I have only watched The Cowboys a handful of times, but each time every scene with Roscoe Lee stood out. The lines themselves were excellent, but the clear, concise, eloquent delivery of each line was so perfect! Jedadiah Nightlinger was such a unique character in a John Wayne film. It revealed an unpopular fact at the time of the film's development: that a black man could be not only educated, but wise beyond comprehension. Roscoe Lee should have won an Oscar for his performance. He certainly earned it.
what also made the cowboys outstanding was the fact that rydell used actors who hadnt in the main worked with wayne before.duke like his mentor ford tended to use a stock company of familiar faces in most of his films. they were good but seldom made the duke overexert himself in dramatic scenes. brownes superb performance along with bruce derns ,who had done a movie with wayne but did little more than get shot ,added so much richness to the movie.to be fair wayne rose to the challenge as the scene above shows.he enjoyed the freshness they bought to their parts.far from being resentful of derns scene stealing bad guy wayne encouraged him to be nastier though telling him that this movie would make him the most hated actor in hollywood.dern replied but theyll love me in berkley duke!
Back then black families stayed together MORE than white families!! They did a lot of their schooling at home for obvious reasons and were quite often highly educated! What happened to these once and powerful people?! Now the worst elements make the news and the good and decent black Americans have been silenced just like the rest of us to speak on it in a serious manner.
"Doesn't anything larger want to work for you?" Lovely line, well delivered by a fellow absolutely oozing class. Great character, well written and acted.
Roscoe Lee brown is such a fine actor, and he was wonderful in this role. It positively gives me chills when I hear him say, "Lord, forgive me for the men I have killed . . and for those I am about to."
Absolutely one of the best line's ever written. Delivered with stone-cold emotion by a gifted Actor. I was 6 when this movie came out. I saw it with my Dad at the drive-in. When Mr Nightlinger said that, I got chill's. But in a good way! I knew Mr Anderson was about to be avenged! The facial expression, & calm tone of voice told everyone he had done it before, & was about to again. And it didn't bother him one bit! It was like an unpleasant chore that had to be done. But nothing to get upset about. I'm 52 (2019), & I still get chill's everytime Roscoe Lee Browne delivers that line with that calm, emotionless demeanor. His performance is so REAL. NO ONE could have played that part better! He deserves an Oscar to this day! This remains one of my top ten favorite movie's of all time!
Harold Freeman Me too, which proves what an incredible job he did. The first time my stepson watched this movie he was so mad when John Wayne was killed he cried and left the room.
@@joblo7 I saw Bruce Dern in War Wagon with John Wayne and Kirk Douglas. Wayne's and Douglas' characters Taw Jackson and Lomax, killed Dern and his dirty deeds partner in a foursome draw. Lomax said 'Mine hit the ground first.' Jackson replied 'Mine (Dern) was taller.' I chuckled at the bantering these two did throughout that movie.
I love the character the cook. He was one of my favorite characters in the movie The Cowboys. Such an incredible actor. He and the Duke made a great onscreen pair. RIP to 2 awesome actors.
Yeah,I absolutely LOVED Roscoe! What a great character he played.....Greatest line ever spoken as they were about to hang him ! The whole movie was spectacular because of these two stars and Bruce Dern was one of the best villians.....We watch this every year at some point in the back yard on a 20 ft blow up screen or on the side of the 5th wheel out in the desert...........giant motorcycle outing with the Indian Guides and Princesses.Ice cream,cake,popcorn,miles from the nearest lightbulb,motorhomes in a big circle.........good as it gets,My Friend....
Bruce dern is one of the greatest actors of our lifetime. His acting elicits so many emotions. Is the most hated actor ever because he's done such a great job with his acting skills.
My favorite scene with Mr. Nightlinger is the bunkhouse scene. He firmly establishes his place in the pecking order by terrifying the "cowboys" with the story of his father, a "brawny Moor", who kills everyone in a castle just so he and his bride can rest the night. When one of the nervous ranch hands finally asks if his epic, Shakespearean tale was true, he replies matter-of-factly, "well. if it isn't, it ought to be".
I watched The Cowboys dozens of times growing up and RLBs portrayal of Nightlinger is my favorite Western character ever. I proudly used his bunkhouse monologue for college auditions despite the fact that I'm about as cracker as you can get! What a great character for such an outstanding actor!
The late great Roscoe Lee Brown...the most underrated actor and performer Black or White. His guest appearance on the Barney Miller show was without a doubt the best of the entire series. Urbane, Cultured, Class, Style...he was the best.
One of my favourite movies ever.....too bad they don't make them like this anymore........a great storyline, character development, great casting, and fine acting throughout. Too bad all were left with today is superheroes and CGI.....sad...
CGI just means they can create almost any spectacle or visual they want. There's nothing wrong with that, if they know what they're doing. I just think most of 'em these days don't know what they're doing or know how to write. A lot of the CGI reminds me of early web development, where everybody wanted to show you all the bells and whistles they could install, which (in those days) made their pages take forever to load, just so you could see what some geek thinks is art. Now we're seeing what some geek, who was raised on mass-produced animé thinks is compelling action, and it reminds me of old Batman show, where there was a comic-book "POW!" or "BANG!" splashed on the screen to make sure everybody knew Adam West was throwing a punch, because they sure as hell weren't filming very believable action. Westerns could easily see a resurgence, as they're relatively cheap to make, which narrows the already narrowing gap between what an independent can produce and what the big studios can produce. The thing that's so disappointing about Hollywood is they have the tools, now, to present virtually ANYthing, ANY vision. But they're all blindfolded.
