Chisum (1970)

Cattle baron John Chisum joins forces with Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett to fight the Lincoln County land war.

Director:

Andrew V. McLaglen

Writer:

Andrew J. Fenady

Stars:

John Wayne, Forrest Tucker, Christopher George

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Wayne	...	John Chisum
Forrest Tucker	...	Lawrence Murphy
Christopher George	...	Dan Nodeen
Ben Johnson	...	James Pepper
Glenn Corbett	...	Pat Garrett
Andrew Prine	...	Alex McSween
Bruce Cabot	...	Sheriff Brady
Patric Knowles	...	Henry Tunstall
Richard Jaeckel	...	Jess Evans
Lynda Day George	...	Sue McSween (as Lynda Day)
Geoffrey Deuel	...	Billy 'The Kid' Bonney
Pamela McMyler	...	Sallie Chisum
John Agar	...	Amos Patton
Lloyd Battista	...	Neemo
Robert Donner	...	Bradley Morton

Storyline

As one of the founders of the town of Lincoln, John Chisum is increasingly worried as Lawrence Murphy moves in on the local stores, bank and land by questionable means. Chisum and fellow honest ranch owner Henry Tunstall try and use the law, but Murphy owns that too. Confrontation threatens and Tunstall's man Billy Bonney is not slow to get involved.

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Plot Keywords:

poker game | evil man | villain | good versus evil | good man | 

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Taglines:

THE HERO - John Wayne is "Chisum"

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Genres:

Biography | Western

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Certificate:

G

Did You Know?

Trivia

Andrew V. McLaglen called the film one of his favorites. "I wanted Billy the Kid to just be Billy the Kid, a human being, not a bad little boy. Fenady was sort of a scholar about the Lincoln County Cattle War, which was a conflict over water and cattle-trading, John Chisum actually became a very powerful landowner. It was an American story."

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Goofs

In the gunfight at the store/bank, when the scene changes from nighttime to daylight two curtains on the outside of the store change lengths.

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Quotes

James Pepper: You know, there's an old saying, Miss Sally. There's no law west of Dodge and no God west of the Pecos. Right, Mr. Chisum?
John Simpson Chisum: Wrong, Mr. Pepper. Because no matter where people go, sooner or later there's the law. And sooner or later they find God's already been there.

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Connections

Featured in John Wayne: Behind the Scenes (2007)

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Soundtracks

Ballad of John Chisum
Performed by William Conrad (uncredited)
Lyrics by Andrew J. Fenady Music by Dominic Frontiere

User Reviews

A Favorite western.

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.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

29 July 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

Chisum and the Lincoln County Cattle War

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Ranch, Malibu Creek State Park - 1925 Las Virgenes Road, Calabasas, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Batjac Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1