The Cowboys (1972)

Director: Mark Rydell
Cast: Alfred Barker Jr., Bruce Dern, Colleen Dewhurst, John Wayne, Nicolas Beauvy, Robert Carradine, Roscoe Lee Browne, Steve Benedict

Synopsis:

When his cattlemen abandon him for the gold fields, rancher Wil Andersen is forced to take on a collection of young boys as his cowboys in order to get his herd to market in time to avoid financial disaster. The boys learn to do a man’s job under Andersen’s tutelage; however, neither Andersen nor the boys know that a gang of cattle thieves is stalking them.