Chisum

The first few times I saw this movie, I hadn't read the history of the Lincoln County Land Wars.

However, in recent years, with the convenience of the internet at hand, I read the histories along with watching the movie. Compared to the amount of factual change that most movies based on a history put on film, this movie is not far from being spot on.

In fact, the amount of direct action that John Wayne's character, Chisum, took in the film, is probably the element that is the most out of place.

Billy the Kid really did work for an English rancher involved in the dispute. His boss really did fund a rival general store with a lawyer. Both the English rancher and the lawyer were murdered by the faction controlled by the rival general store.

Billy the Kid really did get his outlaw career kicked off in seeking vengeance for his boss and mentor's murder. Pat Garret really was supported for sheriff by John Chisum, who somehow managed to stay out of the thick of the feuding even though his use of huge tracts of public grazing land was part of the heart of the dispute.

So history buffs can safely enjoy this movie knowing that history is just bent a little, and not ripped completely asunder as the case would be with most movies. LOL That said, this is a very entertaining western. John Wayne is on top of his game as a cattle baron, and the supporting cast does a fine job. It includes a bit of everything: rustling, gunfights, stampedes, crooked sheriffs, greedy bad guys, heroic good guys. It has more plot surprises than the normal western (and that is precisely because it kills off certain characters approximately when and how they died in the real events).

All in all, an enjoyable and surprisingly informative film about a real "old west" feud.

Cattle ranchers John Chisum (John Wayne) and Henry Tunstall (an almost unrecognizable Patric Knowles) face off against villainous Lawrence Murphy (Forrest Tucker). Murphy has the corrupt law on his side, but that's okay because Duke has Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid! Fairly by-the-numbers western very loosely based on the real life Lincoln County War. A decent supporting cast, headed by Ben Johnson playing himself. There's also Bruce Cabot, Richard Jaeckal, Christopher George and soon-to-be wife Lynda Day, Andrew Prine, Glenn Corbett, and Geoffrey Deuel as Billy the Kid. All in all, not a bad bunch. It's all enjoyable enough but not one of Duke's best.

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?

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

Over the course of his career John Wayne played a few real life characters. Coming immediately to mind are Davy Crockett, William T. Sherman, Frank "Spig" Wead, Genghis Khan and some others with pseudonyms for William F. Halsey and John Grierson. Playing these people would normally impose certain restrictions on an actor who's as larger than life as John Wayne.

But it certainly didn't with playing John Simpson Chisum, New Mexico cattle baron and key player in what has become known in history as the Lincoln County War. Of course the politics involved were a bit more complex than what you would see here. And a whole lot of liberties have been taken with the facts. One of the biggest is the fact that both Chisum and his rival L.G. Murphy died in bed and quite soon after the action of this film.

But if Maxwell Anderson could take liberties and have Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I of England meet, then why can't we have Chisum and Murphy meeting in a final confrontation? After all it's a John Wayne movie and John Wayne movies can only go in a certain way.

The Duke plays Chisum as the Duke, no more, no less. He and other ranchers are being squeezed by a greedy rapacious businessman in L.G. Murphy as played by Forrest Tucker. Others in the cast worthy of note are Patric Knowles as Henry Tunstall, Glenn Corbett as Pat Garrett, Geoffrey Deuel as Billy the Kid, and Christopher George as Dirty Dan Nodeen.

Chisum has in its cast a whole host of familiar Hollywood faces from the past like Bruce Cabot, Ben Johnson, Hank Worden, Edward Faulkner, all Wayne film regulars. It also has the presence of both Glenn Langan and John Agar.

One of the really great things about John Wayne was the way he took care of people, not as charity cases, but giving them parts in his films when they were down. John Agar and Glenn Langan have small roles in Chisum and both were not doing too good at the time. Agar was Shirley Temple's first husband and made a screen debut in Fort Apache. Langan was a promising contract player with 20th Century Fox in the late forties and is best known for being the Amazing Colossal Man. Both were I'm sure grateful for the work and the paycheck. I remember in McLintock Wayne says to his son Patrick who's looking for a job that he doesn't give jobs, he hires men. That was something in real life he lived up to.

The Lincoln County War has been told in any number of westerns right up to the two Young Guns movies of the Eighties. Chisum is not the best or the worst retelling of the tale. But it is a good John Wayne western and that takes in a lot of territory pilgrim.