The War Wagon (1967)

The Duke plans vendetta on a powerful mine owner (Bruce Cabot) who stole his gold claim and accused him for killing for which he spent a great number of years in prison . Wayne then assembles a band to support him , including an impulsive , wise-cracking young (Robert Walker) , a dumb renegade Indian (Howard Keel) , an old man (Keenan Wynn) accompanied by a young girl , and , and of course , the fastest gun in the West , Kirk Douglas , as the hired hand sent by the ambitious owner who framed him to kill him . They are happily joined in harness against Cabot and his hoodlums . As the gang has to assault a heavily armored stagecoach where the nasty owner transports his gold from ¨Pierce Mining Company¨ .This Burt Kennedy Western contains noisy action , adjusted acting , being well-paced and nicely directed . Thrilling and well-written Western with lots of action dealing with an amusing caper in which Wayne has a twisted as well as moving plan : to rob the gold being shipped in an armor-plated stagecoach , ¨The war Wagon¨. Stirring as well as funny screenplay that keeps solidly in the best traditions , adding humor , from the prestigious Clair Huffaker who wrote a lot of Westerns and based on his book titled ¨Badman¨. John Wayne gives a nice acting , as always , here sits well with such other big successes of the sixties and seventies such as : McLintock , Undefeated , El Dorado , The son of Katie Elder , Train robbers , Rio Lobo , Chisum , Big Jack , Cahill , The cowboys , and his greatest hit : Tue Grit . Support cast is frankly excellent as Howard Keel , bizarrely cast as an ironic Redskin , Robert walker as a brave, stubborn young gunslinger , the beautiful Joanna Barnes ; add a succulent cast of villains that include Bruce Dern , Emilio Fernández , Gene Evans , Terry Wilson and a great secondary : Bruce Cabot , John Ford and Wayne's usual . It packs a colorful and evocative cinematography by William H. Clothier . And rousing and enjoyable musical score by the classic Dimitri Tiomkin . The motion picture was well directed by Burt Kennedy who maintains comfortably in the ordinary traditions , though has some flaws . Kennedy was a good professional , a fine director who made several Westerns and being usual screenwriter of the notorious filmmaker Budd Boetticher . As Kennedy directed quite a few Westerns as ¨Return of the Magnificent seven¨ , ¨Support you local sheriff¨, ¨The good guys and the bad guys¨ , ¨Rounders¨ , ¨Hannie Caulder¨, ¨Ride to Glory¨, ¨Train robbers¨, ¨More Wild Wild West¨, ¨Wild Wild West revisited¨ , and ¨Dynamite and gold¨, among others .

(6.5/10) Fun tongue in cheek Western that survives an initial slow start to be entertaining afterwards throughout. Both John Wayne and Kirk Douglas do great and have tremendous on screen chemistry together. Their friendly, competitive rivalry that mirrors their off screen persona's. Works extremely well and carries what would have otherwise been an average western. Even though they had their differences in real life, such as politics, you can tell they had a real respect for one another, and this movie does a good job of capturing that. One of the few roles that put the Duke on the wrong side of the law. Let down by the Western scenery, but was impressed with Howard Keel. I liked it but seeing Wayne and Douglas jell as well as they did makes me wish they could have joined together for a better Western. Good but unspectacular movie is highlighted by a hilarious bar room brawl and an extremely catchy theme.

War Wagon is one of John Wayne's late period westerns, when he was churning them out according to formula while he was still relatively close to being the world's top box office draw.It is essentially a wild west caper movie - bags of colourful scenery, action, a jocular script, and some decent on-screen chemistry between Wayne and co-star Kirk Douglas. Howard Keel plays an interesting third fiddle as a comedy relief Indian, and there is an interesting subplot between Robert Walker and the "trophy wife" of objectionable Keenan Wynn - an odd touch for a film of this type and era, but it isn't really pursued with any great commitment.Overall, this is a movie of no great significance, but with moderate - if transitory - entertainment value.

Mr Douglas was clearly determined to prove that he had lost little of the athleticism he had shown a decade or so earlier in "The Vikings" as he invents more and more imaginative ways to get on his horse.Just about the only approach he doesn't make is from underneath it.Probably if it had had oars he would have run along them. His silk shirt is a tad tight but he dispenses with that at the drop of a hat and bares his chest,grinning ferociously.He wears his ring outside his leather glove,a trait I find rather disturbing in a family Western. As a gunfighter who had previously failed to kill the Duke one might think his days were numbered,but Mr Wayne believes in keeping his friends close and his enemies closer so he hires him and some rather disparate companions to rob a security waggon and recover the ranch he was cheated out of whilst in prison. "The War Waggon" is a fast - moving enjoyable outing for Wayne and Douglas with a little help from Mr H.Keel who wears a wig and talks in a funny voice,pretending to be an Indian.Not,perhaps,his most enduring role, Mr Robert Walker jr and Mr Keenan Wynn make up Wayne's firm and add their particular talents to the mix. The celebrated Mr Bruce Cabot is the uber villain who gets his in the end. Nothing in the least bit surprising happens - and that's half the movie's charm. If you enjoy Kirk and the Duke doing their familiar thing and having fun whilst doing it then I can recommend watching it.