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"Chisum" both begins and ends with "The Duke," John Wayne, high on a hillside, quietly overlooking the valley where the film's action takes place. It as if Wayne is personifying the eternal values with which he was by then inseparably associated, ready to spring into action as necessary, like an American version of England's once and future king. The timeless quality is enhanced by making this scene the subject of a painting that springs to life to begin the film's events, then freezes again at the end, presumably to be re-awakened the next time the need arises.Sentimentality gushes out of this film. At one point, Wayne's character even pulls out an old wedding photo to show his niece, nicely played by Pamela McMyler, and earnestly affirms his love for the land (Durango, Mexico, a beautiful spot where Wayne filmed several films during the '70s and bought a ranch). Later, he goes out of his way to show respect for an old Indian Chief who clearly is a dear friend. Long-time sidekick Ben Johnson is around so that Wayne has someone with whom to squabble, and Forrest Tucker - fresh off F-Troop - is the villain who Wayne finally overcomes after the usual twists and turns.Wayne, while overseeing the proceedings (the famous Lincoln County Cattle War) like a grand seigneur, passes the baton to the younger generation, here personified by Glenn Corbett as Pat Garrett and Geoffrey Deuel (Pete's brother) as a morally torn Billy the Kid. A favorite scene is where Billy reads the Bible by a pond while practicing his marksmanship. When Billy's saintly mentor is killed by the Tucker character's minions, all heck breaks loose, with shootouts and legal maneuvers extending up to the territorial Governor and beyond. It's always clear that the range war is a sideshow, though - the real action is watching Wayne expertly take his bows after the previous year's "True Grit."But there is plenty of action. Wayne gets to punch out Tucker not once, but twice, and there are gunfights every few minutes. The romantic subplots mercifully are kept to a minimum, and there are a fair number of comic and clearly ironic lines (Tucker's character, after he has personally interceded with the Governor to further his agenda, had his stooge appointed Sheriff, and is in the middle of a raging gunfight: "I can't interfere with the law.") The Ben Johnson character in particular has some amusing grumbles that Wayne appears to prefer not to hear.The film's main weakness for me is the busy direction. Andrew V. McLaglen is competent, with an eye for framing interesting shots, but he falls in love with his zoom lens. He continually reaches for too-clever shots, always trying to have something going in both the fore- and background. These and other early-'70s touches are distracting and unfortunately give the film a dated feel at times, but Wayne and company overcome them. Too bad that John Ford had retired.When this film was released, it was completely at odds with the social climate of the times. You almost had to be a present or former Boy Scout to be interested in this film. But quality tells in the end, and there is a certain timelessness to this film that you won't find in too many other 1970 releases.Love the Merle Haggard theme song. "Chisum, John Chisum." If you like Wayne and westerns, you won't go wrong with "Chisum."
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