The War Wagon
starring
John Wayne ■ Kirk Douglas
(1967)
The War Wagon Rolls And The Screen Explodes!
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Taw Jackson returns from prison having survived being shot, to the ranch and gold that Frank Pierce stole from him. Jackson makes a deal with Lomax, the man who shot him 5 years ago to join forces against Pierce and steal a large gold shipment. The shipments are transported in the War Wagon, an armored stage coach that is heavily guarded. The two of them become the key players in the caper to separate Pierce from Jackson's gold.
I will confess that this is not my favorite John Wayne movie, but, it still isn't half bad. It has one of my favorite theme/intro songs in a John Wayne movie, and, of the few Kirk Douglas movies that I've seen this is by far the one I like the most. It's also, well, uumm, it's my family's favorite Bruce Dern movie. (Hint: He has very few lines.)
The War Wagon is one of John Wayne's more anti-hero roles, but, you really can't blame him. I mean, his character, Taw Jackson, unjustly goes to prison, loses his land, home, and livelihood to a real scoundrel. So, why not take back what's his? Morals aside, as I said before, the movie's not half bad. I will say that the movie is violent, it's a western after all, but it's not terribly gory. One of the more interesting things about this move is that this was the first movie I saw co-starring Keenan Wynn and it was a bit hard for me to reconcile his character in The War Wagon with his other nice guy roles such as Dandy in the romantic comedy The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown. It just goes to show how versatile of an actor he was to be so convincing in two such opposing roles. Two other interesting roles in here are Bruce Cabot as Pierce, Cabot was another of those talented actors who could play a good guy you love or a bad guy you hate, and Joanna Barnes as Lola, which it's rather amusing when you realize that this sultry voiced saloon girl is also the "very nicely put together" Vicky from the 1961 version of The Parent Trap. All in all The War Wagon is well worth watching at least once. It's packed with a lot of talent, more than just the title stars. Though, after all, "there's no movie like a good John Wayne movie." 
96 Minutes
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Principal Cast
John Wayne ... Taw Jackson
Kirk Douglas ... Lomax Howard Keel ... Levi Walking Bear Robert Walker Jr .... Billy Hyatt (as Robert Walker) Keenan Wynn ... Wes Fletcher Bruce Cabot ... Pierce Joanna Barnes ... Lola
Filming Location(s)
Durango, Mexico
Sierra de Organos, Sombrerete, Zacatecas, Mexico Universal Studios, Universal City, California, USA
Awards
1968 Western Heritage Awards
Bronze Wrangler - Theatrical Motion Picture - Burt Kennedy (writer/director)
Quotes
Taw Jackson: In four days, Pierce is going to make the biggest gold shipment ever made out of the territory - a half a million dollars.
Lomax: How are we goin' to take it? With the Prussian army? Taw Jackson: With three other fellas. Five of us. Lomax: Five. I'm kind of glad I didn't kill you tonight - you're funny as hell! Lomax: Do you always wear a gun over your underwear? Taw Jackson: Just lately. [after shooting down two bad guys] Lomax: Mine hit the ground first. Taw Jackson: Mine was taller. Lomax: Now what am I supposed to do, live with the Indians for the next year and open up a bakery? And with Pierce dead, it doesn't even pay to kill you any more! |
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