Chisum

By the late 1960s and into the 1970s, John Wayne's movies became more familiar, more safe. You know what though? There's a comfort in familiarity, and there's some genuinely good movies in the bunch. Today's review is one of those efforts, telling one of the more famous stories of the wild west that ranks up there with the gunfight at the O.K. Corral or the Battle of the Little Big Horn. That story? The Lincoln County War. That movie? 1970's Chisum.

It's 1878 in the New Mexico territory, and aging rancher John Chisum (Wayne) has carved an immense cattle ranch out of the wilderness, made it all into something to behold. He's preparing for his niece, Sallie (Pamela McMyler), to come and visit the ranch, but there's some serious issues to be dealt with. An equally powerful man with some serious financial backing, Lawrence Murphy (Forrest Tucker), has moved into Lincoln County and is looking to take over. Take over EVERYTHING. First up on his list? Buying the sheriff, the bank, and scooping up all the land he can and drive Chisum out as quick as he can. Chisum is well-rooted though, and nothing is going to come easy for the despicably vicious, greedy Murphy. There's a wild card in the entire situation though, a young, fiery gunfighter with a fast-growing reputation and a fast draw with his pistol, William Bonney (Geoffrey Deuel), better known as Billy the Kid.

I've loved John Wayne and his movies since I was a little kid. Hopefully, I always will! I hadn't seen this 1970 western from director Andrew McLaglen in years until a recent showing on Turner Classic Movies gave me the opportunity to revisit it. Am I glad I did! It is different, telling the mostly true story of the Lincoln County War with some artistic license thrown in here and there. A lot of familiar faces, filming locations in Durango, Mexico where other Wayne ventures (The War Wagon, Sons of Katie Elder, The Undefeated, The Train Robbers) were filmed, a memorable score from Dominic Frontiere, and cinematographer William Clothier bringing the Mexican locations to life, yeah, it IS familiar. That's not a bad thing. I loved catching up with the movie and liked it much more than I remember. There's just enough different here to keep things interesting. And let's face it, the story and recognizable historical characters are a great backdrop for that mostly true story.

Okay, one of the most famous stories of the wild west. What do we need? How about a movie star capable of leading the way? In 1970, Wayne was still at the top of his game. He had the tough guy hero part down to an art with decades of practice. That is most definitely a compliment. Wayne was always at home in the western, and that's the case here. His Chisum -- based on the real-life John Chisum -- becomes a figurehead of the west. Years before, Chisum moved west into New Mexico and carved out a cattle ranch out of the land. Now, he's learning to slowly, begrudgingly changing with the times to survive. A testament to Wayne here is that he's not on-screen a ton. Yes, he's the star, but the Hollywood legend is content to let other members of a solid ensemble step into the limelight. When he is in the limelight? It's Duke at his tough as nails best, playing straight man to a bunch of antics while also stealing the camera, especially in a late confrontation with Tucker's Murphy. Nothing flashy, just a western professional.

Part of the fun here is the familiar names and characters popping up. The Billy the Kid story has been told in the Young Guns movies, The Left-Handed Gun, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, The Outlaw and many more I'm probably forgetting. I liked the spin Deuel puts on young William Bonney, a brash kid trying to put a checkered past behind him. He may be too good with a gun to let it happen though. Deuel's scenes with Glenn Corbett's Pat Garrett are a highlight, especially knowing where these two men end up. Also look for peaceful, second-chance rancher John Tunstall (Patric Knowles), Alex McSween (Andrew Prine, with his wife Lynda Day George), corrupt Sheriff Brady (Bruce Cabot), and more than a few familiar faces in the background.

The cast is one of Chisum's best features. Tucker is a slimy, nasty, slithery villain, with both Christopher George and Richard Jaeckel as his brutal enforcers. Another Just Hit Play favorite, Ben Johnson is Pepper, Wayne's right-hand man, a mumbling cowboy who'd rather solve a problem with his gun than his words, a part similar to the one he played in both The Undefeated and The Train Robbers. You ready though for some other names? Take a deep breath with me. Also look for John Agar, Robert Donner, Ray Teal, Hank Worden, Pedro Armendariz Jr., Edward Faulkner, Christopher Mitchum and plenty of faces from the John Wayne stock company. Quite the cast. QUITE a group of tough guys, a McLaglen specialty. 

