The Sheepman

Dir. George Marshall

85 Minutes

USA

1958

Starring: Glenn Ford, Shirley MacLaine, Leslie Nielsen, Mickey Shaughnessy, Edgar Buchanan, Willis Bouchey

***/*****

Somewhat maddeningly routine western compared to the imaginative and fun set-up. Glenn Ford rolls into town eager to set up shop for himself and his sheep, and roams around the town making the locals aware of his presence. He eventually sets his eyes on a girl (an early credit for Shirley MacLaine), and becomes at odds with the town boss (Leslie Nielsen!). Early scenes flirt with comedy and are quite fun to watch. Ford has never been a particular favorite of mine, and here actually seems a bit relaxed, from his first interaction with a trainman who he asks to watch his bag ("Mister, are you trying to pick a fight with me?" "No. . . not with you", Ford responds. A couple of scenes later he picks a fight with a local drinker to assert some dominance, while MacLaine dances in the background to avoid getting hurt. Wonderful). But soon the rhythm becomes less of this and more of the same, with the conflict between Ford and Nielsen dominating the picture. Some interesting things with the MacLaine character, especially regarding her gender (a casual reference to thinking she "was a man" while riding from the distance, but also Ford's remark at the end about how if anything was going to start between the two of them he would be the one to do it), but most of it feels like a surface level theme. Nicely shot by George Marshall who keeps the pacing and the entertainment fairly consistent, but the film goes in a direction that is a bit of a disappointment consider how the narrative is set up.

August 24th, 2019