Most us die hard and passionate John Wayne fans have to admit that his work in the 1960's falls a little short of the great run he had in the previous decade and a half, a run that included RED RIVER, SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON, RIO GRANDE, SANDS OF IWO JIMA, THE QUIET MAN, HONDO, THE SEARCHERS, and RIO BRAVO. By this point in his long and hard working career, the Duke had gotten things down to a pretty good formula: plenty of fist fights and gun battles before he settled things with the bad guys in the final scene, with plenty of broad humorous touches along the way. It was what his fans expected and Wayne was ever diligent in not disappointing them. But with THE WAR WAGON, Wayne slyly tweaked his tried and true image and made one of the most unique films of his career.
First and foremost,Wayne's Taw Jackson is most certainly not a righteous upholder of law and order, instead he has just gotten out of prison early on a trumped up charge and determined to get some payback on the man who framed him and stole Jackson's ranch (and the gold on said land) out from under him. For one of the few times ever, Wayne plays a character quite comfortable working outside the law, mainly because the law has become nothing more than the corrupt tool of Pierce (Bruce Cabot)the tin pot tyrant who is getting rich on Jackson's gold- transporting it in an armor plated stagecoach, refitted with a wicked looking Gatling gun and accompanied on the road by a large armed posse. Taw Jackson is in many ways a forerunner of a character we would come to know in the years ahead: the wronged man who's out to even the score.
It's Jackson's plan to take down Pierce's self named War Wagon and make off with a fortune; but of course he'll need some help and this is where the movie becomes a mashup of the western and heist genres, the one where a group of disparate individuals come together, pool their talents and take on a dangerous mission. Jackson't team comes to include Robert Walker Jr. as a teenage explosives expert with weakness for drink; Howard Keel as Levi Walking Bear, an Indian who knows the ways of the white man ("grab all you can, while you can."); Keenan Wynn as a foul tempered teamster who works for Pierce and who drags his child bride (whom he bought) with him everywhere so he can keep an eye on her. Wynn cornered the market on playing cantankerous old men, but if Walker is remembered at all today, it is for his guest starring role on the original STAR TREK.
Jackson also acquires an uneasy partner in the person of Lomax, a mercenary gunman who is mulling over an offer by Pierce to kill Jackson, but is intrigued enough by the possibility of an even bigger payday if he helps take down the War Wagon. Lomax is played by Kirk Douglas with all of the considerable charm he could muster; Douglas and Wayne have terrific chemistry on screen, playing two men who are as much friendly enemies as they are allies of convenience. The interplay between Lomax and Jackson, especially their dialog, is one of the great strength's of the film and it's a good example of how Wayne was not afraid to share the screen with actors of Douglas's caliber, who were every bit as charismatic as himself; how having a strong personality to play off only made them both look better.
Jackson, Lomax and their crew come up with a scheme to waylay the War Wagon in open country with the help of a tribe of local Indians who have been displaced by Pierce; there's a fake out with an Indian attack, some tense moments with nitro glycerin and some intricate timing with a rigged battering ram. But as in all good heist movies, there are complications, double crosses and twists and the heroes don't necessarily walk away with everything they wanted. It's interesting that Wayne's character doesn't get his ranch or his good name back either.
Besides the principles, there is a great supporting cast of familiar faces including Gene Evans, Emilio Fernandez, and the very busy Bruce Dern, who would go on to shoot Wayne in the back a few years later in THE COWBOYS. Terry Wilson and Frank McGrath, who'd just finished a long run on TV's WAGON TRAIN, appear as the town Sheriff and as a bartender; Sheb Wooley, who was one of the gunmen waiting by the train station in HIGH NOON and later played on RAWHIDE, turns up as one of Pierce's hired guns who runs afoul of Wayne.
Director Burt Kennedy was able to strike the right balance between action and humor, he would go on to direct SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL GUNFIGHTER, one of my favorites; Kennedy and his crew got some great location shots in Durango, Mexico, the same place Sam Peckinpah would shoot PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID a few years later.