"Forgive me for the men I've killed...and those I'm about to." Not sure if I got the quote correct, but when I watched this as a kid, Mr. Nightlinger became one of my idols.
Cook should have won best supporting actor...ole boy had me cross legged hanging on every word... Would have been the same with out him... Kinda like the Chief in Josie Wales...
Still one of my favorite movies ever made. I watched it with my Dad at the hometown drive-in when I was six. This scene established Mr Nightlinger as a character as powerful as Mr Anderson. Roscoe Brown OWNED this role, & made it HIS. He showed he was both compassionate to the boys, & ruthless to the outlaws. Just what a Hero character should be. November 2020, & The Cowboys is STILL a great film.
in the real west blacks were about 25% of the cowboys in all, many came west after they were emancipated to build a new life.they had as much influence on western culture as the whites or the Mexican vaqueros.history needs to tell that part of the story. I'm kind of an amateur historian in early american culture.
God I loved this film....saw it in a theater as a teen...it taught me many lessons and helped form ideas about man hood....it was the best of the duke....
Wil Andersen and Jebediah Nightlinger were real people. If you’re ever near Artesia, NM, stop by and see the sculptures they have in town. The plaques associated with the sculptures will tell you how Nightlinger was at the forefront of Chuck Wagon service, and Andersen was one of the blazers for the Chisum trail. Duke and Roscoe are outstanding at bringing these characters to life.
Nice to know this! Thank-you for that. This movie is my all time favorite. I had a hot crush on some of the boys when I was just an 11 treat old girl. Mr. Wayne was well regarded and respected in AL of the movies that he did, by the community that I grew up in. Learning the real history after al this time, about the book and the behind the scene things has just been fantastic! Thank-you again for sharing. M
You could have placed Roscoe Lee Brown in any production no matter how bad and the man would have carried it with his charisma and rich line delivery. They broke the mold......
I met him at a college theatrical competition in Bellingham WA where he paid me a compliment for my acting. His attention to detail was astonishing. His performances on camera and stage were something to behold. In my opinion he was and is under rated.
My father told me they would put a spoonful of sugar in a square of clean cloth, twist it and tied up for babies to chew on when they were teething. Called them sugar tits. He's going to go twist a few up.
This is my favorite John Wayne movie. It had some terrific lines by Roscoe Lee Browne.. my favorite was "Forgive me for the men I have killed...and for those I am about to"
One of the Duke's best movies. Browne is wonderful in his role of Nightlinger. And credit to Bruce Dern for playing one Hell of a bad guy.... creepy and threatening at the same time
Both were perfectly cast in this movie. Even Mad Magazine hit on the theme with a great story. Nightlinger asks if the boys are staring at him because he's black and the answer is, "No Sir, you're the first person we ever saw that spoke perfect English".
Nightlinger was the best character in a movie filled with wonderful characters. And the actor that played him was one of the best there ever was. "Doesn't anything larger want to work for you?" is one of the best movie lines, ever! The Cowboys is a favorite of mine and my wife's. We have very different tastes. Many of my absolute favorites she can't sit through, and I can say the same about hers. But this one we can watch together, and do, several times a year.
Roscoe Lee Browne spoke highly of Wayne in an interview though He was warned not to work with him because they were on opposite sides politically. He found that Wayne was a complete professional on the set, first to arrive, last to leave and knew everyone else's lines besides his own , treating everyone with respect.. They shared a passion for chess and literature talking and playing chess between takes. Ironically, Browne said it was left-wing film critics who were racist and belittling because they said his character's English was too proper to be believable.
Edmond... Thanks for saying that... There is a thread around about what a racist Duke was, I've never seen that in any performance, or interview... What he did express is that going around with your hand out irritated him, and I can't disagree with that... The chemistry between Roscoe and Duke is marvelous, one of his best co-stars...
@@lonmcq7317 Apparently, Wayne made his views on race know during a 1971 Playboy where he described himself as a white supremacist and that blacks had not been "educated" to the level they deserved the same social standing as white people. These comments were in response to the recently killed MLK and the still boiling racial climate in the US at the time. As far as Browne and "left-wing critics" go, you had a lot of internal discussion among the African American community over what and who was "really black" due to the civil rights era and black conscious movements. It went back to Jim Brown when he debuted in "The Dirty Dozen" in 1967. Up till then, the idea of black American manhood on the silver screen was personified by Sydney Poitier. A classically trained actor who depicted black men of education, refinement dignity and yes, patriotism. They dealt with racist whites but, they maintained their dignity and always depicted that America would continue to become a more fair society if they continued to perfect themselves and never take their eyes off the prize. Jim Brown seemed to present a different viewpoint and attitude. His characters were from the streets and black pride was depicted as embracing what whites would regard as negatives of black life. His characters were not stupid by any means, but they were street smart not book smart. They got ahead by embracing the lessons of the street, not a college education. His white Co-Star Lee Marvin spoke about who Jim Brown was more authentic and reflective of the "American Negro" in how his character shuffled, glowered, and spoke. Marvin spoke about how a "Negro in Detriot or Harlem would identify more with Jim Brown than an actor such as Sydney Poitier quoting Shakespeare." It's kind of odd that Marvin who was a Democrat and longtime champion of progressive causes, would have such a view of black actors who were not getting that much work while Wayne the Republican, who publically stated his support for white supremacy tended to cast black actors in his later films like The Green Berets and The Cowboys who were well-spoken, dignified, responsible men, that you could even argue were smarter than Wayne's characters in the same films.
