John Wayne's THE COWBOYS! 50th Anniversary Celebration! Life and Death with Duke! Cowboys Remember!

The 1972 classic John Wayne movie THE COWBOYS is the story of an aging rancher who has to hire schoolboys to help drive his cattle to market. Director Mark Rydell combined the two in a dynamic mixture of child actors and Jr rodeo competitors. Actors who couldn’t ride and riders who’d never acted! All this and working with a legend. A hero! What was it like for the actors? For the Jr Rodeo riders?
There were eleven altogether. In the second of our multipart tribute to THE COWBOYS for a special A WORD ON WESTERNS anniversary tribute, producer Rob Word interviews child actor Stephen Hudis, “Charlie,” and young wrangler Albert Barker, Jr., “Fats,” for a look back at a film that continues to gain new fans and still thrills those who watched it on its first release.
In addition to sharing emotional memories, Stephen Hudis performs an original song written especially for the occasion, taped at The Autry Museum on May 17, 2022. His song is entitled “Eleven Lucky Boys.” They sure were!
Enjoy this special program and then check out previous A WORD ON WESTERNS episodes in our library devoted to THE COWBOYS with actors Robert Carradine and A Martinez.
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