Monte Walsh
An aging cowboy watches the open-range West disappear, forcing him and his friends to confront whether freedom can survive modernization.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Slow
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Mild
- elegiac
- melancholic
- reflective
- quiet evening
- classic western night
What critics said
Critics broadly regard it as a realistic, beautifully composed, and deeply elegiac portrait of aging cowboys facing the end of the frontier era.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Barbed wire, railways, and corporate ranching steadily eliminate the work and freedom associated with Monte's cowboy life.
The film presents aging cowboys and the open-range era with a gentle, sorrowful sense of historical farewell.
The opening credits evoke Frederic Remington paintings, while the production favors realistic observation over melodramatic shoot-outs.
Monte, Chet, and their fellow cowboys face dwindling employment as fenced land and corporations replace open-range labor.
Films like Monte Walsh, and why
Ride the High Country
Both are elegiac westerns about aging cowboys confronting the disappearance of the open-range way of life.
Will Penny
Both center on an aging working cowboy struggling with social change, loneliness, and the loss of his livelihood.
The Shootist
Both are revisionist, reflective westerns focused on men outliving the culture that once gave them purpose.
The Ballad of Cable Hogue
Both use a measured, melancholic western framework to examine changing values and the end of a frontier era.
Movie Details
- Director
- William A. Fraker
- Release Date
- 1970-09-26
- Runtime
- 99 min
- Rating
- 6.3 / 10 (67)
Cast
- Lee Marvin
- Jeanne Moreau
- Jack Palance
- Mitchell Ryan
- Jim Davis
- G.D. Spradlin
- John Hudkins
- Raymond Guth
- John McKee
- Michael Conrad
Common questions
- What is Monte Walsh about?
- An aging cowboy watches the open-range West disappear, forcing him and his friends to confront whether freedom can survive modernization.
- What is Monte Walsh like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Monte Walsh as slow, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Monte Walsh violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Monte Walsh as mild.
- What did critics think of Monte Walsh?
- Critics broadly regard it as a realistic, beautifully composed, and deeply elegiac portrait of aging cowboys facing the end of the frontier era.
- Which films are like Monte Walsh?
- Films with a similar feel include Ride the High Country, Will Penny, The Shootist, and The Ballad of Cable Hogue.
- How long is Monte Walsh?
- Monte Walsh runs 99 minutes.
