The Sons Of Katie Elder (DVD)

...John Wayne film season continuing the next offering I had to sit through was The Sons of Katie Elder. Hubby says that this is this third favourite John Wayne film so I was expecting quite a lot from it but sadly I was a bit let down.

The film see John Wayne playing the role of John Elder. The eldest of 4 brothers. Three of the brothers have met up at the train station in Clearwater to pay their respects at their mothers funeral but ...
...but they soon discover that the ranch is now owned by Morgan Hastings. He ‘acquired’ it after the death of the boys father. John is not happy about this and with the help of his brothers sets about finding out just why his mother gave up the land and how the Hastings got their hands on it. John needs to watch his back though as the Hastings have hired a gun hand to watch over them as they are scared of John.

Will John and his brothers ... more

With our John Wayne film season continuing the next offering I had to sit through was The Sons of Katie Elder. Hubby says that this is this third favourite John Wayne film so I was expecting quite a lot from it but sadly I was a bit let down.

The film see John Wayne playing the role of John Elder. The eldest of 4 brothers. Three of the brothers have met up at the train station in Clearwater to pay their respects at their mothers funeral but the eldest being John is not there. As the funeral is coming to an end we see John is watching from afar and later he meets up with his brothers at their late mothers home. After a lot of banter and petty arguing they all decide that they will go into town to get their mothers debts and things sorted out.

They all head into Clearwater town hoping to come away with some money as their mother owned a massive ranch but they soon discover that the ranch is now owned by Morgan Hastings. He ‘acquired’ it after the death of the boys father. John is not happy about this and with the help of his brothers sets about finding out just why his mother gave up the land and how the Hastings got their hands on it. John needs to watch his back though as the Hastings have hired a gun hand to watch over them as they are scared of John.

Will John and his brothers be able to find out the truth and will they like what they are going to find?

OK, well we all know John Wayne always played the cowboy but for some reason in this film as with the last one I watched him in he just seemed to add nothing to this character to try and make it different from any of the other roles which he played. I was amazed though that he was not wearing his trademark red shirt and he did in fact wear a blue one for the duration of this film! Now don’t get me wrong he did do a good job in the film but there was just nothing new about John Elder. John Wayne was supported by a list of great actors including, Dean Martin, Earl Holliman and Michael Anderson Jr who all did wonderful jobs with their characters and they all had a good on screen chemistry together.

I did enjoy the film but the story was a bit bland for my liking and there was nothing really going on apart from the brothers trying to stop their petty arguments and then trying to find out just how the Hastings got hold of the land. We did have some good gun fights and action scenes but nothing in this film really stood out for me. There was an element of humour in the film with the brothers and their arguing and I think this was much needed with the ordinary storyline.

The film was set again in Texas in the old wild west times and the sets and costumes were all very good and looked authentic. I have to say that the best bit if this film for me was in fact the scenery as we did have some wonderful shots over the mountains and countryside and I thought that all of the views were amazing. The music was also very good and helped to set the tone of the film and the music director did a wonderful job with this.

We have the 100th anniversary DVD edition which does not contain any bonus material which I was glad of. The running time of this film is 117 minutes which I felt to be too long and it has a certificate of Universal which means that it is suitable for all ages and I do agree with this.

I will recommend this film as long as you are not expecting too much as John Wayne was not the star of this film for me, the supporting actors were! Hubby gives this a full 5 stars as he loved ever aspect of it but their was just something missing in it for me. Definitely not one of John Wayne’s best!

 

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