John Wayne

Dean Martin

Martha Hyer

Michael Anderson Jr.

Earl Holliman

Jeremy Slate

James Gregory

Paul Fix

George Kennedy

Dennis Hopper

Sheldon Allman

John Litel

John Doucette

James Westerfield

Rhys Williams

John Qualen

Rodolfo Acosta

Strother Martin

Percy Helton

Karl Swenson

Glen Anderson

Jerry Gatlin

Harvey Grant

Loren Janes

Boyd 'Red' Morgan

Chuck Roberson

Ralph Volkie

Jack Williams

Henry Wills

Joe Yrigoyen

Harry Essex

Lucien Ballard

Allan Weiss

Joseph H. Hazen

William H. Wright

Hal B. Wallis

Elmer Bernstein

Walter H. Tyler

Henry Hathaway

Hal Pereira

Talbot Jennings

Joselito Rodríguez

Abel Contreras

Dinny Powell

Bill Babcock

Bill Wistrom

Warren Low

Craig Binkley

Chuck Hayward

Edith Head

Charles Grenzbach

Sam Comer

Ray Moyer

Michael D. Moore

Loren Cosand

Paul Nathan

Dorothy White

Harold Lewis

William W. Gray

Web Overlander

Western

The Sons of Katie Elder

Paramount Pictures

Hal Wallis Productions

United States of America

The Magnificent Four!

John, Tom, Matt and Bud, these are the Elder boys, who upon meeting up at the funeral of their recently deceased mother, find that their father may have been murdered over a card game. The boys must cast off sibling rivalries and find out just what has been happening in their childhood town of Clearwater, Texas.

Unfairly given harsh treatment upon its release by the critics and beset with behind the scenes problems, The Sons Of Katie Elder actually holds up rather well in this day and age. All the required traits are in the film to make it an oater of some worth, a splendid cast with as much macho beef as you can shake a stick at, a top Elmer Bernstein score, the wonderful use of the Casa Blanca location and a revenge driven plot of some note. So why is it hard to actually sell this picture to the staunch Western crowd? Well coming as it did in 1965 it certainly has something of a modern sheen to it, an uneasy bed fellow with the wild west theme of the picture. The casting of the brothers just about works, but Michael Anderson Jr (Bud) and Earl Holliman (Matt) do seem to be overawed by the presence of John Wayne (John) and Dean Martin (Tom), meaning as a foursome it never quite gets to being a tight acting unit. The length of the picture may also be an issue to some? Long periods of inaction work to me personally because the characters (family unit) are gaining much needed depth, but for those wanting guns a toting at frequent intervals are not exactly catered for.

Yet what action there is surely more than makes it worth the viewers patience? From the Duke swinging a nice piece of hickory to a wonderful riverside shootout, Henry Hathaway's Western is not found wanting for memorable sequences, in fact if you ask me then the mere sight of the Duke blasting away with a six shooter in each hand is a truly blood pumping joy, and don't get me started on a delightful Dean Martin scene as he raffles his glass eye! So all in all it's not without its itches, but as 60s Westerns go, The Sons Of Katie Elder is a hugely enjoyable picture to enjoy by the fireside on a Sunday afternoon. 7/10

CinemaSerf

When "John" (John Wayne) returns home for the funeral of his mother and to reunite with his three brothers, he sets the cat amongst the pigeons. It turns out that their ranch now belongs to gunsmith "Hastings" (James Gregory) and with their father having been shot in the back, they start to investigate. Now "John" is a notable man with a gun, so tensions heighten when "Curley" (George Kennedy) arrives in town as a bit of muscle for the ambitious "Hastings". It's all a little predictable this but it builds to quite an explosive denouement and there's an enjoyable degree of chemistry between Wayne and kid brothers "Tom" (Dean Martin) and the baby of the pack "Bud" (Michael Anderson Jr) who has a notion to put a marble angel on top of his mother's grave - that or an horse. What ensues delivers quite an entertaining western with plenty of shoot 'em ups, quite a menacing baddie and a pretty wimpish Dennis Hopper in there too. It's a solidly written and paced action adventure that showcases some of the less laudable elements of the pioneering spirit - with plenty of splinters.

English

ABC Movie promo The Sons of Katie Elder 1970

The Sons of Katie Elder - Trailer