MUSTANG COUNTRY

US, 1976, 79 minutes, Colour.
Joel Mc Crea, Robert Fuller, Patrick Wayne, Nika Mina.
Directed by John C. Champion.

Mustang Country is a minor western – although Joel Mc Crea came out of retirement to make it. He is supported by regular western actors, Robert Fuller and Patrick Wayne. Nika Mina is the young boy but is not particularly strong in his characterisation of a boy lost in the mountains after running away from home, discovered by a rancher who is a rodeo star and who is hunting a wild stallion.

The film was written and directed by John Champion, a writer and producer of westerns including Laramie. This was the only film he directed.

1. A popular film for Western fans? Mustangs, old traditions?

2. The quality of the film as a nostalgic western, especially with Joel McCrea? The quality Joel Mc Crea brought to the film?

3. The county itself; the scenery, the detailed presentation of its beauty, the seasons, the frequent scenes of the wild? Audience liking for the county?

4. The mustangs in the county? their patterns for survival, the horse which defied capture?

5. The portrait of animal struggles in the county? the horse for survival, dogs, the grizzly and its destruction?

6. The portrayal of hunters at the time? The two men who tried their tricks, their failure and their departure?

7. Audience response to Dan? As a man of 1925, a veteran of the old west, a friend of Buffalo Bill? Dan as part of history, as a part of the quest of the pioneers of the west? How sympathetic and interesting a man? The story of his life and his family?

8. The bond between Dan and Luke? The incidents in which the dog was involved? the pathos of its death?

9. The presentation of Dan and his wisdom and skills? In hunting, tracking the mustang, surviving?

10. The character of Niki? Part of the Indian heritage? His helping of Dan? visit to his grandfather and his grandfather’s death? His hunting for survival and tricking of the mustangs?

11. Sequences with the river, the corral in which he tried to trap the horse? The bog and getting the horse out of the bog?

12. The picture of shared work, shared outlooks, the young boy, learning from experience?

13. The climaxes and the build-ups, the sequences of action and drama?

14. The values of this kind of family western tribute to the past and its qualities? Optimism about human nature?