Touches You

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Four brothers reunite in Clearwater, Texas to attend the funeral of their mother--Katie Elder. None of them has been very attentive to her needs, but their neglect has not been intentional. They are all wanderers. When they return to Clearwater, they discover how little they know of Katie's recent circumstances.John Elder (John Wayne) is a renowned gunfighter and the father figure to his younger brothers. Tom (Dean Martin) is an inveterate gambler who likes to manipulate the odds. Earl Holliman plays Matt, next to youngest. And Michael Anderson, Jr. is Bud, the youngest--a reluctant student who is always ready to prove his mettle.As the sons visit local merchants and the town bank, hoping to settle Katie's accounts, they find that the townspeople knew her better than they did. One woman, Mary Gordon (Martha Hyer), plays the good neighbor while they are in town, just as she had promised Katie.Two mysteries arise: Why had Katie moved from the family homestead? And who had killed their father? In the first part of the film, the men investigate, unable to let go. The rest of the film is a series of actions sequences.John Wayne plays his usual cowboy self--forceful and determined. Earl Holliman is solid as Matt. Martin and Anderson are less natural in their portrayals. Martha Hyer plays Mary in a wonderfully understated fashion. The remainder of the cast includes a delightful collection of character actors who add color and are fun to recognize.The musical score feels forced and reminiscent of other, larger films. When the insistent strains of the orchestra back up a scene on horseback where the action is sedate, it feels inappropriate. I blame the director, not composer Elmer Bernstein.I really enjoyed the way the story develops in the first half of the film--with subtlety and sophistication. The second half is your standard shoot 'em up.

The four Elder boys return to Clearwater, Texas for their beloved mother Katie's funeral after some time. The eldest John (John Wayne) is an infamous gunslinger. Tom (Dean Martin) is a gambler. Matt (Earl Holliman) had an unsuccessful hardware store. The youngest Bud (Michael Anderson, Jr.) was sent away to school after he was accused of stealing a horse. Their father had sold the family ranch to new land baron Morgan Hastings (James Gregory) under mysterious circumstances. The bank insists that Katie had no money despite selling the land. Hastings hired gun thug Curley (George Kennedy) just in case. Sheriff Billy Wilson tells the boys that Hastings says their father gambled the money away and then got shot in the back, all in the same night.Bud Elder is terribly annoying and the young actor is doing very broad acting. This is all very old-fashion. For any old western fans, this is a perfectly fine watch. It also has a younger Dennis Hopper as well as big names like John Wayne and Dean Martin. The story is pretty interesting with some compelling villains. It's not one of the great westerns but it is a well made traditional one.

This well-known Western hasn't aged too well. It has a few good lines, and Wayne projects inimitable stage presence, but "The Sons" is too long by half, does not live up to its promise, and ends anticlimactically.George Kennedy excels as a menacing, sadistic hired gun but he isn't given enough to do. Dennis Hopper does well as a sniveling coward but neither is he used to advantage. Dean Martin brings his boozy reprobate to the frontier but wastes screen time as Wayne's ne'er-do-well brother. The Martha Hyer character is too much the moralistic schoolmarm but nevertheless manages to inject a little romantic interest into a film in which she's the only female. But even that comes to naught.I hardly ever notice the music in a film but this one's score is impressive. I enjoyed the way heroic music played whenever the brothers rode together as a crew. I write my reviews before seeing anyone else's. Now I'll go back and read what others have written to see what all the fuss is about, since to my mind "Katie" is an undeserved classic.

After their mother's death , four brothers are reunited . John Wayne is a gunslinger , Earl Holliman is an easy and silent young , Michael Anderson Jr. is a college graduate and Dean Martin is a drunk gambler. When they aware that her mother's death might have been killing , they come together to devise a a way to seek vengeance in the murderer , James Gregory , who hires an ominous gunfighter , George Kennedy , along with bullies and hoodlums . As the ranch owner Katie Elder's four sons determine to avenge the murder of their father and the swindling of their mother .But the marshal, Paul Fix, tells them to lay off .This cultured actioner Western contains a wonderful friendship between brothers , thrills , dashingly violent action , rider pursuits , impressive attacks and loads of crossfire . In ¨The sons of Katie Elder" Hathaway does the human touch including lots of nice moments , it is a very fine picture that could become another western worthy of any anthology . This John Wayne movie is well in the tradition of classics as ¨The Magnificent seven¨, ¨Garden of evil¨ or ¨The searchers¨ . One of the Duke's most popular film of the 60s ,-in his first character following cancer surgery- as well as ¨¨The Alamo¨, ¨Rio Bravo¨, ¨El Dorado¨and ¨McLintock¨. In the film "The sons of Katie Elder" the spectator enjoys because it has a lot of issues that make it agreeable . Even the female character played by attractive Marta Hyer, reveals a woman who knows that she wishes and makes it irresistible . Large support cast formed by Western usual players as Paul Fix , James Gregory, Earl Holliman and special mention to big Dean Martin . Breathtaking and lively musical score by Elmer Berstein , one of the best of Western genre along with ¨The Magnificent Seven¨ and ¨Comancheros¨ soundtracks. Colorful and spectacular cinematography in Cinemascope and Techniclor by Lucien Ballard.This well-paced in cracking style flick is stunningly directed by Henry Hathaway and usually works very well . He does the human touch and full of insight that accompanied him during most of his films and the story develops pleasantly in a large frame with an interesting plot and fully adjusted to the requirements of the action .The motion picture is professionally directed by Henry Hathaway with strong screen presence by John Wayne , both of whom collaborated in various Westerns , they included ¨Five Card Stud¨ , ¨North to Alaska¨ and Wayne's Academy Award-winning ¨True grit¨. Hathaway himself was only even nominated for an Oscar , but his movies themselves are testimony to his skills to heighten narrative tension and shoot action so exhilarating it made adrenalin run . Henry was a craftsman who had a long career from the 30s with successful films , and especially Westerns , as ¨Brigham Young¨ and ¨Raw Hide¨ . In his 60s Hathaway still got the vigour to make some fiery movies as ¨From Hell to Texas¨, ¨How the West was won¨, ¨Nevada Smith¨, and ¨Shoot out¨ . He was an expert on Western genre as he proved in ¨True grit , Five card stud , Nevada Smith ,How the West was won , Rawhide , Brigham Young , Buffalo Stampede, Garden of evil¨ and of course ¨The sons of Katie Elder¨. Rating : nice Western that will appeal to John Wayne fans.