Not Rated
Starring John Wayne, Dean Martin, James Gregory, Dennis Hopper, George Kennedy
Directed by Henry Hathaway
The Story:
Katie Elder has passed away, and her three of her four sons return home to see her buried. However when the oldest (Wayne) comes back into town, there's a hitman (Kennedy) waiting to send him packing, and an overzealous lawman waiting to put him behind bars. It appears another rancher (Gregory) had swindled the Elder ranch away from Katie and their father. Since their dad was gunned down and no murderer was ever found, the boys decide to do a little investigating on their own.
Ah, this takes me back to my days of growing up.
Westerns, Our Gang comedies and Abbott and Costello movies were a staple for me growing up, watching them on the weekends with my dad.
For dad, Roy Rogers was the pinnacle of cowboy hero, but most everyone else probably gives Wayne the nod for cowboy hero of the cinema.
As for me, this movie was rather slow.
The most interesting character in the film was Katie Elder.
We knew more about her than anyone else in the film, and that's a credit to all the information given by all the characters in discussing the late Mrs. Elder.
Wayne plays John Wayne, and by this time in his career, it was pretty much auto-pilot.
Dean Martin signed on to co-star with Wayne again and gets the most screen time and plot of all the brothers not named John Wayne. :)
Naturally, a lot of conclusions are jumped to by the townspeople as the movie rolls along.
It's a bit tedious with all of the circumstances that stack up in this movie.
At least it's all tied together with a lovely Elmore Bernstein score.
:)
Available to stream instantly on Netflix as of this writing.
Final Grade: C
Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Nope, once was plenty on this one.
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