On this day in movie history - The Cowboys (1971 movie & novel):

The Cowboys

directed by Mark Rydell,

written by Irving Ravetch, Harriet Frank Jr. and William Dale Jennings,

based on the novel by William Dale Jennings,

was released in the United States on January 13, 1972.
Music by John Williams.

Cast:

John Wayne, Roscoe Lee Browne, Bruce Dern, Colleen Dewhurst, Alfred Barker Jr., Nicolas Beauvy, Steve Benedict, Robert Carradine, Norman Howell, Stephen R. Hudis, Sean Kelly, A. Martinez, Clay O’Brien, Sam O’Brien, Mike Pyeatt, Slim Pickens, Lonny Chapman, Charles Tyner, Sarah Cunningham, Allyn Ann McLerie, Matt Clark, Jerry Gatlin, Walter Scott, Richard Farnsworth, Wallace Brooks, Charise Cullin, Collette Poeppel, Norman Howell Sr., Rita Hudis, Margaret Kelly, Larry Randles, Larry Finley, Jim Burk, Fred Brookfield, Tap Canutt, Chuck Courtney, Gary Epper, Tony Epper, Kent Hays, Glenn Randall Jr., Henry Wills, Joe Yrigoyen, Ivan Brutsche, Ralph Volkie.

Recommended reading:

The Cowboys

By William Dale Jennings.

Published by Bantam.

First published 1971.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0552089796

ISBN-13: 978-0552089791

Description:

The time is 1877, the place the wild Wyoming-Montana territory. Will Anderson, a flinty old rancher, has a huge herd of cattle ripe for market when his regular hands, inflamed by gold fever, desert him. In desperation, he hires the only "men" available for the perilous 400 mile drive – a pack of scraggly schoolboys. Through skill and harsh discipline, Wil Anderson whips them from greenhorns into seasoned cowhands. But before the long drive is over, the boys discover that the price they must pay for manhood is a terrible one- murder and revenge! the stunning, heartbreaking climax of this extraordinary story will surprise you - and perhaps even sock you.