''Cattle Annie and Little Britches'' is a 1981 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film, starring

Burt Lancaster Burton Stephen Lancaster (November 2, 1913 – October 20, 1994) was an American actor. Initially known for playing tough characters with tender hearts, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-year caree ...

, John Savage,

Rod Steiger Rodney Stephen Steiger ( ; April 14, 1925 – July 9, 2002) was an American actor, noted for his portrayal of offbeat, often volatile and crazed characters. Ranked as "one of Hollywood's most charismatic and dynamic stars", he is closely associ ...

Diane Lane Diane Lane (born January 22, 1965) is an American actress. Her accolades include nominations for an Academy Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards. Lane made her film debut in George Roy Hill's 1979 film '' A Littl ...

, and

Amanda Plummer Amanda Michael Plummer (born March 23, 1957) is an American actress. She is known for her work on stage and for her film roles, including '' Joe Versus the Volcano'' (1990), ''The Fisher King'' (1991), ''Pulp Fiction'' (1994), and '' The Hunge ...

, based on the lives of two adolescent girls in late 19th-century

Oklahoma Territory The Territory of Oklahoma was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 2, 1890, until November 16, 1907, when it was joined with the Indian Territory under a new constitution and admitted to the Union as ...

, who became infatuated with the

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them. ...

s they had read about in Ned Buntline's stories, and left their homes to join the criminals. It was scripted by David Eyre and Robert Ward from Ward's book, and directed by Lamont Johnson.

Plot

The outlaws the girls find are the demoralized remnants of the "

Doolin-Dalton gang The Wild Bunch, also known as the Doolin–Dalton Gang, or the Oklahombres, were a gang of American outlaws based in the Indian Territory in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They were active in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma Terr ...

", led by an historically inaccurately aged Bill Doolin. Anna Emmaline McDoulet, or Cattle Annie, shames and inspires the men to become what she had imagined them to be. The younger sister (but historically not a relative) Jennie Stevens or Little Britches (Diane Lane) finds a father figure in Doolin, who in the story line coined her nickname "Little Britches". Doolin's efforts to live up to the girls' vision of him lead him to be carted off in a cage to an Oklahoma jail, where he waits to be hanged. With the help of the girls and the gang, Doolin escapes and rides off to safety with his men. The girls are triumphant, but they cannot escape Marshal

Bill Tilghman William Matthew Tilghman Jr. (July 4, 1854 – November 1, 1924) was a career lawman, gunfighter, and politician in Kansas and Oklahoma during the late 19th century. Tilghman was a Dodge City city marshal in the early 1880s and played a role in ...

and are sent back east to the reformatory in

Framingham, Massachusetts Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston ...

Cast

Scott Glenn Theodore Scott Glenn (born January 26 between 1938 and 1942) is an American actor. His roles have included Bill Lester in '' She Came to the Valley'' (1979), Pfc Glenn Kelly in ''Nashville'' (1975), Wes Hightower in '' Urban Cowboy'' (1980), as ...

as Bill Dalton *

Redmond Gleeson Redmond Gleeson (born Martin Gleeson; January 26, 1935 – May 6, 2020) was an Irish-born American stage, film, and television actor. Life and career Martin Gleeson was born in Dublin on January 26, 1935.

as Red Buck *

William Russ William Russ (born October 20, 1950) is an American actor and television director. He played Alan Matthews on the sitcom ''Boy Meets World'' (1993–2000) and appeared in the television series ''Wiseguy (TV series), Wiseguy'', the soap operas ''A ...

as Little Bill Raidler * Ken Call as George Weightman * John Savage as Bittercreek Newcomb *

Buck Taylor Buck Taylor (born Walter Clarence Taylor III,Yoggy, Gary A. (1995). Riding the Video Range: The Rise and Fall of the Western on Television'. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 123. . May 13, 1938) is an American actor and artist, best k ...

as Dynamite Dick * Michael Conrad as engineer *

as Cattle Annie *

as Jennie (Little Britches) *

as Bill Doolin * Chad Hastings as Conductor * John Quade as Morgan * Yvette Sweetman as Mrs. Sweetman * Perry Lang as Elrod *

* Steven Ford as Deputy Marshall * Roger Cudney Jr. as Capps

Production

During production, Lancaster collapsed from a

bile duct A bile duct is any of a number of long tube-like structures that carry bile, and is present in most vertebrates. The bile duct is separated into three main parts: the fundus (superior), the body (middle), and the neck (inferior). Bile is requ ...

blockage. According to his daughter, Joanna, who was on set, they returned to Los Angeles and an ambulance met them at the airport. It was in temperature, and the ambulance broke down on the way to the hospital. "He got out and pushed," she recalled. "I couldn't get him to behave."

Reaction

The film was favorably reviewed by the critic

Pauline Kael Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael often defied the conse ...

in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

''. "The cinematography y Larry Pizeris vivid … the colors are strikingly crisp and intense. The dialogue and most of the incidents have a neat, dry humor. It's a wonderful, partly true story … there are some wonderful performances. As Bill Doolin, Lancaster (who made the film before ''

Atlantic City Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan sta ...

'') is a gent surrounded by louts — a charmer. When he talks to his gang, he uses the lithe movements and the rhythmic, courtly delivery that his

Crimson Pirate ''The Crimson Pirate'' is a 1952 Technicolor comedy-adventure film from Warner Bros. produced by Norman Deming and Harold Hecht, directed by Robert Siodmak, and starring Burt Lancaster, who also co-produced with Deming and Hecht. Co-starring in ...

had when he told his boys to gather round. In his scenes with Diane Lane, the child actor who appeared in New York in several of

Andrei Șerban Andrei Șerban (born June 21, 1943) is a Romanian-United States, American theater director. A major name in twentieth-century theater, he is renowned for his innovative and iconoclastic interpretations and stagings. In 1992 he became Professor of ...

's stage productions, and who single-handedly made the film ''

A Little Romance ''A Little Romance'' is a 1979 American romantic comedy film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Laurence Olivier, Thelonious Bernard, and 13-year-old Diane Lane in her film debut. The screenplay was written by Allan Burns and George Roy H ...

'' almost worth seeing, Lancaster has an easy tenderness that is never overdone. Lancaster looks happy in the movie and still looks tough; it's an unbeatable combination. Young Amanda Plummer gives a scarily brilliant performance". ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called it "as cutesy and unmemorable as its title". The review criticizes the distanced visual style of director Lamont Johnson, and that as a result, "the film washes over the viewer, with no images or moments sticking in the mind." Tom Hutchinson of the ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'' gave the film 3 out of 5 stars. Matt Brunson of Film Frenzy reviewed the film in 2020, and rated it 2.5 out of 4. He wrote: "The film has been hailed in some quarters as a buried treasure, yet while it bears a certain measure of charm, it isn't quite as accomplished as its reputation might suggest."

Home video

''Cattle Annie and Little Britches'' was released for the first time on DVD and Blu-ray by KL Studio Classics on April 14, 2020.

References

External links

* * * {{Lamont Johnson 1981 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films Biographical films about people of the American Old West 1980s English-language films Films directed by Lamont Johnson Films set in the 1890s Films set in Oklahoma 1980s American films English-language Western (genre) films