The Sons of Katie Elder
(1965)
(Released: 2011 by CBS Paramount Home Entertainment)
Another looong DVD
Review by Joe Torcivia
SUMMARY: Respect
your “Elders”… Or, there must be an easier way to honor your mother, that
doesn’t involve gunshot wounds and jail time!
“Texas is a woman she [Katie Elder] used to say... A big, wild, beautiful woman.
You get a kid raised-up to where he’s got some size… and there’s TEXAS,
whisperin’ in his ear, smilin’, sayin’ ‘come on out with me, an’ have some
fun’. It’s hard enough to raise children ANY place, she’d say, but if ya gotta
fight TEXAS…
a mother hasn’t a chance!”
It’s the late 1890s, and Katie Elder is dead. So dead, in fact, that she never appears in
the film. Her four distinctly different
sons, previously scattered to the four distinctly different winds, have
returned to Clearwater, Texas for the funeral.
John Elder (John Wayne): A gunfighter and, as you would
expect, one of the best.
 |
| 'Nuff said! |
Tom Elder (Dean Martin): A gambler and, when necessary, a
con artist. Though the biggest con-job
of all might very well be convincing the viewers that John Wayne and Dean
Martin could actually be BROTHERS… from the same set of parents. (At least BONANZA’S Little Joe, Adam, and
Hoss Cartwright had different mothers!)
 |
| Dean Martin scams Strother Martin! |
Matt Elder (Earl Holliman): Er, Um… Well, I don’t think we ever find out
exactly WHAT Matt does. He’s more of the
“quiet type”, you know.
 |
| So, what DO you do, Matt? |
Bud Elder (Michael Anderson, Jr.): The “baby” of the
family, and the one Katie wanted to see go to college. Unfortunately, Bud hates college, and wants
to be a gunfighter like his big brother John.
…Unfortunately, that is, for poor, pestered John.
 |
| "Bud-dy the Kid? |
Even more unfortunately, for ALL the Elder Boys, during
their absence, their previously-dead drunken father “Bass” gambled and lost the
Elder Family Ranch (under suspicious circumstances) to rich, corrupt, and
villainous gunsmith Morgan Hastings (James Gregory) and his somewhat reluctant
son Dave (Dennis Hopper).
 |
| It's Hastings! Boooo! |
After Bass’ death, from being shot in the back just after
losing the ranch, Katie lived a life of poverty – in a shack pretty much
“donated” by the local banker (…Imagine a banker with a HEART!), and looked
after by some of the townspeople. In
particular, a young lady named Mary Gordon (Martha Hyer), who runs a local
boarding house.
An additional “guest” in town for the funeral is “Curley”
(George Kennedy), another gunfighter of considerable note, hired by Morgan
Hastings to keep John Elder at bay.
The Sons investigate these suspicious events, are framed
for killing a sheriff, have lots of fist and gun fights… and everything else
you’d expect to happen “When John Wayne Comes Back To Town”!
In one respect or another, ALL John Wayne westerns have
something great to recommend, and “The Sons of Katie Elder” is no
exception.
Beyond the usual action, and bad guys getting their
comeuppance, we have the marvelous interaction among the Sons.
The Sons observe the former Elder Family Ranch, now in the
possession of Hastings…
MATT: “Boy,
everything sure has changed, hasn’t it?
Remember when we used to fool around on that big ol’ barn?”
BUD: “Hey, Tom… I
was only a kid the time you fell from the loft an’ broke your leg.”
TOM: “You weren’t
even born yet! Besides, I didn’t fall… I
was PUSHED! Somebody always kept PUSHING
me out of that loft!”
JOHN: “That’s
‘cause you BOUNCED so good! Everybody in
the family kept BRAGGING about how good you BOUNCED!”
…
The Sons discuss a monument for Katie…
MATT: “Listen, I’ve
been thinking about somethin’. I think
we ought to get a NICE STONE for her grave.
I mean a BIG stone with some nice WRITIN’ on it. What ‘cha call a… a…”
BUD: “A
monument! You think so, John?”
JOHN: “I believe
she’d LIKE a monument.”
TOM: “Why spend
MONEY for a hunk of STONE?”
MATT: “Because she
LIKED it here, and people liked HER!
Now, it seems to me there ought to be something to remember her by,
right?”
BUD: “The Ritters
got their mother a MARBLE ANGEL, with her finger pointing.” (Gestures UP,
toward Heaven.)
TOM: “At WHO?”
BUD: “NOBODY! Pointing UP… like THIS! (Gestures again.)
MATT: “All right,
then… a MARBLE ANGEL!”
TOM: “Does it HAVE
to be an ANGEL? I don’t have too much IN
COMMON with ANGELS!”
BUD: “Besides, take
the Ritters’ angel… Some kid shot her FINGER off – an’ after that, it just
looks like she’s SHAKIN’ her FIST!”
MATT: “How ‘bout a
LAMB? A marble lamb!”
TOM: “How about a
HORSE?”
ALL THREE BROTHERS (together): “A HORSE?!”
MATT: “For a
GRAVE?!”
TOM: “Well, Ma
LOVED horses!”
MATT: “Well, she
didn’t love ‘em THAT much! How’d you
like to have a HORSE on top ‘o you for the rest of eternity?!”
…How do you not love stuff like this!
…
Also, unofficially, this may be where the “Older John
Wayne” begins (He would have been approximately 57-58)… the John Wayne of such
‘60s and ‘70s films as “The War Wagon”,
“True Grit”, “The Train Robbers”, “Big Jake”,
“The Cowboys”, “Rooster Cogburn”, and “The
Shootist” – the “John Wayne” I like best!
As is our custom in these reviews, we’ll break it into CONS
and PROS.
