The Sons of Katie Elder *** (1965, John Wayne, Dean Martin, Michael Anderson Jr, Earl Holliman, Martha Hyer, Jeremy Slate, James Gregory, Paul Fix, George Kennedy, Dennis Hopper) – Classic Movie Review 4504

Director Henry Hathaway’s 1965 old-style big-budget Western has a great cast and is thoroughly robust but it suffers from having a commonplace tale about the four macho-minded ranch owner sons of the frontier woman Katie Elder, who are determined to avenge the murder of their father and the swindling of their mother.

It starts when the sons return to Clearwater, Texas, for their mother’s funeral – and they seek to get back their ranch from the town’s gunsmith who won it from their father in a card game in which he killed.

Alas Hathaway’s movie is nothing particularly remarkable, but it is nevertheless always fairly entertaining, sprightly and energetic, with genially macho handling from director Hathaway. The amiable and amusing John Wayne-Dean Martin star partnership (as John and Tom Elder) and the starry character support players help to spur the movie along, as do the stirring Elmer Bernstein music and Lucien Ballard’s crisp widescreen Technicolor cinematography.

All in all, though not a great Western, it can certainly take its place on the list of underappreciated and forgotten films of the Sixties.

Also co-starring are Michael Anderson Jr as Bud Elder, Earl Holliman as Matt Elder, Martha Hyer, Jeremy Slate, James Gregory, Paul Fix as Sheriff Billy Wilson, George Kennedy as Curley, Dennis Hopper, John Litel and Strother Martin. Also in the cast are John Doucette, Sheldon Allman, James Westerfield, Rhys Williams, Rodolfo Acosta, Percy Helton and Karl Swenson.

Running 122 minutes and released by Paramount, it is written by Allan Weiss, Harry Essex and William H Wright, from a story by Talbot Jennings, and produced by Hal B Wallis and Paul Nathan. It is designed by Hal Pereira and Walter H Tyler, with costumes by Edith Head.

RIP George Kennedy (1925–February 28 2016).

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4504

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