The Sons of Katie Elder is a typical western of the era. The cinematography is beautiful, and the story is interesting. The theme of less than noble characters finding their redemption is always a good one. However, this movie doesn't age well, like many westerns of the time, and the cast is made up of good actors (with the possible exception of Michael Anderson,Jr.), but they just don't belong together. It's difficult to suspend belief that John Wayne, Dean Martin, Earl Holliman, and Michael Anderson, Jr. are brothers. Beside the fact that there is absolutely no family resemblance between any of them, Wayne was 58 at the time of filming (and looked every year of it) and Anderson was 22. When movies rely on star power alone, distractions like this will always exist.
Review of The Sons of Katie Elder
