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

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 (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Feature film debut of Geoffrey Deuel, who received an "introducing" credit in the opening titles.

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Goofs

Tunstall and Billy Bonney are standing by their horses and talking to Jess Evans who has just ridden in to town. In three consecutive shots of the scene, Tunstall alternately has his pipe in his mouth, after which it is gone, and then re-appears.

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Quotes

Jess Evans: That man there, he's meaner than a gut shot grizzly.

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Connections

Featured in 100 Years of John Wayne (2007)

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Soundtracks

Turn Me Around
Sung by Merle Haggard
Lyrics by Norman Gimbel
Music by Dominic Frontiere

User Reviews

"No matter where people go, sooner or later, there's the law."

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