the leading man is my tpye

A Major Disappointment

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

The only fault i can find is with the premise of the film ... to prevent the territory from becoming a cattle expressway to canada ... that make no sense at all because the cattle market is in chicago ... i also find it damn near impossible to travel by horseback from the tetons or even lander for that matter to cheyenne in one day ... perhaps from laramie to cheyenne ... being a cattle baron is a risky business because you have to fight off the elements, rustlers, and the buyers that give low prices... not to mention the crooked cattlemans association ... the railroad is rarely used to ship cattle now because its done cheaper and faster by truckers ... the president is in wyoming to visit yellowstone national park which is at least 6 days travel from cheyenne ... its okay, hollywood can make anything happen overnight

Guns of Wyoming (AKA: Cattle King) is directed by Tay Garnett and written by Thomas Thompson. It stars Robert Taylor, Robert Loggia, Joan Caulfield, Robert Middleton, Larry Gates and William Windom. Music is by Paul Sawtell and cinematography by William Snyder.A range war looms large in Wyoming...Fronted by the ever reliable Western presence that was Bobby Taylor, this pic follows a familiar and slight formula. Which ultimately is fine for those who love the prolific line of Westerns produced in the 50s and 60s.Thematically it's strong, where we find Taylor's hard working and honest cattleman desperately trying to protect his land from the free grazing movement - something which brings into play nefarious characters. Sam Brassfield (Taylor) fences off his land and Clay Matthews (Middleton) - with henchmen in tow - cuts them down, simultaneously putting the word out that it's Brassfield who's doing the snipping! Naturally there's romance in the air, which causes friction from more than one quarter, and into the mix comes a visit to this part of Wyoming by President Chester A. Arthur. Who, as it happens, is a key player in spite of his limited screen time (Gates regally excellent).There's a dark edge bubbling away in this one, which is capitalised upon with a genuinely shocking turn of events. If only the finale could have given us a barnstormer of the kind the story kind of demands. Elsewhere there's no problems in the cast, all perform goody/villain/pretty gal characters with measured form, the location photography in Kernville, California is most appealing, whilst the screenplay is without fuss and pointless filler. True enough to say it's hardly essential viewing for Western fans, and action junkies will be left hankering, but Taylor fans are appeased and it remains watchable from first frame to last. 6/10

Well-armed backers of an interstate cattle trail running from Texas to the Canadian border run into resistance from Wyoming rancher Sam Brassfield (Robert Taylor) who has accepted and adapted to the reality that what was once an open range has now (1880's) become increasingly fenced off. His fences are blocking the plan for the cattle super-highway, the main backer of which is burly Clay Matthews (Robert Middleton) and his hired Texas gunman Vince Bodine (Richard Devon) who leads a ruthless band out to bring to reality the cattle trail by killing and scaring off any potential resistors. Matthews uses alcoholic rancher Harry Travers (William Windom) to spread rumors that Brassfield is the one cutting everyone's barbed wire fences in order to become the cattle king of the Wyoming range. Windom's part isn't half bad as the weak brother of the woman Brassfield becomes engaged to (Joan Caulfield). The whole idea of the cattle trail is interestingly brought out when the then President of the United States Chester Arthur (Larry Gates) visits Wyoming and finds out for himself that the rules of the range have changed for good. The film stumbles along at times, but for an early to mid 60's western it has some tough moments.

You don't expect much when you start watching this movie, but it is surprisingly good.Here's what I liked:Robert Taylor once again turns in a solid Western leading man performance.Interesting early role by Robert Loggia, playing a Hispanic character, which he did quite often early in his career.Story is very well told. There are no plot holes, the characters are plausible and consistent, it moves along at a good pace and maintains your interest, at least up until an unsatisfying ending.All all the supporting performances are solid, including Robert Middleton as the heavy, Richard Devon as his henchman, William Windom as a sniveling neighbor. All the actresses are good as well.Interesting appearance as a character by President Chester Arthur.Very nice cinematography. Very rich yellows, oranges and browns. Was shot all on location in Wyoming during the fall.A couple of Civil War references, which I think always adds texture to Westerns.Here's what wasn't so great:Nothing new really added to standard cookie cutter range war plot.The ending is very disappointing. All of the well developed conflicts are resolved almost instantly in a very contrived manner.No comic relief