Chisum

Although a few notches below classic Wayne westerns like "Stagecoach" and "Rio Bravo," this film was a masterful return to form for Wayne. This was the first film Wayne did after gaining weight and donning an eye-patch for his work on "True Grit." In this film, Wayne plays an honest, straight talking man of action, not too different from the type character on which he built his career. The supporting characters are very well drawn and the villains resourceful enough to keep the action moving. In a way, this character, though based on an actual rancher, is similar to the character of Dunson in the superior "Red River." Both characters gambled on a long cattle drive from Texas and although "Red River" is about the drive itself, "Chisum" is about what happens to a similar character twenty years after the drive succeeds. At the time the film was released, at least one critic commented on how improbable it was for John Wayne, at the climax of the movie, to have done that much riding, fighting and falling all within the same sequence. As far as I am concerned, that sequence helped prepare me for later action sequences of 1980's action stars like Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger and action directors like James Cameron and John Woo. The film is no "Red River" but it is fine western nonetheless.

McLaglen's western showcases Wayne as John Simpson Chisum, an historical figure who was the largest owner of land, of horses and cattle in New Mexico territory around 1878… The Pecos River runs through the middle of his land… He lets the water flow to all the ranches, big and small… If another man, with more appetite—like Lawrence Murphy (Forrest Tucker) owned that land— he'd control a territory bigger than most states and some countries… The story is based on the bloody Lincoln County cattle war…

Things come to 'one hell of a fight' when Murphy's men kill Chisum's friend Henry Tunstall, mentor to Billy the Kid, and have Alex McSween, manager of their general store, with Billy and some men, trapped in…

Forrest Tucker plays Chisum's enemy who really thinks himself skillful enough to 'own' the law…

Christopher George (Dan Nodeen) plays the half-crazy bounty hunter who gimps because of Billy the Kid…

Ben Johnson has one of the most impressive records of any supporting Westerner… He came here to support Chisum all the way…

Andrew V. McLaglen has built up a reputation as one of the most promising of post-war directors of Westerns, but has yet to fulfill that promise with a really major work

The odd thing about this western is that it has the notorious murderer, Billy the Kid, as a good-guy vigilante. This break in history adds some questionable moments in the film. Also the movie relies heavily on The Kid character, more so than does the character of John Chisum(Wayne). This aside, it is still a great film, as John Wayne plays the traditional role of Justice vs. Tyranny. Forrest plays the role of "the villain you love to hate" completely, but does not over do it. One of the most memorable lines of the show is the confrontation of the "Duke" and the town boss. The town boss had relied on a puppet sheriff, as well as a weak governor to promote his control of the town. When Chisum confronts the boss, he mentions,(something to this effect) [When you try to take over my land], "...I won't call the Rangers, I won't call the Governor, I won't send a letter to the President, I come after you myself!" Traditional line of the Duke, but never so passionately delivered. This scene alone makes the movie worthwhile. It also has the traditional western action, but don't be surprised if you question yourself at the end, "Was I actually rooting for Billy the Kid?

(6.5/100) One of the few films the Duke made that was based on true events. Its nowhere near his top films, but the film itself is solid and has enough memorable moments to separate itself from Wayne's later westerns. Although having his character's name in the title, the movie actually plays out as an ensemble giving equal time to Pat Garrett and William Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid. However, Corbett and Deuel were mediocre and unable to pull their own weight in scenes with Wayne. On the flip side, Christopher George played a good, villainous gun-for-hire while Ben Johnson gave one of his best supporting performances that I've seen out of him. Has a pleasant amount of humor with a good final shoot out and a catchy, yet borderline annoying theme song. The film is carried down with a strikingly large cast for a sub two hour movie, but has a number of memorable moments.

One of my favorite John Wayne westerns, Andrew V. McLaglen's Chisum, centers around the fact based Lincoln County land war around the late 1800's. This film features John Wayne in the twilight of his remarkable 200+ film career. Playing Chisum, Wayne's no-nonsense attitute fits the title character well. This time, Wayne is up aganist Forrest Tucker who plays Lawrence Murphy, a whealthy land owner who plans to take the town and then take Chisum's land as well. Chisum's neighbor, Henry Tunstall (Patric Knowels) also doesn't like Murphy's plans, and hires a young man to work on his ranch, his name is Billy the Kid (played by Geoffrey Deuel). Chisum, who has heard of him, doesn't exactly approve of him in town at first especially since Billy the Kid has an eye for his niece Sally (Pamela McMyler). Chisum eventually begins to like Billy right when he starts killing several of the town's deputies and Murphy's handymen, this is right when the war starts. Chisum has a handful of action and adventure sequences and wonderful cinematography by William H. Clothier and a fine western/adventure music score by Dominic Frontiere. The all star cast also includes John Wayne regulars- Ben Johnson as Chisum's sidekick, Bruce Cabot playing the sheriff who handles Murphy's dirty work, Andrew Prine playing Chisum's lawyer, Glenn Corbett turns in a fine job as playing Pat Garrett and Christopher George and Richard Jaeckel turn in their usual cowboy villians as the bounty hunters. George's wife, then Lynda Day also makes a small appearance as Andrew Prine's wife. Also look for small roles by John Agar and Christopher Mitchum.