Movie Review: The Lucky Texan

I am an unapologetic fan of western movies - of course only the ones in which the conflict is between White people and I totally abhor those films in which Native Americans are portrayed as wild, cruel and uncultured people. Anyway when one thinks of western movies the first name that comes up is undoubtedly John Wayne. I have watched several of his movies including Big Jake, The Red River, among others.

The Lucky Texan is a movie that deals with the gold rush and how unscrupulous businessmen tried to usurp property of gullible individuals in the recent past in the United States. The protagonists in this movie are Jerry Mason effectively played by John Wayne and Jake Benson (George Gabby Hayes) who are partners in the gold mining operation. They have been able to keep their mining site a secret from everyone in the town. They want to extract as much gold as possible before they stake a claim on the mine so the area remains a secret.

Then there are two businessmen in the town who also have an eye on Jake Benson's ranch and are interested in knowing where the gold strike has happened. Meanwhile Jake's grand daughter comes to live with him from New York and life begins to get complicated. The businessmen follow Jake and try to kill him and steal his gold and then use some fraudulent documents to claim the ranch. Things take an ugly turn from here on but the end is funny court scene which has to be watched.

This movie is not one of the best of John Wayne's but it is definitely one that cemented his acting career. He is at his formative years as an actor and definitely has an appealing screen presence. It is available free to watch on Youtube, go ahead and enjoy it.

Tall in the Saddle - Movie Review

I am a big aficionado of John Wayne movies. I try and watch every movie I get hold of starring John Wayne. His imposing screen presence, smart dialogue delivery and rough demeanor make it highly entertaining. I have enjoyed his performances in Big Jake, Red River, and a whole list of others. I stumbled upon Tall in the Saddle on youtube and decided to watch this 1944 monochrome flick.

As expected the movie is all about the land, inheritance, treachery, gun men, swindling and of course horse riding. The movie is set in an era when there were no automobiles, the only mode of transport was horses and carriages. The movie starts with the arrival of Rocklin (Wayne) along with a beautiful young woman Clara Cardell along with her domineering aunt. Rocklin has come to work at the Cardell Ranch while Clara has come to claim her inheritance. Old man Cardell who promised employment to Rocklin is dead.

Rocklin has a run in with Arly Haroldy, the young and beautiful owner of the Topaz Ranch that adjoins the Cardell ranch. After being shamed Arly wants to take revenge and hires Rocklin as a foreman in her ranch. Things start getting nasty at this point, there is an attempt on Rocklin's life and he soon comes to know that some unscruplus elements are trying to cheat Clara off her property. Rocklin returns to town to settle scores and there ensures lots of fist fights and few gun fights before the movie draws to a close with a totally unexpected twist.

What I like about this movie is it is short and fast paced. There is no unnecessary conversation, and drama. The best part of the movie I'd say is not the gunfight or the fist fight but the smart one liners delivered effectively by John Wayne and the amazingly hilarious facial expressions and kinesthetics by the drunk carriage driver.

Thoroughly enjoyable I'd recommend this to anyone interested in western movies.

Movie Review: Big Jake

For having nothing much to do at home I borrowed this movie from the library. I must say I kinda liked the movie set in 1909. The movie features John Wayne in the leading role of the title character Jacob "Big Jake" McCandles, an aging rancher and near-legendary gunfighter estranged from his pretty family.

The movie starts with a ruthless gang of outlaws raiding the MacCandles ranch. The gang led by John Fain (Richard Boone), runs havoc on the ranch and murders some of the workers, wounds McCandles' eldest son (Bobby Vinton) and kidnaps the youngest member of the family for a ransom of $1 million. Martha (Wife of "Big Jake" McCandles) (Maureen O'Hara) summons Jacob through some messengers and tells him to find their grandson.

Though Jacob and his wife have been separated for nearly 10 years, they still love each other dearly. Jacob arrives by train and discuss a plan to take the ransom to the kidnappers and free the boy. Jacob warns that "Pay or not, we run the risk of never seeing the boy again". Martha has what is well known as a million dollars in a big red strongbox. Jacob is to deliver the box to the kidnappers. Jacob is packed quickly and ready to go along with his trusted "Native American" gunrunner.

The Texas Rangers led by Buck are close at hand ready to attempt a rescue, as is Jacob's son James McCandles (John Wayne's real-life son Patrick Wayne), whose initial greeting of Jake reveals a somewhat strained relationship. Michael McCandles (Christopher Mitchum) arrives by motorcycle and tells Martha that he saw the little boy alive. He suggests the Rangers can use the automobiles and set an ambush for the kidnappers. Buck (John Doucette) and the Rangers try to get Jacob to come along with them. The Rangers take off to set the trap in their new automobiles and are themselves ambushed at the very place they were planning to ambush the kidnappers.

The rest of the story is about their journey through the stunningly scenic wild west territory of South Texas and Mexico. Their gunfighting with the villains and rescuing "Little Jake" the grandson of "Big Jake". The journey and the hunt for kidnappers also serves to unite the long lost father with this sons and family.

In my opinion this is a great movie to watch. Fast paced, straight forward narrative and stunning photography. Worth every second spent watching the DVD, I'd say.

Movie Review: Appaloosa

I watched this Western set in New Mexico in the late 19th century (around 1880s). Based on a novel by Robert B. Parker, Appaloosa has all the elements that are in Westerns: stunning photography, friendship, romance, betrayal, gun fights, horse riding, etc. But this has a little twist, there is a little politics which involves high powered people no less than the President of United States, himself.

Refreshingly in this movie there is not much "Native American Battering". There is only one brief scene when a group of natives attack the bad guys. But we will talk about it later. One thing I still don't understand about people here. Even in this day and age (Appaloosa was shot in 2008), they want to present Native Americans as Indians. I wonder when these people will understand that Indians are the peoples from the country of India. These tribals here are Native Americans

Let us get on with the movie now. Set in the city of Appaloosa, the movie starts with a cold blooded murder of a sheriff and his two deputies by a private rancher and settler Randall Bragg. The town's folk are worried about this and call in the deadly duo Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) and his partner Hitch (Viggo Mortensen). Two expert gunmen who are lawmen for hire, they help towns enforce law and tackle their lawless folk.

Barely have they settled in than a beautiful women named Alison French (Renee Zellwigger) alights from the train. Quite expectedly, Cole falls madly in love with her and she seems to reciprocate. But Allison is not the typical girl-next-door, she is one scheming individual who always wants to be the top-man's partner. This leads to loads of complications in the lawmen's work.

The rest of the movie is a tale of deception, gun fights, courts and how anarchic the US was during the late 19th century. The scenario was like who shoots first lives. I wonder how it would be to live in such situations. Anyway I'd recommend the movie to anyone who is interested in westerns. Otherwise just pass it.