The Comancheros ** (1961, John Wayne, Stuart Whitman, Nehemiah Persoff, Lee Marvin, Ina Balin, Bruce Cabot, Michael Ansara) – Classic Movie Review 6436

John Wayne stars as a hard-bitten Texas Ranger Captain Jake Cutter who joins up with his roguish gambler prisoner Paul Regret (Stuart Whitman) to clean up a gang of Comanchero renegade arms merchants and thieves, in this 1961 rough and tough Western, directed by the legendary Michael Curtiz, making his last movie.

The reliable work from Wayne and a flamboyant appearance from Lee Marvin as a loud-mouthed killer called Tully Crow make up for Whitman’s overblown acting and an insipid performance from Ina Balin as the Indian chief’s daughter, Pilar Graile.

The film’s tongue-in-cheek first half abruptly gives way to a brutal finale, but overall the problem is that James Edward Grant and Clair Huffaker’s screenplay for this large-scale, action-packed 20th Century Fox production is in the second rank.

Also in the cast are Nehemiah Persoff, Bruce Cabot, Michael Ansara, Patrick Wayne, Joan O’Brien, Jack Elam, Edgar Buchanan, Henry Daniell and Richard Devon.

It is shot in colour and widescreen by William H Clothier, produced by George Sherman and scored by Elmer Bernstein.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 6436

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