Story Line
When his cattlemen abandon him for the gold fields, rancher Wil Andersen is forced to take on a collection of young boys as his cowboys in order to get his herd to market in time to avoid financial disaster. The boys learn to do a man's job under Andersen's tutelage, however, neither he nor the boys know that a gang of cattle thieves is stalking them.
“All they wanted was their chance to be men... and he gave it to them.”
Top Cast
John Wayne
Wil Andersen
Roscoe Lee Browne
Jebediah Nightlinger
Bruce Dern
Long Hair
Colleen Dewhurst
Kate
Alfred Barker Jr.
Cowboy Fats
Nicolas Beauvy
Cowboy Dan
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Rating
7.1/ 10
Release Date
1972-01-13
Runtime
2h 14m
Genres
WesternAdventureDramaAction
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User Reviews (2)
John Chard
8/10
•5/29/2019The Breaking of Boys and the Making of Men.
The Cowboys is directed by Mark Rydell and adapted from the novel written by William Dale Jennings; who co-writes the screenplay with Irving Ravetch & Harriet Frank Jr. It stars John Wayne, Roscoe Lee B...
CinemaSerf
7/10
•2/26/2025“Anderson” (John Wayne) is left short-handed by a gold rush and with his herd to get to market has to resort to engaging the services of a class of school boys who are offered $50 each if they help out. None of those lads are much over fifteen and fe...