Captivating movie !

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

A good western with Wayne vs Forest Tucker. Throw in Billy the Kid, a gunslinger played by Christopher George (who would die in the near future, a loss since he was a decent character actor), and a range war. Not an oscar winner, but a fine western.

A typical star-driven late 60's Hollywood-oater, "Chisum" was entertaining but it's easy to see the rising appeal of grittier, harder Westerns like 1969's "The Wild Bunch" (a film reportedly disliked by John Wayne). Other than the iconic Wayne as the titular character and the always great Ben Johnson as his muttering sidekick, most of the cast looked like Hollywood actors and actresses playing at 'old-west' – hairstyles seemed anachronistic, women had tight fitting dresses, everyone had perfect teeth etc. Billy the Kid was portrayed as a pretty nice guy with his on-screen killings always justified (at least by him) and lots of references to him learning to read, do sums etc., and again, his mentor Tunstall is portrayed as an older British father-figure (he was actually less than 10 years older that The Kid). After watching John Wayne play a lot of 'larger-than-life' heroes like John Chisum, it's not surprising that some people were surprised by his actual acting ability when he finally played a more complex and ambivalent character in "True Grit". What I most disliked about "Chisum" was the music, especially the clichéd opening Ballad of John Chisum and the intrusive "Sally" song. All-in-all, an OK old-school western from an era when the genre was moving away from white hats vs. black hats story lines to more realistic (at least as realistic as a highly-fictionalised era can be), dirtier, and bloodier films.

Released is 1970 and directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, "Chisum" is based on the real-life Lincoln County War in New Mexico, which was a range war of feuding factions involving quite a few famous Old West people, like Billy the Kid (Geoffrey Deuel), sheriffs William Brady (Bruce Cabot) and Pat Garrett (Glenn Corbett), cattle rancher John Chisum (Wayne), lawyer and businessman Alexander McSween (Andrew Prine), and the organized crime boss Lawrence Murphy (Forrest Tucker). Christopher George is a highlight as a mean bounty hunter turned sheriff.As you can see, there are loads of characters and the film smartly takes its time setting them up and the social dynamics thereof. Everything explodes in the second half when one of the characters decides to take the law into his own hands. And who can blame him when the "law" is bought by money-man Murphy and is therefore corrupt? For another take on these same events see the excellent "Young Guns" (1988), which is a little more historically accurate.A film critic said "Chisum" was juvenile, but it's really not. Yes, there are some expertly choreographed gunfights, mostly in the final act, but the story is relayed in a realistic manner with quality characters and there's no goofy humor or slapstick, as in Ford's cavalry trilogy (1948-50). As far as women go, Pamela McMyler plays Chisum's likable niece and the Lynda Day George has a small role as the wife of the lawyer.Bottom Line: This is a realistic and rollicking latter-day Wayne Western based on real Old West characters. I rank it right behind "El Dorado" (1966) "True Grit" (1969), "The Cowboys" (1970) and "Rooster Cogburn." In its unique way, it's on par with "The Comancheros" (1961), "The War Wagon" (1967), "Rio Lobo" (1970) the underrated cult Western "The Train Robbers" (1973) and "The Shootist" (1976).The film runs 111 minutes and was shot in Durango, Mexico; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Calabasas, California.GRADE: B

Cattle ranchers John Chisum (John Wayne) and Henry Tunstall (an almost unrecognizable Patric Knowles) face off against villainous Lawrence Murphy (Forrest Tucker). Murphy has the corrupt law on his side, but that's okay because Duke has Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid! Fairly by-the-numbers western very loosely based on the real life Lincoln County War. A decent supporting cast, headed by Ben Johnson playing himself. There's also Bruce Cabot, Richard Jaeckal, Christopher George and soon-to-be wife Lynda Day, Andrew Prine, Glenn Corbett, and Geoffrey Deuel as Billy the Kid. All in all, not a bad bunch. It's all enjoyable enough but not one of Duke's best.