About as good as a traditional western can get. There's good guys, dastardly bad guys, shootouts to be had, and set against the backdrop against one of the wild west's most famous/infamous incidents ever. Something really hit me with this most recent watch, and I came away more impressed than I'd been with previous viewings. Hopefully, you'll like it just as much!

Chisum (1970): *** 1/2 /****

Day of the Animals

A few years back, October 2009 to be exact, I reviewed a dud of a movie made on a clearly pretty tight budget that rose above its cheapness to be 'So bad it's really good.' Okay, at least funny in an unintentionally way. That movie? 1976's Grizzly. It was a surprise success at drive-ins with fans to the point that a year later the stars and director returned with a similarly schlocky, generally pretty bad flick again dealing with some angry killer animals. Here we go with 1977's Day of the Animals.

In the mountains in northern California, experienced trail guide and outdoor enthusiast Steve Buckner (Christopher George) is readying to take a group of hikers on a several day hike. It's a mini-vacation offered away from society with little in the way of supplies, a way of getting back to nature. His group includes about 15 people, most of them city folks enjoying their time away from city life. But being dropped off by helicopters high up in the mountains, Buckner and his group quickly discovers something is very, very wrong. Animals are attacking them at an almost non-stop pace. What's going on? Can they survive or will the waves of animals wipe them out? They don't know it, but down below in the lower altitude towns, the population is dealing with exactly the same issue. Humanity....seems....doomed!!!!

Yikes, what a dumb, really dumb movie. Having directed Grizzly the year before (with George also starring and returning), director William Girdler is at the helm of another ultra-low budget drive-in special. It was made for cheap and intended for some cheap thrills. Can't go wrong, right? Well, you would think so. I liked the B-movie/disaster movie potential, but it never comes together. What exactly is driving the animals mad? The possibility that humans use of aerosol cans is ripping apart the ozone layer (Okay, we're doing a good job of that) and....lets radiation beat down on the Earth that turns animals into vicious, unstoppable killers. Oh, and some humans too but not all humans because that would make the story rather predictable, wouldn't it? I like my B-movies ridiculous and over the top, but don't hit me with a message!

Still, I figured there was enough going on here to make it watchable. Following the disaster movie formula, 'Animals' brings together a group of disparate individuals and lets us start guessing as to who will survive and who is just fodder for the vicious animals. No huge star power here, but definitely some familiar names. Going back to TV's The Rat Patrol, I've always been a fan of George, and he's having fun. His friendly, charming trail guide doesn't stretch any acting muscles, but it's not meant to be. Some of his hiking group include Richard Jaeckel as a bird-watching, photography-loving professor, Leslie Nielsen as an advertising executive with some anger issues, Michael Ansara as the wise Indian who knows all, and Ruth Roman has a Mom trying to bond with her nature-loving son.

That's as far as the name recognition goes, but there are some other interesting parts. Mrs. Christopher George, Lynda Day George, plays a TV newswoman trying to get away from work, Paul Mantee as an aging NFL star with a serious medical issue, and everyone else from a married couple looking to mend some wounds, a young couple in love, and Roman's son who needs a father figure. Who will make it? Who won't? Will anyone? That's part of the fun.

It cracked me up more and more as the movie went along. The premise is pretty cool, a variation on the Lost Patrol idea with a group of individuals banding together to survive, an enemy hovering all around them waiting to pick them up. Something never clicks though. The low budget most affects the actual animal attacks with some very cheesy special effects. For the most part, the sense of doom works better than anything. We see animals moving parallel to George's group, waiting to strike. Cheap filmmaking technique? Animals can look pretty scary just filming them so all Girdler had to do was film animals walk around and set those scenes to impending doom music from composer Lalo Schifrin (his score a bright spot). There are some scares along the way, but never as good as it could have been.

