The Rounders (1965 film)

The Rounders is a 1965 American western film directed by Burt Kennedy and starring Glenn Ford and Henry Fonda. It is based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Max Evans.

The Rounders
Promotional movie poster for the film
Directed byBurt Kennedy
Produced byRichard E. Lyons
Screenplay byBurt Kennedy
Based onThe Rounders (novel)
by Max Evans
StarringGlenn Ford
Henry Fonda
Sue Ane Langdon
Chill Wills
Edgar Buchanan
Hope Holiday
Music byJeff Alexander
CinematographyPaul Vogel
Edited byJohn McSweeney Jr.
Distributed byMetro Goldwyn Mayer
Release date
  • March 5, 1965 (1965-03-05)
Running time
85 min.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1,500,000[1]

Plot

Ben Jones (Glenn Ford) and Marion "Howdy" Lewis (Henry Fonda) are two easygoing, modern-day cowboys who make a meager living breaking wild horses. Their frequent employer is Jim Ed Love (Chill Wills), a shrewd businessman who always gets the better of them. After they bring him a string of tamed horses and spend the winter rounding up stray cows, he talks them into taking a nondescript roan horse in lieu of some of their wages.

To his great and frequent discomfort, Ben finds that the horse is unrideable. Rather than turning the horse into soap or dog food, he decides to take it to a rodeo and bet other cowhands that they cannot ride it, thereby doubling his and Howdy's earnings. Along the way, the duo stop to help two dimwitted strippers, Mary (Sue Ane Langdon) and Sister (Hope Holiday), with their car, which has broken down. Not knowing much about cars, they give them a ride to the nearest garage, but end up getting to know them better (going skinny dipping with them) and taking them along to the rodeo.

Everything goes as planned; nobody is able to stay on the horse. However, the horse suddenly collapses and Ben spends all the money that he and Howdy have won on veterinary help—and a new stable to replace the one destroyed by the roan when the horse recovers. In the end, Ben and Howdy end up where they started, with only the roan to show for their efforts.

Cast

Reception

The film was a sleeper hit.[2]

In a contemporary review, the New York Times found the film to be a "...good, small Western—far from perfect but beautifully personified by two wise, winning veterans."[3] Reviewing The Rounders for the Los Angeles Times, Margaret Harford wrote: "The plot is thin, the comedy rather forced and the casting is unbelievable but at least it's a pleasant change from all those psychological westerns and attempted satires on same."[4]

See also

References
  1. Anticipated rentals accruing distributors in North America. See "Top Grossers of 1965", Variety, 5 January 1966 p 36
  2. Galloway, Doug (February 20, 2001). "Writer-helmer Burt Kennedy dies". Variety. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  3. Thompson, Howard (1965-04-29). "'Rounders,' a Western, and 'Get Yourself a College Girl' Bow". The New York Times. p. 40.
  4. Harford, Margaret (1965-03-13). "'Rounders' Stars Fonda, Ford as Bronc Busters". The Los Angeles Times. p. 16.

See also
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