The rest of the gang comprises Howard Keel as an Indian (yes, you read that right), Robert Walker Jr. as the young explosives expert who also happens to be an alcoholic, and Keenan Wynn as the inside man.
Burt Kennedy was the perfect choice as director on such a light-hearted film. He’d made The Rounders (1965), a sort of Monte Walsh-lite with Henry Fonda and Glenn Ford a couple of years previous and the following year he made one of the classic comedy westerns, Support Your Local Sheriff! with James Garner. Here he throws in everything from gunfights to saloon brawls and finishes with a robbery that (as always in a heist movie) doesn’t go quite to plan.
While The War Wagon won’t find a place on any top ten lists, it is solidly entertaining and has two lead actors who may have been coasting on star charisma but also played off each other to the film's benefit and the audience's delight.
True Grit (1969)
Wayne’s favourite director of the ‘60s was Henry Hathaway. They made four films together during the decade and while only this one was a classic, they are all enjoyable. The unexceptional Shepherd of the Hills (1941) was the first film they made and they worked together in the ‘50s on the desert adventure Legend of the Lost. North to Alaska (1960) got the '60s off to a good start while Circus World (1964) was the least interesting of their offerings and The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) we’ve covered already. That leaves the classic I referred to, True Grit.
A mismatched trio are tracking a gang of criminals each for their own reason. Marshall 'Rooster' Cogburn (Wayne) is doing his job, Mattie Ross (Kim Darby) is looking for the man who killed her father, and Texas Ranger La Boeuf (Glen Campbell) is hunting the man who killed a Texas Senator (and his dog). It's these disparate individuals' relationship, particularly Cogburn and Mattie Ross, that forms the centre of the film.
Wayne’s Oscar-winning performance in the film is often dismissed as the academy just being sentimental, having overlooked the aging actor for so long; others would argue that had Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight not both been nominated for Midnight Cowboy and thus splitting the vote, one of them would have been a more deserving winner. Well this is one reviewer who thinks Wayne got his just desserts for one of the best performances of his career.
Article comments
1 - dino martin peters
Hey pallie, love your Dinodescription in "Sons of Katie Elder." Truly our Dino "breezes through on star charisma and charm alone." Never was, never will be anyone as cool as the King of Cool. Oh, to return to the days when Dino walked the earth!!