The Sons of Katie Elder (1965)

Waste of time

Load of rubbish!!

good back-story, and good acting

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

. . . that John Wayne and Dean Martin's characters in THE SONS OF KATIE ELDER are stone-cold serial murderers; career criminals who've terrorized the people of Texas, Louisiana, and who knows how many more states. Martin's "Tom" would be on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted List," had the Feds been around in the 1800s. Tom's made a career out of impoverishing normal people with various scams, and slaying any small businessmen who object to his turning their honest establishments into dens of thieves. Martin's movie big brother "John" is far worse, getting two Texas sheriff's killed through his reckless, loose-cannon ways in this brief plot alone. John fatally guns down several more deputies with his own two hands. John's guiding principle seems to be, "When you're in Texas, the thing to do is totally ignore or defy police orders, because all the cops there are gutless wimps." John closes KATIE by setting off a terroristic blast destroying half of Clearwater, TX. Quite a few of "Il Duce's" features climax in this fashion, which is why Wayne's later criticism of Clint Eastwood's ending for HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER is so hypocritical. Clint should have set "Il Duce" straight in that Mr. Eastwood's Modus Operandi is just to retrace Big John's footprints.

Though I enjoyed the picture well enough, I kept getting sidetracked by events in the story that managed to distract. The main one had to do with the ages of the Elder Brothers, particularly John (John Wayne). The family Bible had a notation that Katie Elder married in 1850, so even if she were pregnant with her oldest son at the time, and John Wayne looking every bit of his fifty seven years, the story would have taken place around 1907!That certainly wouldn't have been the case, so let's say John Elder was in his forties. A reference was made by youngest son Bud (Michael Anderson Jr.) about the Dalton Gang, saying he wanted to ride with brother John and become famous just like them. John's response was intended to give Bud pause, stating that the Dalton's were hung. But that wasn't correct either - Grath and Bob Dalton were killed during an attempted bank holdup in Coffeyville, Kansas in 1892 (another hint about when this story took place). Emmett Dalton was captured and sentenced to life in prison, though he was pardoned after fifteen years in 1907 (about the time John Wayne's character would have been fifty seven). So again, some simple math works against the picture if one wants to get technical.Be that as it may, there's something to be said about the basic premise of the picture. The recently departed Katie Elder must have been a saint of a woman as every resident of Clearwater, Texas held her in the highest regard. On the flip side, three of her four sons wound up on the questionable side of the law, and Bud was headed that way if his siblings didn't send him back to college. But first, things have to be set right regarding the death of Bass Elder and the loss of the Elder ranch to Morgan Hastings (James Gregory).What one might not expect in a film like this is the number of scenes written for humorous effect. The argument the brothers had about the Katie Monument was pretty comical, and Dean Martin's glass eye raffle was a hoot. It seemed only appropriate that Strother Martin would be the winner.Probably the film's biggest missed opportunity came when gunman Curley (George Kennedy) was killed in the ambush at the bridge. His character was introduced as the antidote to gunfighter John Elder's presence in Clearwater, hired by Morgan Hastings in case the brothers got too close to the truth about their father's death and the ranch's new ownership. So the expected showdown that was suggested never became a reality. On top of that, Curley wasn't curly, and if I had to guess, a screen writer who saw this movie might have been inspired to give the same name to the Jack Palance character in "City Slickers".

Four brothers reunite at their mother's funeral. They discover their mother was broke and their father had been murdered six months before and try to figure out who is responsible. This was John Wayne's comeback film after his much-publicized cancer surgery that cost him a lung. It also reunited him with Rio Bravo co-star Dean Martin, who plays one of his brothers. The other two are played by Earl Holliman and Michael Anderson, Jr., who replaced Disney star Tommy Kirk at the last minute. Much is made about the age gap between Wayne and his brothers, particularly Anderson. It seems obvious to me that the character Wayne plays is supposed to be younger than he actually was at the time. Maybe even as much as ten years younger. It's not a big deal unless you're the type of person who lets little things get to them. This is a fun western with a solid cast. The bad guys include James Gregory, George Kennedy, and Dennis Hopper. Not one of my favorite Duke movies but a pretty good one.

Four sons join together to get revenge for the murder of their drunk, habitual gambler father on the wake of the death of their beloved frontier mother, Katie Elder (never seen, but her presence is felt throughout the film anyway; how her memory always returns establishes her importance in the plot). John Wayne, Dean Martin, Earl Holliman (The Forbidden Planet), and Michael Anderson Jr. are the Elder sons who return to their mother's funeral, finding a town who wants no part of them. Wayne, as John Elder, is a known gunfighter while Martin's Tom has a warrant out for his arrest after an incident with a bartender in another town. The Elders are set up for the murder of Clearwater, Texas sheriff, Billy Wilson (Paul Fix, veteran of television), by a conniving, sneaky, no-good gun store owner, Morgan Hastings (character actor James Gregory, a veteran of television, particularly Barney Miller). Hastings is the one responsible for the murder of patriarch Bass Elder, resulting in the loss of land which left Katie without her home. The Elder sons attempt to right the wrongs orchestrated by Hastings.I admit that "The Sons of Katie Elder" isn't one of my favorite John Wayne westerns, certainly, in regards to his pairing with Dean Martin, not a patch to "Rio Bravo". That said, I found it entertaining for what it was: a story about four men trying to do right by their maw after a life of muddying the name Elder, especially John who is known for the bloodshed as a reputed gunfighter. Katie, a pacifist, loved John, but hated violence, and this provides motivation to try and do something (forcing youngster Bud (Anderson Jr.) to return to school and do Katie's memory justice) that would make her proud.Katie had a plan to raise cattle, so the Elders attempt to ride them to miners in the Rockies, but this plan is interrupted by Billy's "replacement", the green deputy Ben (Jeremy Slate) who believes they were behind the sheriff's murder, even though this is hogwash considering the Elders were in Pecos receiving the cattle. George Kennedy has a memorable part as Gregory's hired gun, black hat and rattlesnake grin, who will help Hastings in his plan to snuff out the Elders as they are carried, bound in chains, by stagecoach across a bridge. This film also has an early role for Dennis Hopper as Hastings' nervy, sniveling son, Dave. Curiously, the film is absent a lot of action, except two sequences at the end, including a bridge blown apart by dynamite and a gun store exploded, with more emphasis on the Elders attempting to put aside their criminal pasts to restore their family name and allow Katie to have died with some dignity. The film does have a playful brawl between the brothers which erupts when an angered Bud (mad as hell that John didn't draw in a gunfight with Kennedy's Curly in a bar) provokes John inside Katie's old home. I will say that the gunfight at the end, where the Elders must fend off Hastings' men underneath the bridge, is quite thrilling, although, interesting enough, this normally results in the conclusion of the film, but is instead a precursor to the return to town so that John can have one final showdown with Hastings.