After watching The Mandalorian and Grogu, I decided it was best to come back and re-watch a movie that has truly stood the test of time moreover was my first introduction to the greatest iconic actor of all time, John "The Duke" Wayne, and more importantly Dean Martin although granted this is long before I was ever introduced to Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack for which consisted of both Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. although again I was introduced to Dean Martin more than Sinatra and Davis Jr. Either way, The Sons of Katie Elder was the first John Wayne Western film that made me who I am today.
Four ne'er-do-well sons reunite in their Texas hometown to attend their mother's funeral. Led by older brother John (John Wayne), a gunfighter, and Tom (Dean Martin), a gambler, the four soon learn that their father gambled away the family ranch, which was because of his murder. The brothers decide to avenge their father's death.
I'm seriously not lying to all of you when I say, that The Sons of Katie Elder was one of the very few movies that made my entire childhood, like Star Wars this was one of the few movies that taught me the definition of a Cowboy, the Wild West and gunfighter or gunslinger. I mean this was one of the first movies that introduced me to John Wayne as well as showed me what it means to be a Cowboy and his presence on screen was so awesome and legendary that if you were my age in the early nineties you couldn't help but love the actor it was almost the same way I use to love Harrison Ford back when he was awesome and not crazy? Any way back when I was a kid, I would always reenact his infamous dual pistol fire to even have some of my friends as well as my dad do the classic brother brawl where we faked punched each other. Now going back this film still is amazing from start to finish from some of scenes where we are introduced to John Wayne up on the ledge or even the final battle which to me is amazing, that I would most certainly consider this in the top five best westerns starting John Wayne. A surprising factor, is that this was the very first movie he made, after his battle with cancer and all the studio execs weren't sure on whether or not he was going to be in the movie but director Henry Hathaway, who was also a cancer survivor told him what to expect moreover fought for him to be in the movie and after Wayne's surgery the news broke and everyone was curious to how the Duke looked and when you watched the film he looked a hell of a lot better and this was during a year of cancer treatment as well as losing one of his lungs and even Hathaway put him through the ringer and was complaining about it but Hathaway wouldn't back down and continued to push him to do more stunts and even Wayne wanted to do his own stunts just to let everyone know he was still tough and still standing, and really after hearing that fact I got to say there's a reason why he's one of the living legends as well as teaching everyone no matter what, never let illness get your down or to quote John Wayne after talking to Barbara Walters "Don't let those bastards, get you down". Wayne was hands down the best in this movie, like there are times where I forget but you can see the fire in his eyes when he's angry or giving the antagonist including George Kennedy the look of death, that he wasn't going to survive this. I mean the shootout scene when something tragic happens and he goes guns blazing as well as killing everyone he finds and you can see the rage in that man's eyes on how pissed he is, and it was amazing especially scenes where Wayne is b***h slapping young Dennis Hopper around and it's awesome when he's playing an angry dude that you don't want to cross. Even scenes where he's being a big brother towards his co-star Michael Anderson Jr who plays Bud Elder, where at first he's awed by him asking questions about him and then being angry for not standing up to the bully and Wayne trying to be a good example to him forcing him to go back to school even though he doesn't want too and really, what makes the film amazing is that it's all about family as well as setting a good example towards your younger siblings in the midst of a crooked ranch owner trying to use progressive tactics in a small town of Texas even if it means using bad guys and murder. Speaking of, George Kennedy whom I always remembered for in the Naked Gun films and he plays one of the antagonists, gunman Curly, and he's outstanding as a bad guy like you can tell when an actor whose so smug or just has that laugh that you want to smack that was George Kennedy and I was looking forward to him getting his comeuppance despite the fact that I know when it's going to happen because I've seen this film roughly five hundred times. Even actor Jeremy Slate who plays the young deputy Ben, who doesn't like any of the Elders and will do anything to get the Elders in trouble and by the end of the movie he redeems himself by the end of the movie like everyone does a fantastic job, and the same goes to actress Martha Hyer whose supposed to be, a sort of wise woman towards the Elder boys as well as everyone else and again not just John Wayne or Dean Martin are fantastic but everyone is fantastic in this movie, hell even young Dennis Hopper does a great job in the movie even though I almost imagine this to be his first movie but he already had twelve movies under his belt. The Sons of Katie Elder, is a perfect western to which brings the classic themes of progression in the West moreover revenge, especially trying to set a good example and trying not to let his young siblings grow up to be like him and for close to sixty-one years this film still stands the test of time of being one of the true great westerns moreover I would most certainly rank this in the top five greatest of all John Wayne westerns. Now the movie is free with ads on YouTube just like Pluto TV so, if you got YouTube or Pluto TV I would without a doubt recommend anyone to watch this movie and even reliving this amazing western brings pure joy to my heart as well as wanting to watch more John Wayne films as well as needing to thank my own father because like Star Wars, this Wayne classic is another film he got me into and I have to be sure to thank him for introducing me to one of Wayne's greatest films ever.
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