As the movie opens it is early autumn; Ben and Howdy reluctantly accept work from Jim Ed Love, a rancher they both love to hate. Part of their duties includes attempting to tame a furious and ornery young mustang properly named "Ol' Fooler". The horse quickly becomes their arch nemesis as it continually defies their attempts at bronc-busting; wily old veterans they refuse to be done-in by the stubborn animal and will eventually talk Love into letting them keep it as part of their pay. Ben and Howdy brainstorm that they can make a mint and leave their hard-luck days behind at the annual rodeo in Sedona by betting that no one can ride their varmint of a horse for longer than eight seconds. The plan goes fairly well but they encounter an unexpected twist of events that threatens to ruin the guys' enterprise and sink their dreams fast.
It shouldn't amount to much - but it does. One of the very best supporting casts ever assembled helps out tremendously providing endless appeal and colorful characterizations. Chill Wills, Edgar Buchanan, and both Kathleen & Joan Freeman show up as the story progresses and have fairly expanded roles. Barton MacLane, Denver Pyle and Doodles Weaver appear in cameo roles that seem tailored perfectly to their talents. An uncredited Warren Oates plays a bumbling gun-crazy wrangler that runs afoul of Jones and Lewis. The best surprise of all though is Sue Ann Langdon and Hope Holiday as two attractive and voluptuous ladies that Ben and Howdy happen upon when they make the late spring journey into Sedona. This sequence of the film supplies us with it's funniest and most memorable moments.
Made at a time when films could be both sparse of activity and routinely but unabashedly sentimental 'The Rounders' is living proof that comedies don't have to be big, bold and brassy to be enjoyed. For a refreshing change of pace and an opportunity to see Ford and Fonda at their most likeable I heartily recommend you set aside some time for this flick.
