The Sons of Katie Elder

I just saw this movie some 30 years after my first viewing of the film--and surprisingly I found it to be a lot more entertaining than my first recollections of the film.

It's a traditional Hollywood western: good wins over evil, the hero gets the girl, and law is maintained. It has no complications. Even the Mexicans are shown squatting at the funeral far apart from the others only getting up to bury the body. That was how most Westerns were made...So what's good about the film?

Elmer Bernstein's music is as good as his music in 'The Magnificent Seven', if not better. The range of actors: a believable John Wayne, an entertaining Dean Martin with "third-eye" act, a menacing George Kennedy, a "likable" Strother Martin in a brief role as the winner of the third eye, and a fine performance by young Dennis Hopper makes the film above average viewing.

The real hero of the movie is "Katie Elder" dead when the film begins, respected as the film unfolds, and never seen on screen. Everyone seems to remember her with awe. She is epitomized by the empty rocking chair (final shot) and a Bible she leaves behind.

Henry Hathaway's westerns will not be reflective ones as are later Westerns such as "Will Penny", "Tell Them Willie Boy is Here" or "Monte Walsh"--his movies tend to affirm the status quo of typical Hollywood westerns with a heart (good Christian values, strong connection with nature and animals--horses in this movie--as he did in "How the West was Won") and no mind (insensitive to Mexicans and Red Indians). The Christian values in the film are fuzzy, e.g., fool some poor gullible guys at a bar and emerge a hero, or sell a blind horse to gain money and remembered for it at your funeral, etc. This film of Hathaway, ably supported by Bernstein's music and Lucien Ballard's camera, is a great movie for an audience that wants to see a traditional western unfold--and but not be asked to think beyond what is shown.

After their mother's death , four brothers are reunited . John Wayne is a gunslinger , Earl Holliman is an easy and silent young , Michael Anderson Jr. is a college graduate and Dean Martin is a drunk gambler. When they aware that her mother's death might have been killing , they come together to devise a a way to seek vengeance in the murderer , James Gregory , who hires an ominous gunfighter , George Kennedy , along with bullies and hoodlums . As the ranch owner Katie Elder's four sons determine to avenge the murder of their father and the swindling of their mother .But the marshal, Paul Fix, tells them to lay off .

This cultured actioner Western contains a wonderful friendship between brothers , thrills , dashingly violent action , rider pursuits , impressive attacks and loads of crossfire . In ¨The sons of Katie Elder" Hathaway does the human touch including lots of nice moments , it is a very fine picture that could become another western worthy of any anthology . This John Wayne movie is well in the tradition of classics as ¨The Magnificent seven¨, ¨Garden of evil¨ or ¨The searchers¨ . One of the Duke's most popular film of the 60s ,-in his first character following cancer surgery- as well as ¨¨The Alamo¨, ¨Rio Bravo¨, ¨El Dorado¨and ¨McLintock¨. In the film "The sons of Katie Elder" the spectator enjoys because it has a lot of issues that make it agreeable . Even the female character played by attractive Marta Hyer, reveals a woman who knows that she wishes and makes it irresistible . Large support cast formed by Western usual players as Paul Fix , James Gregory, Earl Holliman and special mention to big Dean Martin . Breathtaking and lively musical score by Elmer Berstein , one of the best of Western genre along with ¨The Magnificent Seven¨ and ¨Comancheros¨ soundtracks. Colorful and spectacular cinematography in Cinemascope and Techniclor by Lucien Ballard.

This well-paced in cracking style flick is stunningly directed by Henry Hathaway and usually works very well . He does the human touch and full of insight that accompanied him during most of his films and the story develops pleasantly in a large frame with an interesting plot and fully adjusted to the requirements of the action .The motion picture is professionally directed by Henry Hathaway with strong screen presence by John Wayne , both of whom collaborated in various Westerns , they included ¨Five Card Stud¨ , ¨North to Alaska¨ and Wayne's Academy Award-winning ¨True grit¨. Hathaway himself was only even nominated for an Oscar , but his movies themselves are testimony to his skills to heighten narrative tension and shoot action so exhilarating it made adrenalin run . Henry was a craftsman who had a long career from the 30s with successful films , and especially Westerns , as ¨Brigham Young¨ and ¨Raw Hide¨ . In his 60s Hathaway still got the vigour to make some fiery movies as ¨From Hell to Texas¨, ¨How the West was won¨, ¨Nevada Smith¨, and ¨Shoot out¨ . He was an expert on Western genre as he proved in ¨True grit , Five card stud , Nevada Smith ,How the West was won , Rawhide , Brigham Young , Buffalo Stampede, Garden of evil¨ and of course ¨The sons of Katie Elder¨. Rating : nice Western that will appeal to John Wayne fans.

The first scene I think of when I think of this film is the sight of John Wayne belting George Kennedy in the mouth with a 2 by four.It hurts my jaw just to look at it,or even think about it.He deserved it,by the way,as John Wayne once again takes on the bad guys,this time with the help of three brothers,played by Dean Martin,Earl Holliman,and Michael Anderson,Jr.They are not perfect,themselves,mind you,but they feel they, as well as their late parents,were done wrong and set out to make things right again.As for Katie Elder,we never get to meet her,as the film begins with her funeral,but we are told so much about her,that by the end of the film we have painted a pretty vivid picture of her in our minds.This movie is very adventurous,as most Duke films are,sad at times and even takes the time to be comical in places.The film also makes me sad for the Duke personally,because,as some of you may know,that on a break from filming this movie,Duke discovered he was sick with cancer for the first time.This movie is indeed a must have for any John Wayne fan.

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

John Wayne was THE man when it came to starring in Westerns. He could carry a film with little more than a grunt, but you often got more from The Duke than you would expect when they gave him decent supporting players or an antagonist to spar with. Here he's both saddled as his brothers with Dean Martin, Earl Holliman, and Michael Anderson Jnr, and James Gregory, George Kennedy, and as the piece's villains a young Dennis Hopper. Unfortunately, it's not one of the better westerns of Wayne, but here is enough to warrant you time.

Her four sons are attending the funeral of Katie Elder in Clearwater, Texas, all four of them harboring regrets that they'd let down their mother. Wayne, the eldest, is a famous gunfighter, Martin is a professional gambler, Holliman is a store owner, and the youngest Bud is still in school. Their return home is not popular, and things turn sour pretty fast when certain things happen that make the brothers ask questions. They murdered their father, lost their ranch and land in a card game, and their mother died with little to their name. Some stinks, and John Elder from Wayne will find out exactly what has happened.

George Kennedy's got that gleeful grin from a baddie down here to a tea, and he's not disappointing here during his short screen stint. Unfortunately, Hopper is underused and James Gregory hams it up as well as the real villain pulling all the strings that the brothers were framed to kill the local sheriff. There are shootouts, there are unexpected deaths, and as they did in Rio Bravo back in 1959, Wayne and Martin make for a good team. The script isn't great, there's no interest in love for any of them, and Martha Hyer's small role is nothing more than a token female part that brings very little to the proceedings.It's a shame, this is one of those movies that I haven't seen for more than thirty years and seemed to remember having more action and certainly more Wayne dialogue. Unfortunately not, and director Henry Hathaway made much better movies than this one, scrubbing off the very long list of Wayne Westerns is just another.