Chisum (DVD)

...his collection. This film being Chisum which was made in 1970.

At the very start of this film we see John Chisum sitting on his horse looking out over his vast expanse of land and his cattle which are grazing on it. Next we meet a gang member and his gang who are paid by a man called Brady to go after Chisum and kill him so that his land will become available. The gang go after Chisum’s cattle and shoot it so Chisum goes to find them ...
...disappear.

Chisum is then making his way to the town to collect his niece who is coming to stay with him but once he gets into town he finds that lots of the properties have been bought by a man called Murphy. Murphy is trying to take over the whole of the town and the surrounding land. Chisum is also introduced by Murphy to the new sheriff, which turns out to be Brady.

Chisum goes to the US Calvary to sell his cattle ... more

Hubby always gets his revenge when it is his turn to pick the film and again I had to suffer the next John Wayne film in his collection. This film being Chisum which was made in 1970.

At the very start of this film we see John Chisum sitting on his horse looking out over his vast expanse of land and his cattle which are grazing on it. Next we meet a gang member and his gang who are paid by a man called Brady to go after Chisum and kill him so that his land will become available. The gang go after Chisum’s cattle and shoot it so Chisum goes to find them and after a short ‘discussion’ Chisum ends up shooting him and the rest of the gang disappear.

Chisum is then making his way to the town to collect his niece who is coming to stay with him but once he gets into town he finds that lots of the properties have been bought by a man called Murphy. Murphy is trying to take over the whole of the town and the surrounding land. Chisum is also introduced by Murphy to the new sheriff, which turns out to be Brady.

Chisum goes to the US Calvary to sell his cattle as he has done every previous year but when he gets there he find that Murphy has been before him and made them a deal which has undercut Chisum’s. Chisum is not happy with this so he goes back to the town and buys some property and opens his own store and bank and makes a point of undercutting Murphy’s prices.

Will Murphy succeed in getting Chisum’s land and taking over the whole of the area or will Chisum along with his large gang of friend bring him down?

Well I really did not have high hopes for this film from the beginning as I am not a fan of either John Wayne or westerns but as it happened there was a slightly good story line and some good acting.

I thought that the film was made much better with the additional characters, some of which included Billy the Kid, Jess Evans and Pat Garrett, I have been lead to believe that these are well know and famous cowboys. I thought that the way the good guy in Pat Garrett and the bad guy in Billy the Kid being thrown together in these circumstances was great as there was always a lot of tension between the two men and it was put across on screen very well.

There were also a few side stories to the main plot which included Chisum’s niece and her love interest which also added some depth to the film.

I thought that all of the actors were very good in their roles and made their characters very believable. I thought that they all had a great on screen chemistry and I was believing in all of them. They also worked well with the horses and showed no fear or panic in working with or riding on them.

I did enjoy the scenery in this film and thought it was probably the best bit for me. I found that it all did look realistic and there were no visible back drops added like I have seen in previous John Wayne films. There really is some spectacular views to be seen when we are being shown the land which Chisum owns.

The film was set 1878 in Lincoln County and I thought that all of the scenery and costumes were excellent and really fitted well with the whole setting that was being put across. I did actually find that John Wayne again wore his blue shirt and brown waist coat which he has worn in the last few films I have seen him in. I would have though that he could have been given something different to wear. I did notice that he did get a change of costume on one occasion but only to attend a funeral and he was then still wearing his red scarf.

I found that the first hour of the film was watch able but slightly slow. Things did happen in the first hour but these things were really just setting the scene for the finally half of the film and I would have liked this hour to have been condensed down slightly and the film to have got moving quicker.

The music in the film was excellent and all fitted in with the film, and the year this was set. I will give a lot of credit to the orchestra who performed it as it was exceptionally good if you like this sort of music. I am not personally a fan but it fitted so well with the film you could not help but notice and listen to it. I found that it also helped with the tension of the film and I was always able to tell when a gun fight was about to start from the music!

The DVD which we have does have some bonus material which includes:-

Feature Length Audio Commentary by Director Andrew V McLaughlen
John Wayne and Chisum Featurettes
Trailer

I would not let hubby watch these as watching the film was enough for me!

The running time of this film is 107 minutes and it has a PG certificate, there is some moderate violence in the film but nothing very gruesome or bad.

I only recommend this film to die hard western fans. It is available on Amazon for under £5.

 

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