The CONS:
Extra Features: John Wayne films tend to be either "Feast or Famine" in the area of DVD Extra Features. Some sport an embarrassment of riches, like “True Grit”, “The High and the Mighty”, "Stagecoach", "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance", and “The
Cowboys”. We’ll be getting to those
last three someday.
Others, such as “Big
Jake” (reviewed HERE) and “Red River” (also coming someday), inexplicably offer
not even a TRAILER!
As I've often expressed, my standard for a movie DVD's Extra Features is the inclusion of a theatrical trailer for the film, a commentary track, and "making-of" or background featurette. At least “The Sons of Katie Elder”
offers a Theatrical Trailer.
The PROS:
The Film:
It’s John Wayne, Dean Martin, and
an all-star cast in 02:01:39 of widescreen western glory! The kind of visual “glory” that sixties TV
could not match, even as it moved into full-color.
This is WHY you went to the movies. (…Or, maybe it was to be in the dark with
your gal – who knows!) In the coming
years, Hollywood films would enjoy increased
liberation in language, subject matter and the like, but “The Sons of Katie Elder”
is still more reflective of those good old ‘50s values we know and love.
 |
| I'll Drink to those Values! |
Picture Quality: The picture quality of this “Standard
Definition” release is simply great on a widescreen HD TV. It’s the real “widescreen” and not
“letterbox”, as was another Wayne
favorite of the period “The War Wagon” (1967). I notice
that a number of John Wayne films are now receiving Blu-ray releases – darn the
luck, not long after I began stocking-up on the SDs. But, if all SDs looked as
great as this one, there’d be no need to “double-dip”!
The Cast:
·
John Wayne as “John Elder”.
·
Dean Martin as “Tom Elder”.
·
Earl Holliman as “Matt Elder”.
·
Michael Anderson, Jr. as “Bud Elder”
·
Martha Hyer as “Mary Gordon”.
·
James Gregory as “Morgan Hastings”
·
George Kennedy as “Curley”.
·
Jeremy Slate as “Ben Latta”.
·
Dennis Hopper as “Dave Hastings”.
There’s also a passel of supporting players not only
notable for western roles – but for various appearances in Irwin Allen’s Sci-Fi
TV shows of the period (talk about “cross-over appeal” for me):
Paul Fix as “Sheriff Billy Wilson”. Longtime John Wayne supporting player in such
films as “Red River”, “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon”, “The High and the Mighty” and
many more – as well as Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, and two episodes of Land of the Giants as kindly Dr. Brulle. He was even in the "William Shatner pilot" for Star Trek, as the ship's doctor!
 |
| Paul Fix |
James Westerfield as “Banker Vennar”. Also in “True Grit” as well as Lost in Space
and The Time Tunnel.
 |
| James Westerfield |
Strother Martin as a patsy, scammed by Dean Martin’s
Tom Elder. Best known for “Cool Hand
Luke” and was one of my most favorite guest stars on Lost in Space: “…a Suuu-per Nooo-va!”.
 |
| Strother Martin (at right): Pass the Cosmonium! |
Percy Helton: Nervous, short, high-pitched, older
actor – also appeared in Land of the Giants “Ghost Town”, one of that series
best.
 |
| Percy Helton |
All this adds up to one great big treat of a film for
a Western / ‘60s Sci-Fi fan like me!
The Extra Feature (Singular): Theatrical Trailer for
“The Sons of Katie Elder”: (03:13)
…How I
wish I could have written some of these!
Cue the usual on-screen hype:
TEXT: "From the four winds they came... Four brothers... Their eyes smoking and their fingers itching!" [ JOE’S NOTE: Have they considered eye-wash and soap? …Just sayin’!] “Four
Brothers… sworn to right whatever wrongs still raged!”
Hal Wallis’
production of “The Sons of Katie Elder”
in Technicolor and Panavision.
[We get lots of
action scenes – both rollicking and deadly – over a western music score.]
“Starring John Wayne, Dean Martin, Michael
Anderson, Jr., Earl Holliman, …and Martha Hyer as Mary Gordon” – who
delivers the “Texas”
quote that opens this review.
VOICE OVER: “The Sons of Katie Elder: Led by Big John –
The eldest, the gunslinger, the toughest! [ JOE’S NOTE: No Sheep, Sherlock! …It IS John Wayne, ya
know! ]
"Tom – The gambler, who would play any game at any odds.
"Matt – The quiet one, the dangerous one.
"Bud – The Kid who had to be taught what it
means to be an Elder – and a man.
"Mary –
The woman who tried the impossible, taming The Sons of Katie Elder!
“The Sons of Katie Elder – set up for paid
deputies who put them in chains, before they dared to kill them in ambush!”
TEXT: "Four brothers who met gunfure with gunfire! In the fighting tradition of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral! The Sons of Katie Elder!”
 |
| See the Movie! Read the Comic! |
Overall:
Directed by Henry Hathaway (later of “True Grit”), “The
Sons of Katie Elder” is a film you can’t help but enjoy – if you crave
your entertainment Western Style. Its
star power is undeniable – and the role players shine just as brightly as the
greats.
In its tone, it is more evocative of sixties television,
than films would soon be – yet there is a grandeur in its visual scope
(Cinemascope? Panavision?) to remind you of what the Big Screen then did far
better than the small screen. When “The
Movies” was still an exciting place to go – and different from what you got at
home.
The lack of Extra Features for this set is
unfortunate. John Wayne’s films deserve
better treatment than this! Some are
done well, but why not ALL of them?
“The Sons of Katie Elder” is recommended
for fans of John Wayne, Dean Martin, the Western film genre, and the
mid-sixties era of entertainment in general.
