Product Description

FOUR SONS ATTEND THEIR MOTHER'S TEXAS FUNERAL AND AVENGE THEIR SLAIN FATHER.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3770 in DVD
• Brand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2001-06-05
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 122 minutes

Amazon.com
John Wayne recovered from his first bout with cancer to appear in this 1965 film as the brother of Dean Martin, Earl Holliman, and Michael Anderson Jr. All four characters are wandering souls prone to trouble, but after the funeral of their frontier mother, they set out to avenge her death. Directed by Henry Hathaway (Wayne's director on True Grit), the film moves like a conventional, latter-day Western, with good performances from Wayne and Martin, who'd already costarred with the Duke in Howard Hawks's Rio Bravo. Nice support from Dennis Hopper (who had a legendary conflict with Hathaway on this film), Strother Martin, and George Kennedy. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

A touching and at times poetic western
This is a vastly underrated western that deserves greater exposure. Its a wonderful morality play about a good woman's sons gone bad and the last chance they have to redeem themselves. John Wayne and Dean Martin are superb and the rousing musical score by Elmer Bernstien is itself worth the price of the video.

One of the Duke's best
In the 1960s, John Wayne went through his first fight with cancer and won, and coming back to the big screen the Duke didn't disappoint with The Sons of Katie Elder his first movie back. Following their mother's death, the four Elder boys, John, the gunslinger, Tom, the gambler, Matt, the businessman, and Bud, the youngest, return home to Clearwater, Texas for her funeral. In hopes of setting things right, the Elders try to leave a memorial for their mother by clearing their name, but right away things go awry. Their father Bass was killed under suspicious circumstances and lost the family ranch in a card game so can the Elders figure out what happened all while leaving something to make their deceased mother proud? When it comes to John Wayne westerns, this one is a notch above the others. It's a good old-fashioned western with the good guys vs. the bad guys. There's some great locations in Durango, including the Mexican village from Major Dundee, and Elmer Bernstein turns in a lively western score that you'll be humming for days afterward. John Wayne fans and western fans alike will not be disappointed with this one.

Playing the oldest of the Elder brothers, John Wayne stars as John Elder, the gunslinger who sees his brothers for the first time in years at his mother's funeral. It's John who leads the effort to make a name for the family in honor of their much-beloved mother. Dean Martin plays Tom, the second oldest brother who's quick with cards and a gun. Wayne and Martin are great here together, just like in Rio Bravo. Earl Holliman and Michael Anderson JR are the other two brothers, Matt and Bud, who doesn't want to go back to college even at his brothers' encouragement. The chemistry among the four brothers is very believable and makes the movie more fun to watch because of their interactions. Paul Fix and Jermey Slate are very good as Sheriff Billy Wilson, the experienced and somewhat world weary peace officer, and Ben Latta, his trigger happy deputy. James Gregory is solid as slimy Morgan Hastings, a local rancher/businessman trying to make something of Clearwater. Martha Hyer is good as Mary Gordon, a woman who was a close friend of Katie. The more than solid supporting cast also includes George Kennedy as Curley, a gunslinger hired by Hastings, Dennis Hopper, John Doucette, John Qualen, and Strother Martin.

The DVD is a really good purchase with the widescreen presentation included here. You'd never know the movie is over 45 years old. The only special feature here is a theatrical trailer. The Sons of Katie Elder is an above average Duke western with a good blend of action, humor, and drama. Don't miss it!

Solid, journeyman job
One of Wayne's better 1960s Westerns. This is clearly not in the same league as the classics of the 50s such as The Searchers and Rio Bravo, but is nonetheless a fine, action-packed shoot-em-up. I think George Kennedy won an Oscar for his role as the evil hired gun. Dennis Hopper is superb as the wimpy son of the town crook (who in turn is played by the fellow who portrayed the Lieutenant on TV's Barney Miller). You will probably recognize most of the supporting cast. (The actor who played the Sheriff, Micah, on The Rifleman plays Sheriff Billy in this movie.) Martha Hyer does a decent, understated job as the female lead. The one major dramatic flaw in the movie occurs near the end. (I may be giving something away here, so don't read any further if you haven't seen the movie.) I am referring to the total lack of on-screen mourning by the good guys when one of their fellow protagonists dies. This also happened in some other Wayne Westerns of the 60s. But I am quibbling here. This is a true Western with a wonderful soundtrack.