McQ (1974)

The 1970s saw John Wayne's long-running career come to an end with the actor's death in 1979, but before that point he made two contemporary police thrillers, the only ones of his lengthy career. These were made in response to his missing out on Clint Eastwood's role in DIRTY HARRY. Of the two, I have a huge fondness for BRANNIGAN due to the London setting, but MCQ turns out to be a serviceable little picture that feels heavily indebted to BULLITT with plenty of car-focused mayhem and chasing taking place on the streets of Seattle. Wayne plays a cop in the usual maverick mould, hunting down the killers of his partner who is executed in the film's violent opening sequence. Police corruption and drug dealing are the elements of the story here, and it's all stylish and fast-paced enough to be watchable. Wayne does feel long in the tooth but his trademark charisma and charm shine through and there's very little to dislike overall.

" . . . let's get a drink," is John Wayne's last line as Lon McQ, title character in his stab at the BULLITT/DIRTY HARRY market. Throughout its history, America has allowed Big Business to dictate how Government picks winners and losers in regard to "recreational drugs." McQ is too dense to realize that there's absolutely no reason other than the whims of his Fat Cat Puppetmasters that he can LEGALLY satisfy his hankering for alcohol (or cigarettes) after just shooting seven people to death over a little coke. George Washington would be jailed today for all the pot he grew, while alcohol tycoon Al Capone might be free of Alcatraz and giving fellow Gaming Baron Donald Trump a run for his casino money as our next American President, were he alive and flush with booze today. The Vice Squad in McQ is totally confused, since one cop's junk is another cop's treasure in America, and you need a scorecard to keep track of what's legal one day, and not the next. The only sinus medication that ever worked for me is unavailable today, because the Vice Squad would rather have me suffer severe headaches than inconvenience a few housewives by outlawing the bleach that Tweekers need as much as my Meds to brew up a batch of their "illegal" fun time formula. McQ comes off as a total clown here, and John Wayne was too ancient to realize that the scriptwriter was making a buffoon out of him.

Regretting turning down Dirty Harry a few years earlier, John Wayne tries to make his own "cop who plays by his own rules" movie with this Swingin' Seventies thriller directed by John Sturges. Wayne plays McQ, a Firebird-driving tough-as-nails detective who investigates the killing of his friend and uncovers corruption in the police department. It's a part that would be a better fit for a younger man, but the same could be said for many of Duke's later film roles. He does a fine job with what the script gives him, which isn't much. He's backed up by a solid cast, most of whom are going through the motions. Colleen Dewhurst is a standout in her small role as a junkie bartender Duke sleeps with. The film owes a little to the Steve McQueen classic Bullitt. One can't help but wonder how much of that was intentional, given the name of the title character here. The action scenes are decent but the mystery elements are limp. It's dated, cheesy, and sometimes fun but never quite as much fun as you want it to be. It also goes on too long for its own good. Worth a look for fans of the Duke but it'll probably bore most viewers.

I know this film since four decades now, and believe it or not, but I only realize now that the true nature of it. I mean the most known western actor who works with one of the most famous western director for the fist time after all these years, and for making: guess what...A CRIME MOVIE !!!Is not this incredible?Yes, John Wayne will always remain the most popular western actor in movie history. And every movie buff knows how much John Sturges is also a great western maker: THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, GUNFIGHT AT OK CORRALL, LAST TRAIN FROM GUNHILL, BACKLASH, HOUR OF THE GUN, LAW AND JACK WADE... And the two did not work together, but finally met at only a few years from their retirement for both of them. And to make NOT A WESTERN but a crime flick. A good one indeed. Sorry if I repeat myself, but I still can't believe it...Even after forty years. They made this film, the year John Ford died...Hmmm.