The Train Robbers (1973)

Very disappointing...

To me, this movie is perfection.

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Good movie but grossly overrated

"The Train Robbers" was a box office disappointment when released to theaters in 1973. Most likely the reasons audiences largely ignored it at the time were that westerns (at least "standard" westerns without an interesting edge) were on the way out, and that John Wayne's box office draw power was weakening. The fact that the movie has less action that you'd think (it takes about an hour for the first real action sequence to occur) probably also hurt its appeal. But seen today more than forty years later, the movie has a lot of appeal. John Wayne may be older and slower than he was in the 1950s and 1960s, but he still commands the screen pretty well, and comes across as very likable. Writer/director Burt Kennedy keeps the movie moving fairly well despite the lack of action as well as a lack of tension (there is no doubt that the protagonists will prevail.) The movie also looks pretty good, with professional photography and some visually striking backdrops. While the movie may come across as old- fashioned a lot of the time, it is without doubt entertaining. Apparently others would agree with me, seeing that the movie has been regularly aired on cable TV, which leaves me confident that the movie by now has made a respectable profit.

Well, a Western with a twist ending - you don't see that very often. Usually the white hat hero rides off into the sunset with the pretty lady by his side, but this one served up what could have been a set up for a sequel. I think once was enough though.Once this got under way it reminded me a lot of the Burt Reynolds flick "Sam Whiskey". Both pictures have the same plot, a 'widow' hires on an aggressive gunman to retrieve the gold her husband stole and return it to the authorities to clear the family name. The Reynolds picture was a little more complicated since it required Mission Impossible-like coordination, so it kept you on your toes a bit more as the viewer. This one runs a bit slower, in fact there seems to be a fair amount of down time after Lane (John Wayne) and his group whittle down the twenty man posse in the desert.As far as leading ladies go, it's a toss-up between "Sam Whiskey" and "The Train Robbers". Angie Dickinson did the honors in the earlier film (1969), while Ann-Margret cuts a pretty mean profile in this pic. I've never mentioned it before, but the lack of that second 'a' in Margret's name always seems to bother me, it's like an itch that can't be scratched. You have to admit though, she looked darn good in her boiled shirt; heck, she even looked good in that wet blanket.

Widow Ann-Margret hires John Wayne and his gang to go into Mexico and recover some gold stolen by her late husband. In the '60s and '70s, John Wayne's movies featured him acting opposite an assortment of actors he had seldom, if ever, acted with before. This includes older stars who, for one reason or another, had never appeared in a Wayne film in the glory days, as well as newer stars. Most of this is because Duke's old friends had either died, retired, or just gotten too old to play most of the roles in his films. You do have Ben Johnson here, and he's solid, but you also have Ann-Margret, Rod Taylor, Christopher George, Ricardo Montalban, and Bobby Vinton. Gone are the days of Ward Bond and John Qualen. All of these actors do fine but none match Duke's screen presence. This was often the case in his later years where he had to carry the movies himself.Ann-Margret's young enough to be Duke's granddaughter so the thought of them having a romance is pretty gross. Thankfully, the movie never goes there beyond an amusing scene where Duke turns her down. It goes without saying she's beautiful and sexy, as usual. Director Burt Kennedy was no fool and in one scene where she has to change into some jeans, the camera lingers on her backside like a Levi's commercial. Speaking of Kennedy, what was with all the horse riding footage? Did he have to fill time? Anyway, it's light on action but pleasant overall. A decent time-killer.

This is another pretty good John Wayne movie. He leads a small team of adventurers in to Mexico to try and recover what is supposedly gold from a robbery. The widow is played by Ann- Margret and she is the eye candy for this movie and not a bad one at that. She says she wants to return the gold to clear her husbands name. The group goes looking for the gold. They end up finding it but a lot of bandidos show up to try and rob them. There is a lot of killing and explosions and they get the gold home. Here Ann-Margret takes the gold and as she is leaving on the train the guys learn she is just a hooker and is stealing the loot. Ben Johnson and Rod Taylor play two of the side kicks and are very good in their supporting roles. Bobby Vee is the youngster just starting out on the trail of the enforcer and does okay.