IMDb > The Sons of Katie Elder (1965)
The Sons of Katie Elder
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The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) -- Ranch owner Katie Elder's four sons determine to avenge the murder of their father and the swindling of their mother.

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Overview

User Rating:
7.0/10   3,845 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 11% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Talbot Jennings (story)
William H. Wright (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for The Sons of Katie Elder on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
1 July 1965 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
If Texas coundn't tame 'em ...could she? more
Plot:
Ranch owner Katie Elder's four sons determine to avenge the murder of their father and the swindling of their mother. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
1 win more
User Comments:
From the four winds four brothers came… Their eyes smoking and their fingers itching… more (37 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

John Wayne ... John Elder

Dean Martin ... Tom Elder
Martha Hyer ... Mary Gordon
Michael Anderson Jr. ... Bud Elder
Earl Holliman ... Matt Elder
Jeremy Slate ... Ben Latta
James Gregory ... Morgan Hastings
Paul Fix ... Sheriff Billy Wilson
George Kennedy ... Curley

Dennis Hopper ... Dave Hastings
Sheldon Allman ... Harry Evers
John Litel ... Minister

John Doucette ... Hyselman
James Westerfield ... Mr. Vennar

Rhys Williams ... Charlie Striker
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Additional Details

Runtime:
122 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
USA:Approved (PCA #20933) | USA:Not Rated (video release) | Australia:PG | West Germany:12 (re-rating) | West Germany:16 (f) (original rating) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | South Korea:12 | Sweden:15 | UK:U

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Filming was due to begin in September 1964, but had to be delayed until January 1965 after Wayne was diagnosed with lung cancer. more
Goofs:
Factual errors: When Bud says he is going with John and that they'll be famous like the Daltons, John replies that the Daltons were dead having been hung. Three of the Dalton brothers, Gratton "Grat" Dalton, Robert Rennick "Bob" Dalton, and Emmett "Em" Dalton all participated in a famous attempted two bank robbery in Coffeeville, KS on Oct. 5, 1892. Grat and Bob, along with two gang members, were gunned down and killed by town's people. Emmett, although shot some 22 times, survived. He went to prison until 1907. He died in Hollywood, CA July 13, 1937. An older brother, Frank, a US Deputy Marshal, was killed in the line of duty on Nov. 27, 1887. The Dalton's criminal career lasted just over four years. The photo taken of the four killed in Coffeeville is one of the most famous photos showing the eventual end of those who flout the law. more
Quotes:
Bud Elder: I'm going with you. I can draw pretty fast. We can be famous -- like the Dalton Brothers!
John Elder: They're famous -- but they're just a little bit dead. They were hung!
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Movie Connections:
Featured in Edith Head: The Paramount Years (2002) (V) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
21 out of 23 people found the following comment useful.
From the four winds four brothers came… Their eyes smoking and their fingers itching…, 20 April 2008
7/10

Katie Elder bore four sons… The day she was buried they all return to the Texas town of Clearwater to pay their last respects…

John (John Wayne) is the oldest, the toughest, the gunfighter… Texas, its bigness and its violence echoes in his empty soul… Tom (Dean Martin) is a different breed of hombre… He is good with a deck of cards and good with a gun—when he has to be… Matt (Earl Holliman) is the quiet one… Nobody ever called him yellow—twice… Bud (Michael Anderson, Jr.) is the youngest, but he is the rebel one...

At the funeral are Sheriff Billy Wilson (Paul Fix) and his grim young deputy, Ben Latta (Jeremy Slate) who's real conscientious about his job… Also at the burial, in addition to many townspeople, is the young Mary Gordon (Martha Hyer), the woman who tries the impossible…

Mary visits the four brothers, brings them food, and is sardonic about their desertion of their mother… Only Bud, who has been going to college, shows a possibility of becoming a fine, respecting young man…

As the brothers investigate into the past and present circumstances of their mother's life, they find the old place is no longer hers and that she was penniless…

John discovers that his father supposedly gambled away the ranch when he was pretty drunk and that on the same night he was shot in the back…The only witnesses are Morgan Hastings (James Gregory) and his son Dave (Dennis Hopper)… The sheriff warns the Elders to stop digging around and to stay out of trouble…

Realizing that the only tribute to Ma Elder would be for Bud to finish college, the brothers pledge themselves to that cause… Yet they feel the loss of the ranch was under peculiar circumstances, they decide to find out the truth…

Henry Hathaway was one of the great versatile directors whose Westerns have been as variable in quality as his other films…

Hathaway's strong points were atmosphere, character and authentic locations… In "The Sons of Katie Elder" he took particular care with locations, proud of the fact that he is one of the few directors who handle their own second-unit work, and when this element combines successfully with the other two the result can be impressive indeed…

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