That's the entire movie. I wanted to like it, but it doesn't work. It's mindlessly entertaining but it's also a tad sluggish and never really picks up any momentum. Sure, it's cool to see character actors like George, Jaeckel, Nielsen and Ansara get their shot, but there's a limit. My limit? Nielsen's ad executive progressively getting hit with radiation. That translates to him taking his shirt off (All that is MAN!!!) and threatening to kill the men, rape the women and fight all the animals. By far, the funniest scenes in the movie.

Day of the Animals (1977): * 1/2 /****

The Train Robbers

There is nothing particularly remarkable about 1973's The Train Robbers in any way.  As a western, it is nothing new to the genre, borrowing from other, better stories.  As an adventure, it's as straightforward as they come.  In terms of casting, it's fun to see some recognizable faces working together, their chemistry overshadowing the general average feeling of the movie. Like so many movies star John Wayne made later in his career though, it stands the test of time as the movie equivalent of comfort food.  Shut your brain off and sit back, enjoy the Duke being the Duke.

For lack of a better reason, I like this movie because of my childhood memories of The Train Robbers.  Watching it now, I still get the same enjoyment I did that I watched it when I was 10 or 11.  This was one of my Grandma's favorite westerns, one that she'd taped off of WGN at some point.  So every couple months when my sister and I would have a sleepover at her house, this was one of those movies I'd stay up until the wee hours watching.  So maybe that's why I like it so much in spite of its many flaws.  Not one of the Duke's best, but still an interesting, entertaining western.

In the isolated border town of Liberty, Texas, five gunmen, including grizzled cowboys, Grady (Rod Taylor) and Jesse (Ben Johnson), and young hotshots, Calhoun (Christopher George), Ben (Bobby Vinton) and Turner (Jerry Gatlin) wait for the inbound train. On board is an old friend, Lane (Wayne), who offers a dicey if promising deal.  With him is a widow, Mrs. Lowe (Ann-Margret), who wants to get the reward for the gold/money her since dead husband stole from a train. The gold has been stashed away in the desert some three or four days south somewhere in Mexico, but only Mrs. Lowe knows the exact spot.  With the chance to split the reward, they all join Lane and start out on the trail south, but they're not alone.  The other surviving members of the gang from the robbery years before are gunning for the gold. It's a race into the desert to see who can find it first.

Doing his typical solid if unspectacular, workmanlike job directing, Burt Kennedy has a problem with this movie which he also wrote. The movie is just 93 minutes long and at times feels like it was severely cut.  I've read nothing that confirms a longer version of The Train Robbers, but it is a surprisingly short movie.  Call it a gut reaction, but something was missing and maybe it was lost in the editing room.  What's left still manages to be full of holes.  Of the 91 minutes, I'd wager half is long/medium shots of riders on the horizon, Wayne and Co. riding south.  While tedious, it's not all bad.  Composer Dominic Frontiere's score is memorable, especially the main theme that you'll be humming for days. Two, the locations are gorgeous (Durango, Mexico for those curious) and familiar to fans of westerns.  Still, this movie feels more like a travel guide than a feature length film at times.

Somewhat predictable storyline aside (more on that later), the strength of the movie is in the casting, especially Wayne, Taylor and Johnson.  The Duke is as comfortable as ever as the western hero, and he plays well off of consummate vets like Taylor and Johnson.  As Grady, Taylor is that obnoxious friend who never shuts up, but you like him anyways.  As Jesse, Johnson plays a variation on every character he ever played, the grizzled but wise cowboy.  Their history is probably worthy of its own movie, but the trio has an ease on-screen that carries the movie through its slower portions.  George is the only one of the other three to distinguish himself as Calhoun, the fiery gunfighter along for the cash also trying to prove himself.  This is the 3rd review in a row I'll say it, but Ann-Margret God bless her is there for eye candy.  She succeeds magnificently by the way.

Writing this script, it seems pretty clear to me that Kennedy had an idea for the opening, the shootout over the gold in the middle of the desert, and then the final showdown back at the sleepy train station and town.  Anything else in between those three things? Eh, we'll figure it out.  That's where the long, uninterrupted shots of riders on the horizon come in, the repetitious campfire scenes.  Thankfully those three set pieces are worthwhile.  The dusty opening as the crew waits for the train is reminiscent of a similar opening in Once Upon a Time in the West.  The shootout in the desert around an over-turned train has an apocalyptic, other-worldly feel to it, and the finale has plenty of shooting and explosions to appease the action fan in all of us.  I just wished there was something else, something more.

