The latest Classic Cinema With the Sage Sisters offering is the TNT TV (1991) movie Conagher based on the Louis L’Amour book of the same name. It stars, Sam Elliott, Katharine Ross, Barry Corbin and huge group of seasoned character actors rounding out the cast.
It’s post Civil War. The Teal family travel by wagon from Missouri to their new home in the Desert Southwest to begin a cattle ranch. After only days of arriving, Jacob Teal leaves his wife and two children to buy their first herd of cattle but after two months when he doesn’t come back, Evie and her step children must accept the fact that something terrible happened to Jacob.
For a time Evie and Laben service the new stage coach line while they build their permanent station. It’s when three men bring the horses for the stage that Evie and the family meet Conn Conagher. As Laben says after the men eat and leave, “I like that Mr. Conagher. He’s different than the rest.” And he is. He compliments Laben on the corral he built and advises him on how to keep the rain out of the shelter. The other men don’t pay much attention to the children but they do notice Evie. Evie only notices Conagher and he her.
As the movie goes on we find out that Conagher is a man who is completely confident in who he is. Though he’s peace loving, he never backs down from a fist fight if he can’t get out of it. But he only uses his gun to protect people or his employer’s property, which is the main conflict. Rustlers plan to wipe out Mr. Tay’s cattle by spring. Conagher and Johnny are the only men standing in their way. In fact, Conagher foils three or four attempts to siphon off small groups of cattle.
The movie is faithful to the book. The romance between Evie and Conagher is understated but grows each time he arrives at their homestead while tracking cattle or helping them repair their house and equipment.
This is a slow Western that shows the vastness and loneliness that the homesteaders and ranchers live with. Also, there is no shootout in the end there is a whopper of a fist fight that Chris Mahler has been spoiling for throughout the movie.
Celeste and I love movies with men who don’t have to prove themselves at every turn. Conagher is our kind of man.
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