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DVD The War Wagon
John Wayne and Kirk Douglas make a delightful duo in this comedic Western in which Wayne seeks revenge on a ruthless mine owner (Bruce Cabot) who had him framed and sent to prison. Upon his release, Wayne recruits Douglas in a scheme to raid and rob one of Cabot's gold-laden wagons, despite the fact that Douglas had been offered good money to kill Wayne. He joins Wayne instead (the potential profits being much greater), and they set out to ambush the War Wagon, so named because it's heavily armored, mounted with a Gatling gun, and guarded by a dozen gunmen on horses. Costarring Keenan Wynn and Howard Keel as a wise-cracking Indian, The War Wagon was a Western precursor to the action buddy films of the 1980s and '90s, serving up plenty of exciting action and constant comic relief. The interplay between Wayne and Douglas is sharp and sarcastic, and their motley crew of accomplices provides yet another source of character-driven humor. Not one of the greatest Westerns ever made, but certainly one of the most lightly entertaining. --Jeff Shannon
John Wayne meets "Mission: Impossible"? Sometime it's feels that way in this 1967 Burt Kennedy action oater. Here he plays Taw Jackson, a rancher unjustly imprisoned through the machinations of greedy land baron Bruce Cabot, who then took his land away. Wayne wants revenge, but he's got to deal with Cabot's secret weapon, the "War Wagon," an armor plated stagecoach armed with gatling guns. To do this he enlists the help of a motley crew: gunman Kirk Douglas, nattily attired in suede and black leather; Howard Keel, who's none too convincing as an Indian; Keenan Wynn, the professional thief; Robert Walker, Jr., as the dynamite expert. The success of "The Magnificent Seven" in 1960 spawned a number of Westerns that packed in as many stars together as possible on a big task. Think of "Major Dundee" in 1965, "The Professionals" in 1966, and "The Wild Bunch" in 1969, to name a few. Wayne followed the trend with this movie, and if you take it on its own terms, it's a really enjoyable movie! Don't expect historical accuracy or political correctness, but you will get a few good action scenes, along with a great bar fight. A great movie for Saturday afternoons. (Trivia: Ringo Starr has a bit role here as one of the Indians.)
Sheriff.....Taw Jackson's back in town!........
This is just a rollicking fun western. From the start with the improbable iron wagon being pulled by 3 teams of horses, with the Ed Ames song playing in the background, you know your in for a treat. Howard Keel plays Levi Walking Bear to comic perfection and Kirk Douglas is great as the slick, always a hair in place, gambler Lomax. Pulled into this is a dynamiter, Robert Walker Jr., as Billy. Together they go after the War Wagon and the gold inside. John Wayne's friend Bruce Cabot plays the villian, Frank Pierce.
Oh sure the idea of putting a Gatling Gun inside an iron wagon and expecting to shoot it, let alone hit anything, is highly improbable..not to say deafening...but this movie makes it work. This is the kind of movie that is fun to watch and well worth adding to your western collection.
From The Book 'Badman'
This 1967 John Wayne western ultimately rests on a western written by Clair Huffaker orignally entitled "Badman". As with many of Huffaker's paperback westerns this book was very suitable for the motion picture industry.
As usual the book and the movie have some variances in that the character's name in the book is Jack Tawlin where in the movie his name is Taw Jackson. He is a legend as gunmen go, but now wants to be simply peaceable. But due to his fellowmen, his brother, and the sheriff he becomes involved with a daring holdup scheme. As any who have see the movie know this is not the story portrayed on the screen.
For me, the movie is even better than the book. And right from the beginning when Dimitri Tiomkin's soundtrack kicks in we know this is going to be something special where western movies are concerned. And Howard Keel's portrayal of the sage, wisecracking Indian, Levi Walking Bear, is a gem; also, the combination of John Wayne and Kirk Douglas is a smooth blend of two accomplished actors. With just the right mixture of seriousness and comedy this western sails along for 1 hour & 41 minutes of great screen adventure to our enjoyment.
