The Rare Breed
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Movie Reviews of The Rare Breed
Movie Review: A different kind of story whose title might have more meaning than you first suppose
Summary: 4 Stars
This is an odd story for a Western and largely works because of Jimmy Stewart, but a movie with Maureen O'Hara in it is also a good bet. Brian Keith does add a good strong character to this film as well. In 1966 he was also beginning a nice run on the TV show "Family Affair". The title of this movie, "The Rare Breed" has multiple meanings and really provides the key to what the movie is about.
The obvious title reference is to the specially bred Hereford bull that an Englishman named Price wants to introduce to the American West. He is traveling with his wife and daughter and dies during the trip. His widow (Maureen O'Hara) and daughter (Juliet Mills) intend to fulfill his dream and engage Sam Burnett (Jimmy Stewart) to help them deliver the bull. Of course, there are plenty of obstacles including bad men who need a good beating and then to be shot, which Burnett provides for them.
Then the rare breed could refer to the manly men who are settling the West while more timid men enjoy softer life in the City. This could be Sam Burnett or the raging Scotsman, Alexander Bowen (Brian Keith), or the other tough men braving the desert and freezing cold and living the hard life.
But the rare breed could also be the mother and daughter that are as out of place as their Hereford Bull. Martha and Hilary Price represent a kind of change and domestication to the West as their new bull does. The issue is will the bull survive long enough to breed in the hostile environment and will the women find reasons to stay out West or will they reject the horrid conditions and return home.
Really, a different kind of Western, but a good story and quite enjoyable.
Movie Review: Maureen O'Hara in a very different type of western
Summary: 4 Stars
THE RARE BREED certainly lives up to it's title. A western drama with the emphasis on character and not the typical mix of "guns and cowboys". Maureen O'Hara reunited with her "McLintock!" director Andrew V. McLaglen and her "Parent Trap" co-star Brian Keith for this oddball combination of western thrills and human drama.
Martha Price (Maureen O'Hara) and her teenaged daughter Hilary (Juliet Mills) have arrived in America with their prized Hereford bull, in an attempt to cross-breed it with the traditional long-horn. She is met with resistance by bulldogger Sam Burnett (James Stewart), but he reluctantly agrees to accompany her to the estate of Alexander Bowen (Brian Keith), the most powerful cattle baron in the district.
The emphasis is on simple human drama in this enjoyable period piece; yet there is still some room for a spectacular action sequence involving an horrific long-horn stampede. Maureen O'Hara gives a very grounded and sensitive performance as the pioneering Martha, and Juliet Mills is a delight as her spunky, forthright daughter. James Stewart and Brian Keith play off each other beautifully in their rivalry for O'Hara's affection.
To the best of my knowledge, Maureen O'Hara is the only actress to have played the mother for both Juliet Mills and her younger sister Hayley Mills (in 1961's "The Parent Trap"). THE RARE BREED is truly that rare western that dares to go beyond the cliched confines of the genre. Highly-recommended.
Movie Review: PUREBRED
Summary: 4 Stars
I don't consider director Andrew V. McLaglen's filmography as essential but I must admit that I appreciated THE RARE BREED, a movie shot in 1965 by Victor McLaglen's son. Maureen O'Hara is as always brilliant in the role of Martha Evans, the widow of an English cattle breeder, who journeys to Texas in order to sell her Hereford bull called Vindicator. The alchemy between Maureen O'Hara and James Stewart works almost as well as if it was a O'Hara-Wayne movie directed by John Ford.
Now, if the theme of THE RARE BREED, the arrival of a new race of cows in the U.S.A., could rebuke the amateur of classic westerns, the underlying meaning of this theme is however interesting. Let's just substitute cows by people and THE RARE BREED can be read at a second level and become a comment about America's future. Hence, according to THE RARE BREED'S script, America can not grow without incorporating and accepting new immigrants, even if they're not "purebred".
A DVD zone beef steak.
Movie Review: Entertaining "history lesson"
Summary: 4 Stars
This unusual Western departs from the usual shoot-em-up plot and tells a story of the late 1800's, when cattlemen were just beginning to consider adding other strains of cattle to the Longhorns that were the staple on ranches then. Forward-thinking cattle breeders understood that the longhorn is hardy and can travel long distances, but doesn't have as much meat as the beef cattle in Europe at that time. Enter an English cattle-breeder's widow and her daughter, who have brought their Hereford bull, "Vindicator" to America, hoping to get a better price for him. Only Juliet Mills could have more determination than Maureen O'Hara, who plays her mother. Though I have never understood why they didn't just leave Vindicator in the barn for his first winter, till he could get acclimated, I still love this movie.Movie Review: One of Jimmy's Best and Brian Keith!
Summary: 4 Stars
Jimmy Stewart had a habit of making good movies and this is one of them. It tells the story of introducing hereford(or herford) cattle to the united states and it does it partly lighthearted and partly serious. Brian Keith shows up as well as absolutely wonderful former scottish highlander soldier who's taken up ranching in the west. Keith is just great as the old cantankerous scottsman. The herford bull(named vindicator) is cleverly portrayed as well without being silly.