Worth pointing out is a really solid surprise ending courtesy of Ricardo Montalban's mysterious hombre.  Up until this point, he's just been hovering around the story without a word said.  His twist he delivers is a classic, prompting a great exchange between Taylor and Johnson. It's a good movie overall, but I've always felt it could have been much, much better.  It's missing something that's hard to explain.  If curious, check it out at Youtube, watch the whole thing HERE.     

The Train Robbers (1973): ***/****

I Escaped from Devil's Island

Just a few days ago I reviewed 1973's Papillon starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman, a story about one man's continuing desperate attempts to escape from the French Guiana penal system in South America.  It's a big movie with its two Hollywood stars and generally has a polished, professional look to it.  It has the feel that you're watching what a movie should be.  So what if you took out the good acting, music, script and general sense of talent with a similar story?  That's 1973's I Escaped From Devil's Island.

Director/producer extraordinaire Roger Corman was one smart cookie, making a career out of one-upping the major studios. So when news hit Hollywood that Papillon with McQueen and Hoffman was being released, Corman and his studio raced to film and finish this epically bad B-movie and get it in theaters first.  Well, he accomplished his goal, 'Devil's Island' reaching theaters a month before Papillon.  But you know what?  Timing only means so much.  Quality helps too regardless of the date released.  This is an awful movie with the lowest of production values, a story that meanders around like it's confused, and a general feel of extreme boredom.  Enough for you?

It's in the 1910s in French Guiana on Devil's Island, and prisoner Lebras (Jim Brown) is about to be sentenced to death via the guillotine.  But right as the blade is about to fall, Lebras is saved as his death sentence is commuted to life in prison.  For this man, it means the same thing, and he goes about preparing his escape.  Everything is stacked against him because no one has ever successfully escaped from Devil's Island.  But with help from a trio of fellow prisoners, Devert (Christopher George), a Socialist, Jo-Jo (Richard Ely), a gay pickpocket, and Dazzas (James Luisi), Lebras puts his plan into effect. Battling everything the jungle has to offer, the quartet desperately runs, hoping to reach freedom before vicious guards and trackers catch them, or worse, Mother Nature dispatches them.

I feel kind of stupid even writing that much about the plot from a movie where the title gives everything away.  Some reviews I've read point to the movie being pure entertainment, no pretensions about being anything else.  Maybe I was watching the wrong movie, but I was bored to tears.  Filmed on an extremely low budget, 'Devil's Island' is certainly mimicking the much better Papillon with everything from story and sub-plots to the clothes the prisoners and guards wear.  But shot on location in Acapulco, this one reeks of cheapness.  I've said in the past low budget isn't a bad thing, and I stand by that statement, but when a movie is this bad it's hard to defend.

So with a B-movie and its lower standards, Corman and director William Witney basically get away with murder.  This movie has it all...excessive cursing, graphic violence with bright red fake blood included, gratuitous nudity, and a feel of out and out nastiness from start to finish.  The guards are sadistically evil with no redeeming qualities (Richard Rust and Eduardo Rosas Lopez play the worst offenders of guards), half the prisoners are flamboyantly gay and still manage to find lipstick in the South American jungle, and each and every prisoner is ready to turn on the other at any moment.  Even with an exploitation movie, I was somewhat surprised by the content that made it through the censors.  This is a coarse, never subtle B-movie that if nothing else certainly pushes the limits of decency.

Browsing through movies you can watch through Netflix's site, I stopped on this one because I liked the two stars, former NFL star Jim Brown and Rat Patrol star Christopher George.  Both actors are certainly slumming it here.  Brown was never an actor's actor, never in a whole lot of "classic" movies.  He made movies that fans liked and kept them entertained.  This part at least tries to be entertaining, but with a lack of any coherent script to unite things, Brown's character, Ledras, is not given any sort of background or back story.  He growls a lot and does his fair share of fighting and bedding down the ladies.  George has the more interesting of the parts, a leader of a Socialist group of prisoners, but that sub-plot is dropped almost as soon as it's brought up.  The only other name actor I recognized was Paul Richards who plays the one-armed prison commandant who mumbles his way through his part.

