The Rounders is directed by Burt Kennedy and Kennedy adapts the screenplay from Max Evans' novel. Music is by Jeff Alexander and cinematography by Paul Vogel. It stars Glenn Ford, Henry Fonda, Sue Ane Langdon, Hope Holiday, Chill Wills and Edgar Buchanan.
Two ageing bronco-busting rounders get into (mis)adventures with a crafty old equine along for the ride...
It's one of those films that has amiable blood coursing through its veins. We are in very good company with Ford and Fonda, two likable and most reliable veterans of the silver screen, and crucially it looks like they are having fun - and it's infectious. Teamed up with a splendid comedy horse who gets up to mischief when ever possible, the boys also find some sexy lady love interests that puts a nice little risqué cheek on things, cheek actually being a very literal word at times.
Technically it's a very good production. Filmed in Metrocolor/Panavision, the vistas are superbly photographed by Vogel, with Arizona locations including Coconino National Forest, Red Rock Crossing, San Francisco Peaks and Village of Oak Creek. The stunt work is high quality, well shot by the wily Western movie veteran Kennedy, while Alexander's musical compositions have the desired jolification. Rounding off is a splendid and comforting support cast that sees Denver Pyle joining Buchanan and Wills for further Western genre reassurance. 7/10
The Rounders
1965
Action / Comedy / Western
The Rounders
1965
Action / Comedy / Western
Keywords: horserodeorodeo cowboyhorse ranchherd
Plot summary
Ben and Howdy are a couple of aging cowboys who bust broncos out of Sedona for Jim Ed Love, a slick operator if ever there was one. Sisters, Meg and Agatha, have their eyes on Ben and Howdy, but the boys aren't ready to settle down yet. They spend the winter in the high country corralling more than 100 stray cattle at $7 a head for Jim Ed. Most years, they blow their winter pay in one spring night at a Sedona bar, but this year, Ben and Howdy have a plan: to take an ornery roan that Ben has been unable to break and bet their bankroll that no cowboy at the Sedona rodeo can stay on the horse. What will they do if they win - marry the sisters or head for Tahiti?
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Howdy, it comes to me that we ain't exactly the smartest cowboys that ever lived.
easy charms
Ben Jones (Glenn Ford) and Marion "Howdy" Lewis (Henry Fonda) are two best friends and old cowboys who spends their days busting wild horses. They get talked into another lousy deal although the two bachelors do attract the fairer sex.
This is supposed to be a comedic western. Both Ford and Fonda can do some comedic acting but neither are true comedians. That's what one gets from this. It has two great actors with their easy charms but not necessarily all that funny. They seem to have good chemistry but there isn't much in terms of plot.
brainless but entertaining
Glenn Ford and Henry Fonda star in this slowly paced but amiable picture of two modern cowboys who just drift through life. They are older but only in a chronological sense--as they drink, bust broncos and party through life. At the same time, there are a couple of women who want to get them to settle down and grow up--and this is the main theme throughout the film.
What works best in the film is the dialog--particularly the repartee between the two leads. While the film itself never really seems to go anywhere, it seems enough just to sit back and watch this relationship unfold. An odd but satisfying film.