On this day in movie history - Monte Walsh (1970):

Monte Walsh

directed by William A. Fraker,

written by David Zelag Goodman and Lukas Heller,

based on the novel by Jack Schaefer,

was released in the United States on October 7, 1970.
Music by John Barry.

Cast:

Lee Marvin, Jeanne Moreau, Jack Palance, Mitchell Ryan, Jim Davis, G.D. Spradlin, John Hudkins, Raymond Guth, John McKee, Michael Conrad, Tom Heaton, Ted Gehring, Bo Hopkins, John McLiam, Allyn Ann McLerie, Matt Clark, Charles Tyner, Jack Colvin.

Recommended reading - Monte Walsh (1963):

Monte Walsh

By Jack Schaefer.

First published 1963.
Published by University of New Mexico Press.
Paperback.
ISBN-10: 0826358578
ISBN-13: 978-0826358578

Description:

Originally published in 1963, Monte Walsh continues to delight readers as a Western classic and popular favorite. The novel explores the cowboy lives of Monte Walsh and Chet Rollins as they carouse, ride, and work at the Slash Y with Cal Brennan. As the West changes and their cowboy antics are challenged, the two must part ways to pursue new ways of life. Chet marries and goes on to become a successful merchant and then a politician, while Monte can only find solace in continuing the cowboy's way of life until the very end.

"Many consider Monte Walsh one of the best Westerns ever written." – True West.

Jack Schaefer was a journalist and writer known for his authentic and memorable characters set in the American West. Schaefer received the Western Literature Association's Distinguished Achievement Award in 1975 and the Saddleman Award in 1986 from the Western Writers of America. His popular Western novels include Shane (1949) and Monte Walsh (1963).