The Cowboys (1972)

John Wayne: Wil Andersen

Photos 

4 more photos

Quotes 

• Wil Andersen : I'm proud of ya... All of ya. Every man wants his children to be better'n he was. You are.

• Wil Andersen : Slap some bacon on a biscuit and let's go! We're burnin' daylight!

• Stuttering Boy Wilson : Son-of-a-bitch.

  Wil Andersen : What did you say?

  Stuttering Boy Wilson : You god-damned son-of-a-bitch!

  Wil Andersen : Say that again.

  Stuttering Boy Wilson : You god-damned, mean, son-of-a-bitch!

  Wil Andersen : Say it faster.

  Stuttering Boy Wilson : You god-damned, mean, dirty, son-of-a-bitch!

  Wil Andersen : I wouldn't make it a habit of calling me that, son.

• [before fighting Long Hair] 

  Wil Andersen : I'm thirty years older than you are. I had my back broke once, and my hip twice. And on my worst day I could beat the hell out of you.

  Asa Watts : [smiles, shakes his head]  I don't think so.

  Wil Andersen : You will.

  [Knocks him down with a big left] 

• Cimarron : They didn't even dig him a decent grave.

  Wil Andersen : Well, it's not how you're buried, it's how you're remembered.

• Wil Andersen : Big mouth don't make a big man.

• Asa Watts : You're a hard man, Mr. Andersen.

  Wil Andersen : It's a hard life.

• [repeated line] 

  Wil Andersen : We're burnin' daylight.

• Wil Andersen : Sometimes it's hard to understand the drift of things. This was a good boy. He'd have been a good man. He didn't get his chance. Death can come for ya any place, any time. It's never welcomed. But if you've done all you can do, and it's your best, in a way I guess you're ready for it.

• Wil Andersen : Now... this is the "Double O", this is Belle Fourche. In between is four hundred miles of the meanest country in the West. And the only way we're gonna get through is if you take orders. Is that clear?

  School boys : Yes, sir.

  Wil Andersen : Bring a bed roll, couple of good ropes, horse if ya got one. You'll get the best food in the territory, no rest, damn little sleep. And fifty big silver dollars, IF we make it to Belle Fourche. Now, you'll show up at my place first Monday after schools out at 5:00 a.m. And come with grit teeth, 'cuz gentlemen, that's when school really begins.

• Wil Andersen : You look like the vermin-ridden son of a bitch you are.

• Wil Andersen : You all right, boy?

  Fats - Cowboy : Yes, sir. My name's Clyde Potter. They call me Fats.

  Wil Andersen : Tend toward the gut myself.

• Wil Andersen : A fool comes to town with a fistful of gold dust, and every jackass from 50 miles around lights out after him.

• Wil Andersen : There ain't a kid in that school over fifteen. They're between hay and grass. I need men.

  Anse Petersen : How old was you when you went on your first cattle drive?

  Wil Andersen : What difference does that make?

  Anse Petersen : How old was you, Wil?

  Wil Andersen : Well, in my day...

  Anse Petersen : How old?

  Wil Andersen : Thirteen! But my old man's pants fit me!

• Wil Andersen : Now I don't hold jail against you, but I hate a liar.

• Asa Watts : What are you gonna use for hands on this drive of yours, huh? Them little bitty boys down there? Come on, you know better than that, Mr. Andersen. You know what you're gonna need to trundle them boys across the prairie, don't you? A baby carriage.

  Wil Andersen : Well whatever I need I'll get.

• Wil Andersen : My oldest son would have been forty this year. Middle aged. But they went bad on me... or I went bad on them.

• Wil Andersen : You know, trail driving is not Sunday school picnic. You got to figure you're dealing with the dumbest oneriest critter on God's green earth. The cow is nothing but trouble tied up in a leather bag - and the horse ain't much better.

• Wil Andersen : I don't expect to get to Belle Fourche with one single head of beef, but I'm cornered, so I'm taking ya on. Now this is the way it's gonna be: I'm a man and yer boys. Not cowmen, not by a damn sight, nothing but cowboys just like the word says. And I'm gonna remind you of it every single minute of every day and night.

• Wil Andersen : I like to travel with a man I'm used to.

  Jebediah Nightlinger : You'll get used to me.

• Jebediah Nightlinger : You know in the late war between the states I served under an officer just like you.

  Wil Andersen : Is that right?

  Jebediah Nightlinger : As a matter of fact I shot that military gentlemen in the buttocks. Just outside Vicksburg.

  Wil Andersen : I'd of hung ya.

  Jebediah Nightlinger : They gave me a medal.

  Wil Andersen : In my regiment, Mr. Nightlinger, I was known as 'Old Ironpants'. You might keep that in mind!

• Wil Andersen : An' if you run into any trouble, call Anse Peterson.

  Annie Andersen : Will, Anse Peterson is sixty years old.

  Wil Andersen : [smiling]  Annie, so am I.

• Wil Andersen : [pointing at Fats]  You - what started this?

  Fats - Cowboy : He talked about Slim's mother. He said "Tu madre es puta." You understand Spanish Mr. Andersen?

  Wil Andersen : Yeah.

  Fats - Cowboy : So does Slim.

• Wil Andersen : Miserable.

• Annie Andersen : I'll think about ya 'fore I go to bed at night.

  Wil Andersen : You do and you won't sleep.

• Wil Andersen : Who's first?

  Charles 'Slim' Honeycutt : I'll go first.

• Wil Andersen : Your word? Well, here's my word. Get the hell off my spread, now!

• Wil Andersen : [Watching the boys at the dinner table]  Do you eat like that at home?

  Stuttering Boy Wilson : We've been working all day!

• Anse Petersen : Did you ever think of hiring boys?

  Wil Andersen : What boys?

  Anse Petersen : School boys.

  Wil Andersen : Oh sure and women. How about my ma in Cedar City. She's only ninety two.

  Anse Petersen : Well you ain't got a lot of choice.

• Wil Andersen : Summer's over, boys.