With the possible exceptions of Paul Newman and Steve McQueen, John Wayne was the biggest male movie star of the turbulent 1960's, and THE WAR WAGON, with its great opening credit theme song, was one of the chief reasons why this was true. I do remember it playing on double bill with the equally great EL DORADO at the local drive in when I was a kid. Now that was entertainment.
First and foremost,Wayne's Taw Jackson is most certainly not a righteous upholder of law and order, instead he has just gotten out of prison early on a trumped up charge and determined to get some payback on the man who framed him and stole Jackson's ranch (and the gold on said land) out from under him. For one of the few times ever, Wayne plays a character quite comfortable working outside the law, mainly because the law has become nothing more than the corrupt tool of Pierce (Bruce Cabot)the tin pot tyrant who is getting rich on Jackson's gold- transporting it in an armor plated stagecoach, refitted with a wicked looking Gatling gun and accompanied on the road by a large armed posse. Taw Jackson is in many ways a forerunner of a character we would come to know in the years ahead: the wronged man who's out to even the score.
It's Jackson's plan to take down Pierce's self named War Wagon and make off with a fortune; but of course he'll need some help and this is where the movie becomes a mashup of the western and heist genres, the one where a group of disparate individuals come together, pool their talents and take on a dangerous mission. Jackson't team comes to include Robert Walker Jr. as a teenage explosives expert with weakness for drink; Howard Keel as Levi Walking Bear, an Indian who knows the ways of the white man ("grab all you can, while you can."); Keenan Wynn as a foul tempered teamster who works for Pierce and who drags his child bride (whom he bought) with him everywhere so he can keep an eye on her. Wynn cornered the market on playing cantankerous old men, but if Walker is remembered at all today, it is for his guest starring role on the original STAR TREK.
Jackson also acquires an uneasy partner in the person of Lomax, a mercenary gunman who is mulling over an offer by Pierce to kill Jackson, but is intrigued enough by the possibility of an even bigger payday if he helps take down the War Wagon. Lomax is played by Kirk Douglas with all of the considerable charm he could muster; Douglas and Wayne have terrific chemistry on screen, playing two men who are as much friendly enemies as they are allies of convenience. The interplay between Lomax and Jackson, especially their dialog, is one of the great strength's of the film and it's a good example of how Wayne was not afraid to share the screen with actors of Douglas's caliber, who were every bit as charismatic as himself; how having a strong personality to play off only made them both look better.
Jackson, Lomax and their crew come up with a scheme to waylay the War Wagon in open country with the help of a tribe of local Indians who have been displaced by Pierce; there's a fake out with an Indian attack, some tense moments with nitro glycerin and some intricate timing with a rigged battering ram. But as in all good heist movies, there are complications, double crosses and twists and the heroes don't necessarily walk away with everything they wanted. It's interesting that Wayne's character doesn't get his ranch or his good name back either.
Besides the principles, there is a great supporting cast of familiar faces including Gene Evans, Emilio Fernandez, and the very busy Bruce Dern, who would go on to shoot Wayne in the back a few years later in THE COWBOYS. Terry Wilson and Frank McGrath, who'd just finished a long run on TV's WAGON TRAIN, appear as the town Sheriff and as a bartender; Sheb Wooley, who was one of the gunmen waiting by the train station in HIGH NOON and later played on RAWHIDE, turns up as one of Pierce's hired guns who runs afoul of Wayne.
Director Burt Kennedy was able to strike the right balance between action and humor, he would go on to direct SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL GUNFIGHTER, one of my favorites; Kennedy and his crew got some great location shots in Durango, Mexico, the same place Sam Peckinpah would shoot PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID a few years later.
With the possible exceptions of Paul Newman and Steve McQueen, John Wayne was the biggest male movie star of the turbulent 1960's, and THE WAR WAGON, with its great opening credit theme song, was one of the chief reasons why this was true. I do remember it playing on double bill with the equally great EL DORADO at the local drive in when I was a kid. Now that was entertainment.