Review of The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) by Irish E — 15 Aug 2010

Wayne & Co. deliver well this mid-Century Western, based on true facts surrounding the Marlow Brothers of Oklahoma, circa 1888.

Wayne's the eldest of four prodigal brothers come home to tend the affairs of their just-passed mother. What they find is no one's talking much about how their father died, how he came to sell the family ranch - or what's become of the money from it.

Soon enough, the town's powerful, wealthy blackhat (Gregory) - who just happens to now own that ranch - decides the brothers are far too inquisitive and frames them for murder, setting the law and a lynch mob upon them. The brothers slowly struggle and wiggle their way to righteousness, at one point having to fight/shoot their way out of an ambush while in legirons.

Wayne delivers perfectly his stoic, ethically-strong persona, despite sucking oxygen between takes, having just had his cancerous lung removed.

One brother's the hothead always in trouble (Dino), one's the tenderfoot kid brother better off at college as Mama wished (Anderson), one's the level-headed sibling respecting Wayne as lead-dog (Holliman).

No small part of this film' strength is that it contains a complete set of excellent deliveries. Gregory's quite despicable, as is George Kennedy as Gregory's hired hatchet-man. Dennis Hopper is spot-on as Gregory's weaseling, gut-less son. Even the sidelined lawmen are characterized well.

Anyone who's truly fond of Westerns has seen this classic a half-dozen times. But even if you aren't especially fond of Westerns, the fact that this thick plot/drama falls from a true story - and that it's told with a full house of strong performances - means you should consider it next time you're shopping the genre.

RECOMMENDATION: When you're in the mood for a Western, queue it up.