THE WAR WAGON is one of my favorite John Wayne westerns in specific, and film westerns in general. Watch it and it may become yours also.
Big Jake is not one of the Duke's classics, but a diverting attempt nonetheless. Everyone seems to think that Jacob McCandles is six-feet under ("I thought you was dead" is a running line throughout), so some bad men kidnap his grandson. They want a piece of the family fortune and will kill to get it. Patrick Wayne, the Duke's own son, plays one of Big Jake's kids, and together they start out after the boy's abductors. Richard Boone makes a worthy adversary to Jake's larger than life figure, and the final confrontation between the two contains some great gritted-teeth dialogue. Maureen O'Hara is barely in the feature, sharing the same fate as Bobby Vinton as the boy's father. He seems to be onscreen just to get shot. --Keith SimantonMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): John Wayne - Richard Boone Director(s): John Wayne - George Sherman DVD Release Date: Released the 29 April 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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When it comes down to naming the best Western of all time, the list usually narrows to three completely different pictures: John Ford's The Searchers, Howard Hawks's Red River, and Hawks's Rio Bravo. About the only thing they all have in common is that they all star John Wayne. But while The Searchers is an epic quest for revenge and Red River is a sweeping cattle-drive drama ("Take 'em to Missouri! Yeeee-hah!"), Rio Bravo is on a much more modest scale. Basically, it comes down to Sheriff John T. Chance (Wayne), his sobering-up alcoholic friend Dude (Dean Martin), the hotshot new kid Colorado (Ricky Nelson), and deputy-sidekick Stumpy (Walter Brennan), sittin' around in the town jail, drinkin' black cofee, shootin' the breeze, and occasionally,... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): John Wayne - Dean Martin Director(s): Howard Hawks DVD Release Date: Released the 08 May 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The final film by the legendary director Howard Hawks, released in 1970, found him paired with longtime leading man John Wayne in a story slightly similar to their more familiar Rio Bravo and El Dorado. Set at the end of the Civil War, the story finds Wayne playing a Union army colonel who recovers some stolen gold and roots out a traitor. Though a little creaky (Hawks had been making films since 1926), Rio Lobo nevertheless has his trademark, crackling dialogue, appealing characters, and ensemble spirit among the cast. This was a worthy finish to a fantastic career by a first-rank filmmaker. --Tom KeoghMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): John Wayne - Jorge Rivero Director(s): Howard Hawks DVD Release Date: Released the 29 April 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Although Chisum stars John Wayne--playing a benign variation on his Red River empire-builder --he's curiously sidelined in this umpteenth retelling of Pat Garrett, William Bonney, and the Lincoln County War. Sam Peckinpah would direct the world-class version of that götterdämmerung, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, three years later. This version, directed by Andrew V. McLaglen in a slightly less broad vein than usual, is just odd--not least because it omits Garrett and Bonney's celebrated final confrontation. Geoffrey Deuel's Billy is a pleasant juvenile who scarcely seems delinquent, let alone murderously psychotic. Glenn Corbett's characterization of Garrett consists mainly of wearing a seriously BIG hat. There's an irksome rivalry for Chisum's perky... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): John Wayne - Forrest Tucker Director(s): Andrew V. McLaglen DVD Release Date: Released the 03 June 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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El Dorado doesn't quite have the scope or ambition of Howard Hawks's greatest Westerns, Red River and Rio Bravo. But this relaxed picture, made near the end of Hawks's marvelous career, still shows the steady, sure hand of a master. Hawks reunites with John Wayne, playing a hired gun mixed up in a range war; Robert Mitchum is Wayne's old pal, now a sheriff in the midst of a hopeless drunken bender. James Caan, in one of his first sizable roles, plays a kid who can't shoot straight and wears a funny hat (every character in the movie makes fun of this hat). As the plot moves along, it begins to resemble Rio Bravo rather closely ("I steal from myself all the time," Hawks was fond of admitting). But in El Dorado the heroes are a bit older, their powers a bit... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): John Wayne - Robert Mitchum Director(s): Howard Hawks DVD Release Date: Released the 21 March 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
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