He does this, and the boys look forward to the adventure. They don’t realize they face dangers that will threaten their lives.
Andersen does get another adult to join the drive. This man is Jebediah Nightlinger, (Roscoe Lee Brown). He doesn’t have experience on cattle drives, but he is an experienced cook. He tells the boys stories, and answers their questions. His presence helps ease their fears a bit. The boys even like his cooking. The character provides the softer adult presence, in contrast to Andersen’s authoritarian presence.
The dangers apparent in a cattle drive are shown. One boy almost drowns when crossing the river. Another boy loses his glasses. When a brave child, decides to retrieve the glasses, the cattle stampede. The child is killed, making for a very sad moment in the film. Despite these dangers, the worst is yet to come.
Longhair and his gang of cattle rustlers have been following Andersen and the boys. Earlier, Asa Watts had found one of the boys, away from the group. He threatens to kill him if he tells Andersen. The boy later tearfully tells Andersen about Longhair. Andersen and the boys get ready for the confrontation with the outlaws. This can only end badly.
The Cowboys gives a different view of John Wayne. He plays a man who is a loving devoted husband to Kate, (Colleen Dewhurst). This talented actress is underused in this movie. She was an extremely talented stage actress, taking Eugene O’Neil to new heights. In fairness, even Duke’s number one leading lady, Maureen O’Hara, didn’t always have an equal part in his films. Will Andersen is a man who needs a job done, but understands that he has a group of boys. He becomes a father figure to them. He does understand that these children need to be protected as well as encouraged. John Wayne was a man who could do anything. This includes working with John Ford on several movies. This was mostly unpleasant for the actor, because Ford was constantly berating him. The experiences with Ford on set, though unpleasant made Wayne a better actor. The Cowboys makes it apparent that John Wayne deserves the title, Man of the West.