The year is 1875, and the bottom has dropped out for the beef market. Cows are reduced to cheap hides and tallow, and the ranchers who built their empires on hundreds, thousands, of heads of steer are now considering foreclosures. Not that the man who owns the bank (Barton MacLane) minds. If the ranchers throw in the towel, then all that Texas land under them will become mighty cheap. That’s why he hired Sledge (Robert J. Wilke) to rustle what cows remain, back shooting anyone who might stand in the way.

Only one might, Ben Arnold (Edmond O’Brien), the proprietor of a local freight company, who works with the town’s general store owner to help float the remaining ranchers. It’s a good plan and keeps Strand and Parker operating in the shadows. Meanwhile, Harry Odell (Robert Lowery) is courting rancher Linda Garnet (Helen Westcott) while trying to keep his affair with Melba Skyes (Peggie Castle) a secret. Linda is the blond-haired lady from money, while Melba is the sensual brunette with a sizeable chip on her shoulder. She’s tired of living as a second-class citizen. And the men treat her as such, though for no real reason. 

Well, to be honest, there’s a lot that happens in Cow Country for no real reason. Nothing outrageous and certainly nothing you can’t suss out yourself, but writer Adele Buffington and director Lesley Selander take a lot of narrative connections for granted. Cow Country feels loose, but neither in a damning nor beneficial way.

What’s enjoyable are the—probably—unintentional touches. Made by Allied Artists, a bottom basement studio formerly known as Monogram Pictures, Cow Country looks like it was shot fast and without a whole lot of attention to detail. O’Brien, who was coming off a successful string of noirs, sports his hat canted off to the side like a fedora. It makes spotting his double all the easier, as that guy knew cowboys wore their hats flush with their ears so it didn’t fly off while the horse was in full gallop. 

Then there’s Lowery, who looks like he could place high in a Clark Gable look-alike contest. Talks a little like him too, but Gable he is not. And he’s not the only substitute: Rory Mallinson, who plays Melba’s father, has a lantern jaw that makes for a pretty good approximation of Randolph Scott’s. Mallinson even wears his hair like Scott. It’s like Allied was hoping they might fool a couple of less studious viewers.

Cow Country is one of those made on the cheap westerns with a couple of decent scenes—all belonging to Castle, particularly the one where she bullwhips Odell—and enough conflict to give audiences their ticket’s worth.

Cow Country (1953)
Directed by Lesley Selander
Screenplay by Adele Buffington
Adapted from Curtis Bishop’s novel Shadow Range by Thomas W. Blackburn
Produced by Scott R. Dunlap
Starring: Edmond O’Brien, Peggie Castle, Robert Lowery, Barton MacLane, Robert Barrat, Helen Westcott, Robert J. Wilke, Rory Mallinson
Allied Artists, Not rated, Running time 82 minutes, Opened April 26, 1953

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