The sparks soon begin to fly, but the question soon becomes: will these two exes simply burn each other up, or are the sparks merely a prelude to renewed romantic fireworks?
The film definitely has its ups and downs. The chemistry between the two leads is immediately obvious, and they are backed by a supporting cast that not only includes Powers and Wayne's son Patrick and daughter Aissa, but also the lovely Yvonne De Carlo (yes, Lily Munster herself), Jerry Van Dyke, Bruce Cabot, Strother Martin, and Chill Wills as Mclintock's right hand man Drago.
The high point of the movie has to be the oft highlighted "mud fight scene," which begins with Drago trying to calm his boss down. "I know, I know. I'm gonna use good judgment," Mclintock says through gritted teeth. "I haven't lost my temper in 40 years, but pilgrim you caused a lot of trouble this morning, might have got somebody killed... and somebody oughta belt you in the mouth. But I won't." He begins to turn away. "I won't... The HELL I won't!"
And with that he belts the other man, knocking him down a hill and into a mud pit. Donnybrooking soon ensues:
On the negative side, the movie is definitely a product of its time and attitudes. One of the reasons that I chose to feature the poster above is that it highlights one of the scenes that has been, in later years, highly criticized. Actually there are two spanking scenes in the movie, one in which Mclintock turns Katherine over his knee, another which involves Becky and her fiancee. For those who are offended by that kind of thing, I can only say that it seems to me sort of part-and-parcel with the whole Taming of the Shrew theme, and also that throughout the movie it seems that both women for the most part give as good as they get.
Then there is the portrayal of Native Americans. I'm not even going to try to defend this one, though I will say that it seems at least a bit more enlightened than some of Wayne's earlier "Injun fighter" westerns. Yes, the Native Americans are presented as more interested in finding alcohol than anything else, but at the same time, at a couple of points, McLintock is shown as a fighter for Indian rights and rescues a Comanche friend from hanging for a crime he didn't commit. The attitude towards the natives is even called into play as one of the characters is given the dialogue "Yes, I know I'm an Indian. But I'm also the fastest runner in town. I've got a college education and I'm also the railroad telegrapher. But does anybody say 'Hello, Runner' or 'Hello, College Man' or 'Hello, Telegrapher'? No! Not even 'Hello, Knothead'! It's always 'Let the Indian do it.'"
Article comments
1 - El Bicho
Intriguing aspect to focus on. Should make a great feature.
In regards to this title, I know it once was in PD, but at wikipedia it states "in 2005, Paramount struck a distribution deal with Batjac and thus is now the home video rights holder for this film."
Can you confirm or deny and discuss how that affects its PD status?
2 - Professor Damian
El Bicho - Thanks for reading and commenting. I'm definitely looking forward to being able to bring more of these little gems to light.
As far as the public domain aspect of the film, first let me say that I am not an intellectual properties lawyer, and copyright law, especially as it has been expanded in the U.S over the last 40 years or so can be very tricky, especially regarding all of the elements of a film, which is apparently where the contested nature of this one falls. As you will note, the Wikipedia article you mention also states "Produced by John Wayne's Batjac Productions for United Artists, John Wayne's estate retained the rights to the film. Legal suits prevented the film's copyright from being renewed, causing the film to enter the public domain." Wikipedia also lists the movie in their "List of films in the Public Domain in the U.S." ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_in_the_public_domain )
Further than this, in the court case "Batjac Productions Inc. vs GoodTimes Home Video Corp.; Marybeth Peters, Register of Copyrights", (which dealt with the issue of the underlying rights to the screenplay for the film and is cited and summarized at http://chart.copyrightdata.com/c10E.html ),
the 9th Circuit court ruled "In 1993, respondent GoodTimes began distributing video cassettes of McLintock!. Three years later, in 1996, petitioner attempted to register a claim to unlimited copyright in the screenplay for McLintock!, but the Copyright Office refused to register the claim. All relevant copyrightable interests in the screenplay, the Copyright Office determined, had fallen into the public domain when the copyright in the motion picture of McLintock! expired... The district court granted summary judgment to the defendants, holding that petitioner’s original common law right to first publication did not permit it to control the copying and use of a motion picture that had fallen into the public domain.. Accordingly, when the copyright on the motion picture expired and the movie fell into the public domain, the district court held, all elements of the screenplay that had been incorporated into the motion picture fell into the public domain as well... The court of appeals affirmed."
There may, however, be ancillary rights issues dealing with the music in the film which was separately copyrighted by United Artists and was renewed, and may be the source of Batjac's claims to be able to license home video rights. However, in "Maljack Productions, Inc. vs GoodTimes Home Video Corp.", the 9th circuit court again ruled "testimony shows that the parties intended for the motion picture copyright to protect Batjac’s interests; however, Batjac’s rights protected by the motion picture copyright expired when Batjac failed to renew the motion picture copyright."
Also please note that in the 2009 court case "Golan v. Holder", District Chief Judge Lewis T. Babcock wrote "In the United States, that body of law includes the bedrock principle that works in the public domain remain in the public domain. Removing works from the public domain violated Plaintiffs’ vested First Amendment interests." ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golan_v._Gonzales )
Again, I am not a copyright lawyer, and these comments should not be taken as legal advice, however it seems clear that McLintok!, the film itself, falls squarely in the public domain. Any input from anyone with further knowledge would definitely be welcomed.
3 - Joe
Hi Professor Damian. Is McLintock! REALLY in public because in Wikipedia it says the film is in public domain, however in 2005 Paramount struck a deal with Batjac for home video rights (under VIDEO RELEASE). Please verify-- I want to use a clip for my indie film!!! Thank you!!
4 - Joe
Sorry-- I should have read the first comment from El Bicho. How embarassing. Thank you for answering my question prior to me asking!