The War Wagon (1967)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Burt Kennedy

Writers:

Clair Huffaker (screenplay)
Clair Huffaker (novel)

Release Date:

27 May 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Western

Tagline:

The War Wagon Rolls And The Screen Explodes!

Plot:

Taw Jackson returns from prison having survived being shot, to the ranch and gold that Frank Pierce stole from him...

Plot Keywords:

Gold Shipment | Caper | Robbery | Barroom Brawl | Native American Attack

Awards:

1 win

Cast

John Wayne	...	Taw Jackson
Kirk Douglas	...	Lomax
Howard Keel	...	Levi Walking Bear
Robert Walker Jr.	...	Billy Hyatt (as Robert Walker)
Keenan Wynn	...	Wes Fletcher
Bruce Cabot	...	Frank Pierce
Joanna Barnes	...	Lola
Valora Noland	...	Kate Fletcher
Bruce Dern	...	Hammond
Gene Evans	...	Hoag
Terry Wilson	...	Sheriff Strike
Don Collier	...	Shack
Sheb Wooley	...	Snyder
Ann McCrea	...	Felicia
Emilio Fernández	...	Calito (as Emilio Fernandez)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Australia:G (original rating) | Australia:PG (TV rating) | UK:U | West Germany:16 (nf) | Finland:K-12 | Norway:16 | South Korea:15 | Sweden:15 | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Durango, Mexico

Company:

Batjac Productions

Trivia:

According to the production notes on the 2003 DVD release, Keenan Wynn's battered hat that he wears in the picture was Leslie Howard's Confederate cavalry hat from Gone With the Wind which Wynn purloined from MGM. Wynn first wore the hat in a 1942 MGM screen test and "wore it in every picture he made".

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Pierce's men carry Henry rifles, but their bandoleers hold .30-40 Krag ammunition. Henry rifle ammunition was short and blunt, not long and tapered.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Hoag: Sheriff! Taw Jackson's back in town!
Sheriff Strike: You sure?
Hoag: Well, he's ridin' down the street right now, big as life.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 100 Years of John Wayne (2007) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Ballad of The War Wagon

works as comedy

If you watch "TheWar Wagon" as a western you'll likely be disappointed. It is, in fact, a comedy, and it works quite well. It isn't as hilarious as "Blazing Saddles", but it does elicit some laughs. The duke and Kirk Douglas are bitter enemies, who strike up an uneasy alliance against Bruce Cabot, a land baron who for some reason has a war wagon full of gold. So guess what? Wayne and Douglas lead other big name actors Wynn, Walker, and Keel to steal the gold. Don't look for anything real here. This is just escapist fun. It's a few good tough guy lines, and we even have Bruce Dern at his sneakiest. It has a lot of good elements if you take it light heartedly. It is hard to see ranking this movie very high. It is also hard to see ranking it under 5. It has good elements, because it never takes itself seriously, and it works as light action packed comedy.