Chisum (1970)

Ratare Uzant:

6.6/10   

Regizor:

Andrew V. McLaglen

Scenarist:

Andrew J. Fenady (written by)

Release Date:

29 IULIE 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Replica Esantion:

THE HERO - John Wayne is "Chisum"

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Cattle | Billy The Kid | Pat Garrett | Range War | Wilhelm Scream

Awards:

1 win

Comentarii uzant:

Beautiful, Sentimental Western

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Nov. 14

8:15 AM

AMC

Cast

John Wayne	...	John Simpson Chisum
Forrest Tucker	...	Lawrence Murphy
Christopher George	...	Dan Nodeen
Ben Johnson	...	James Pepper
Glenn Corbett	...	Pat Garrett
Bruce Cabot	...	Sheriff Brady
Andrew Prine	...	Alex McSween
Patric Knowles	...	J. 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 - Deputy sheriff

Lungime Film:

111 min

Tara:

USA

Limba:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Mixaj Sunet:

Mono

Certificare:

UK:PG | Australia:PG | Singapore:PG | West Germany:16 (f) | Finland:K-11 (new rating: 2001) | Finland:K-12 (original rating) | France:U | Finland:K-12 | Norway:16 (theatrical rating: 1970) | USA:G

Filming Locations:

Durango, Mexico

Company:

Batjac Productions

Stiati ca:

Although clearly labeled as the older man, at 57 Patric Knowles was actually five years younger than John Wayne.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): In the "Big Casino, Little Casino" scene Pat Garrett is playing draw poker. If he loses the hand he will accept Chisum's job offer. He tells Chisum the next card will make up his mind. He draws one card, the 10 of diamonds, known as "Big Casino". When the camera shows his hand he was drawing to 5, 8, J, Q of spades, attempting to complete a flush. The 10 of diamonds gave him a four flush or losing hand. However, slow motion shows him throwing away the six of spades. It appears he broke up a "pat" hand to draw.

Quotes:

Lawrence Murphy: And you good people witnessed the cowardly and cold-blooded murder of our beloved Sheriff Brady by Billy "the Kid" Bonney right over there. Governor Axtell has appointed a new sheriff, Dan Nodeen. He's offered a $200 award for the kid, and I'm adding a further reward of $1,000, dead or alive.
[Crowd murmurs "$1200"]
Lawrence Murphy: Sheriff here has formed his posse. Oh... Have you got anything you want to add to that, Sheriff?
Dan Nodeen: Just this. I'm going to bring Bonney in. Now you people can either help me, or stay the hell out of my way!

Movie Connections:

Featured in 100 Years of John Wayne (2007) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Turn Me Around

Beautiful, Sentimental Western

"Chisum" both begins and ends with "The Duke," John Wayne, high on a hillside, quietly overlooking the valley where the film's action takes place. It as if Wayne is personifying the eternal values with which he was by then inseparably associated, ready to spring into action as necessary, like an American version of England's once and future king. The timeless quality is enhanced by making this scene the subject of a painting that springs to life to begin the film's events, then freezes again at the end, presumably to be re-awakened the next time the need arises.

Sentimentality gushes out of this film. At one point, Wayne's character even pulls out an old wedding photo to show his niece, nicely played by Pamela McMyler, and earnestly affirms his love for the land (Durango, Mexico, a beautiful spot where Wayne filmed several films during the '70s and bought a ranch). Later, he goes out of his way to show respect for an old Indian Chief who clearly is a dear friend. Long-time sidekick Ben Johnson is around so that Wayne has someone with whom to squabble, and Forrest Tucker - fresh off F-Troop - is the villain who Wayne finally overcomes after the usual twists and turns.

Wayne, while overseeing the proceedings (the famous Lincoln County Cattle War) like a grand seigneur, passes the baton to the younger generation, here personified by Glenn Corbett as Pat Garrett and Geoffrey Deuel (Pete's brother) as a morally torn Billy the Kid. A favorite scene is where Billy reads the Bible by a pond while practicing his marksmanship. When Billy's saintly mentor is killed by the Tucker character's minions, all heck breaks loose, with shootouts and legal maneuvers extending up to the territorial Governor and beyond. It's always clear that the range war is a sideshow, though - the real action is watching Wayne expertly take his bows after the previous year's "True Grit."

But there is plenty of action. Wayne gets to punch out Tucker not once, but twice, and there are gunfights every few minutes. The romantic subplots mercifully are kept to a minimum, and there are a fair number of comic and clearly ironic lines (Tucker's character, after he has personally interceded with the Governor to further his agenda, had his stooge appointed Sheriff, and is in the middle of a raging gunfight: "I can't interfere with the law.") The Ben Johnson character in particular has some amusing grumbles that Wayne appears to prefer not to hear.

The film's main weakness for me is the busy direction. Andrew V. McLaglen is competent, with an eye for framing interesting shots, but he falls in love with his zoom lens. He continually reaches for too-clever shots, always trying to have something going in both the fore- and background. These and other early-'70s touches are distracting and unfortunately give the film a dated feel at times, but Wayne and company overcome them. Too bad that John Ford had retired.

When this film was released, it was completely at odds with the social climate of the times. You almost had to be a present or former Boy Scout to be interested in this film. But quality tells in the end, and there is a certain timelessness to this film that you won't find in too many other 1970 releases.

Love the Merle Haggard theme song. "Chisum, John Chisum." If you like Wayne and westerns, you won't go wrong with "Chisum."