The Rare Breed

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A very offbeat subject gives this Western its beefy flavor: English lady Maureen O'Hara brings a prize Hereford bull to the Wild West, where she plans to introduce its hardy bloodline into longhorn country. Cattle puncher James Stewart finds the idea suspect, but he likes this redhead, so he manages to tag along through stampede, gunfight, and blizzard. Director Andrew V. McLaglen generally steers a pleasing course, although the movie occasionally stumbles between brawling comedy and western drama. One stunt sequence, a run of longhorns through a desert canyon, qualifies as a hair-raiser. Brian Keith, wearing a gigantic red beard, does a Scots accent as a cattle baron, and veteran cowhands Ben Johnson and Jack Elam are around to lend atmosphere. The big bull's name is Vindicator, and he obeys whenever Juliet Mills whistles "God Save the Queen"--did we mention this is a very offbeat subject for a Western? --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

Maureen O'Hara in a very different type of western.......2007-08-26

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 opposite 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.

PUREBRED.......2007-06-18

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.

A different type of western.......2007-02-12

A very different type of western but very good. Has a great cast, good story line, and not the usual kind of story.

A Western which misses fire by not coming down firmly as either drama or comedy... .......2006-11-06

Under the direction of Andrew V. McLaglen, who understood the John Ford mystique, "The Rare Breed" is a Western of consummate integrity which misses fire by not coming down firmly as either drama or comedy; it does however pass the time amiably enough...

Stewart again plays a cynical, hard-bitten man who has become disillusioned with human nature... But his insight and understanding are well transmitted...

The title refers to a certain breed of cattle, and not to men, rare, courageous, or other-wise...

O'Hara is an Englishwoman who comes to America with her daughter, Juliet Mills, bringing a prize Hereford bull named Vindicator... Her husband has died on the way, and she is delivering the bull to a cattle baron (Brian Keith) in Dodge City... Her late husband has always declared that the Hereford could be successfully interbred with the indigenous American Longhorns...

Originally Stewart had planned to kidnap the bull and hand it over to a rival dealer, but he falls under the spell of O'Hara's womanly integrity, and becomes her ally... Soon a triangle is set up between Stewart, O'Hara and Keith, with predictable results...

The dramatic elements are not totally neglected in the film... The rivalry between the ranchers, the poignant situation of the young lovers, O'Hara's attempts to set right to the surroundings that she, a new widow, finds extraneous, are all set forth skillfully by McLaglen's directorial hand...

A Blend of John Ford and Disney-with a Great Performance by Juliet Mills.......2006-11-02

Director Andrew V. McLaglen's "The Rare Breed" (1966) has a surprising amount of historical interest, both to students of the old west and western genre film buffs. It is actually a fairly accurate (if fictionalized) account of the displacement of Longhorn cattle on the Texas range by intentional interbreeding with more conventional bulls (in this case a Hereford named Vindicator).

Just as interesting is the film's position as one of the early intentional parodies of the western genre. While less obvious than in "Cat Ballou" (1965), the self-reflexive elements and parody are there if you look close. The most obvious are Brian Keith overplayed (almost expressionistic) Scotsman and McLaglen's juxtaposition of classic John Ford outdoor scenery with obvious sound stage shots-including matte paintings by Albert Whitlock. And McLaglen rounds out his cast with genre favorites Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., and Jack Elam.

But "The Rare Breed's" real claim to fame is as the first "chick flick" western. It is likely to appeal more to women than men viewers as the story is told from the point of view of its heroine Hilary Price (Juliet Mills), who set out with her parents to bring a small herd of cattle from Hertfordshire (England) to the American west. Unfortunately her father died on the ocean voyage and Hilary and her mother Martha (Maureen O'Hara) are faced with the daunting task of completing what had been her father's dream.

Mills is wonderful in this role and it really suits her. She is a placid observer of the strange land in which she finds herself while her mother is almost savagely reactive. Yet Mills gets all the really good lines as Hilary injects a lot of wit and wry humor into the story. McLaglen gives dimension to only two of the characters, Hilary and "Bulldog" Sam Burnett (Jimmy Stewart). Burnett is a cowhand who starts out to swindle the two women but ends up being completed by them; eventually becoming a father/husband replacement to Hilary and Martha respectively, as well as a complete believer in their mission to change the nature of the American cattle industry.

But Burnett has to come a long way to make this transition as he begins by calling the symbolically named Vindicator a muley bull (because it has no horns). His reaction does not get him off to a good start with the protective Hilary, who has raised Vindicator from a calf. The bull follows her around like a dog and is easily quieted with a verse from "God Save the Queen".

Entertaining but not riveting, this unique example of the genre is a nice change of pace although the scenes between Keith and O'Hara will make you think more of Disney's original "The Parent Trap" than the film that you thought you were watching.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

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