@@TheLAGopher The day when races won't be grouped as to how they are to act and behave, when people are seen as individuals with unique personalities, pluses and minuses, THEN there'll be true equality. In Shakespeare it was first kill all the lawyers, now it should be first kill all the activists. 😉
My 3 brothers were extras in one scene. I can never spot them but this is one of those funny family. memories. I don't think they actually met John Wayne.
I remember seeing Roscoe in several TV episodes in different roles. The one with Colombo while he was eating sticks out. He was a physiatrist discussing a former patient from SF who was under suspicion by Colombo.
Rest in Peace John “Duke” Wayne and Roscoe Lee Browne. Both added so much to movies they played in. Wow….I’m getting old. Probably won’t be long now and I’ll be joining them.
He is a very talented and super gifted actor in so many ways. Unfortunately in his day Hollywood overlooked many highly skilled actors for being black.
Great athlete, too. During the 1951 track season, he was ranked #2 in the world at 800 meters. In this movie he is a very different sort of supporting actor for the Duke, dead opposite of the usual Slim Pickens/Ben Johnson type.
@@chrispile3878 I love actors that can pull off slimy evil with artistic genius. Alan Rickman being a primo example. Ian McShane is another. Jeremy Irons is the king.
@@chrispile3878 Totally agree. And I think we are not alone. Dern’s career seemed to tank after this role. Although I’ll admit he’s a fine actor, as he showed a couple years ago in “Nebraska,” But after decades have passed, I still can’t forgive him. Pardon me, Lord.
I wish I could have met Roscoe Lee. Such a commanding presence on the screen and so natural as an actor. He is definitely one of the most dismissed talents of the Golden Age. I could listen to that man read the listings in a phonebook with that voice!
The speech Roscoe Lee Brown gave at the end when Bruce Dern was going to hang him was my favorite part of the show! True classic....."Forgive me for the men I've killed in anger and the one's I'm about too kill now."
He did some great stuff in his later years. This may have been better than True Grit. Roscoe Lee Brown is one of the great un-sung African American actors of his time. It's funny how this small scene is so memorable.
Mr. Nightlinger lives on on my heart, always hoping and looking for folkes like him! Edit, if i had children, or a son, i would like him to have a first job working for/with these two... i know it's a movie but.
Directed by Mark Rydell. About the furthest thing from a director of westerns you could find in modern cinema. But he knew how to tell stories and that he did here.
At first I didn't recognise the cene & thought I hadn't seen the movie, then I realised when John Wayne introduced the kids, it's the Cowboys another top notch movie
At the very beginning, John Wayne shows how great an actor he is. One blink of his eyes, and the slightly open mouth, conveys both what the Hell is this, and I'm interested... The Cowboys: The first time I ever saw a naked woman -- sort of... 😉
In the novel, *Charlie* Nightlinger had been Wil Andersen's cook for years, and he was not well-spoken, but had his own system of slang. But both Nightlinger characters were good in their own ways.
@Gary Dolzer MUCH more intelligent and tolerant than those of late attacking the Duke, calling him a raaaaaaaaaacist, demanding his statue and name be removed from the airport that bears it .
I'm a black man and I can tell you that both my father and I grew up on John Wayne. Heard all the talk about him being racist, but my thing is this: if he was so bad, why did he garner the praise of prominent African-American actors of his day, like Woody Strode, Roscoe Lee Browne, and Sidney Poitier (Poitier and Wayne Acted together in THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD where Poitier played Simon of Cyrene and Wayne was the centurion who said "truly this was the son of God")? Those today who call him racist were born long after the Duke was gone but the aforementioned actors were of his generation and the one just after and knew him. I rather take their word over the contemporary naysayers, thanks.
@@Locktwiste72 every man at one time or another has made a racist comment, both black and white!!! Most regret it soon after!!! I think maybe their just blowing off steam!!! It doesn't make it right or excuse the comment!!! But words aren't as important as actions!!! Judge man by his actions, not his words because words lie!!!
Por qué , porque no comparten está maravillosa película , porfabor ,sería tremenda alegría para mi ,con 72 años añoro las películas de Cowboy ,y está película ,es tremenda ,, grandiosa amo está película ,la Vi una vez hace años en t.v y nunca más la pude ver porfabor compartanla y en Español sería una Bendición. Muchas gracias. Dios le bendiga 🙏.
