John Wayne Movie Review: ****The War Wagon (1967)

 This is one of the movies that fascinated me as a young man.  It came ut when I was ten.  They way they attack the war wagon is one of thos things that trigger the imagination.  Taw Jackson (John Wayne) leads the effort and he recruits Lomax (Kirk Douglas) guns and safe cracker, Levi Walking Bear (Howard Keel) Native American liaison, Billy Hyatt (Robert Walker Jr.) explosives expert and Wes Fletcher (Keenan Wynn) inside man and wagon transport.  They are going to rob gold from the mine now owned by Frank Pierce (Bruce Cabot) who swindled the property from Jackson, and sent him to jail, while paying to have him shot; by Lomax no less.  Everyone knows Pierce is a crook, but he is a crook who owns the law enforcement.  The other interesting character is Kate (Valora Noland) who is the wife of Fletcher.  He purchased her and treats her poorly and is jealous of everyone.

The part that is not good about the movie is a non-Native American playing the part of the Native American, Walking Bear.  It also plays on stereotypes of Native Americans.  This is a product of the times in Hollywood.

John Wayne Movie: ***^Hatari (1962)

 This movire is filled with rhinos, elephants, monkeys, giraffes and so much more.  It starts with Little Wolf (Bruce Cabot) being gored by a rhino and ends with elephants chasing through town helping Sean Mercer (John Wayne) find Dallas D'Allesandro (Elsa Martinelli) as he plans to marry her.  This has many views of Africa, and the dangers involved in catching animals for the zoo.  Pockets (Red Buttons) provides some comic relief.  He comes up with a contraption for catching monkeys.  He also gets the girl in the end, Brandy (Michèle Girardon).  She is the daughter of the owner who was killed by a rhino.  Now Mercer runs the outfit.  Two others vied for her affection, Kurt Muller (Hardy Krüger) and Luis Francisco Garcia Lopez (Valentin de Vargas).  Muller is a race car driver.  

The animals don't much like being captured.  Except the baby elephants who keep showing up.  But this show is cute.  I don't care for the excessive drinking, which seems to end each day.

Movie Review: ****Big Jake (John Wayne, 1971)

This is one of my favorite John Wayne movies.  Jacob "Jake" McCandles (Wayne) leads his boys, Michael (Christopher Mitchum) and James (Patrick Wayne) on a quest to rescue his grandson Little Jake (Ethan Wayne) who was taken by kidnappers.  In the kidnapping many of the ranch crew were killed, and McCandles' other son, Ethan's father, was badly wounded.  They are joined by Jake's American Indian friend, Sam Sharpnose, (Bruce Cabot.)  The gang of outlaws is lead by John Fain (Richard Boone.)  Prior to traveling, even though they make a big deal of carrying one million dollars ransom, Jake and his estranged wife, Martha (Maureen O'Hara) have decided they wouldn't pay men for killing their crew.  However, they not only need to extract revenge, but also rescue the boy, whom Jake has never seen.  They face ruthless criminals, who do not care about the life of others. 
They travel into Mexico, beyond the reach of Texas law, and they slowly follow.  This time it takes cunning and daring to defend their money chest, and to keep Little Jake alive.