So if you're still reading, hopefully by now you've figured out this is an awful excuse of a movie.  There are no real redeeming qualities anywhere in sight, and nothing really to recommend at all.  The music by composer Les Baxter is laughably bad and out of place, mixing cliched action sounds with a smooth, cool jazz score. I think the weirdest thing I can say about this movie is a unique form of a torture I'm familiar with, but have never seen in a movie.  A guard goes after a prisoner and gives him a tittie twister, and not a quick one. We're probably talking a minute or two, on-screen and in sight all the time.  Yes, that's all I can recommend.

I Escaped from Devil's Island <---clip (1973): */****    

Grizzly

Released in 1975, Steven Spielberg's Jaws was a gigantic, huge phenomenal success that basically spawned the summer blockbuster. Naturally, it wasn't long before similar movies arrived on the scene dealing with mako sharks, orcas, piranhas, and giant squids. Notice a trend? They're all in the water. If like me, you've been looking for a Jaws ripoff on good old dry land, well, I found it, 1976's epically bad Grizzly.

What sets Grizzly apart from so many other Jaws ripoffs is that there is little to no effort whatsoever to actually distance itself from the original shark attack classic. You know, other than replacing the great white shark with a 15-foot grizzly bear. Whole scenes are completely ripped off so the writing staff probably saved a lot of time and effort just translating the story from the Atlantic Ocean to a National Park in the deep south, including my favorite, the new grizzly version of Robert Shaw's famous USS Indianapolis monologue. Sorry, couldn't find the video, but you can read it at IMDB's memorable quotes, third one down.

It's the height of the tourist season and park ranger Kelly (Christopher George) is dealing with a shortage of rangers to patrol the park's expansive grounds. Making it worse, some campers are found mangled beyond recognition out in the woods. Most think it's the work of a brown bear, but naturalist Arthur Scott (Richard Jaeckel) thinks it was a 15-foot tall grizzly bear weighing over 2,000 lbs., or twice the size of an average grizzly. With the help of local chopper pilot Don Stober (Andrew Prine), Kelly and Scott go out hunting with pressure on their back from the park supervisor who wants to keep the grounds open for all the cash that's flowing in.

Before I dive into this one, I should say I expected a clunker of epic proportions going into this B-movie. But even with those low expectations, Grizzly found a way to dig deeper. Working with a budget under $1 million, the whole movie has a cheap feel to it. Early on, the bear isn't even shown, instead we get POV shots from the mammoth grizzly with some growling and heavy breathing played on the soundtrack. Then, when the bear is shown, it's a paw or arm here. The full-on shots of the bear, a captive animal named Teddy, are impressive but it seems to be the same shot of the grizzly growling over and over again.

Thanks to that small budget, the death scenes are pretty laughable with buckets of red paint standing in for blood as hikers, hunters and assorted nameless bear meals are mauled and torn apart. Some nice Youtube user was nice enough to upload a video with all of Grizzly's kills, some worse than others, which you can see -- obvious SPOILERS -- here. My personal favorite, the young lady in bra and panties being hugged to death under a waterfall. Ah, good stuff. This all builds to the climactic helicopter vs. bear showdown that audiences were begging for with possibly the greatest use of a missile launcher in a movie EVER.

Stumbled across this gem because of the cast with three of my favorite character actors -- George, Prine and Jaeckel -- stepping into the limelight, sort of. This is clearly one of those movies where you showed up, delivered your lines and got your check for services rendered. All three seem to be enjoying themselves delivering the unintentionally funny lines, and listen closely for a few flubs of lines that were left in the final print. An awesomely bad movie if there ever was, Grizzly is 90 minutes of low-budget cheesiness that should provide some laughs if nothing else in a land version of Jaws.

Grizzly <---trailer (1976): **/****