This John Wayne film is easily the most amiable
of any of his Westerns. At two-hours it stretches itself a bit as there isn't
much drama, but has some good humor and a few sock em ups. They could have
put up a notice at the beginning. No Native Americans killed. A nice change.
Wayne had a lot of input into the film and he wanted a light-hearted film
in which Native Americans were shown more sympathetically than his other
Westerns. This is sort of a combination of The Taming of the Shrew and The
Quiet Man transferred to the West. It is almost home week as many of the
actors are ones that Wayne had worked with in Ford films. He also hires his
son Patrick as a co-star and Andrew V. McLaglen as director. McLaglen was
of course the son of actor Victor McLaglen, a good friend of Wayne. The one
critical sticking point for many is that Wayne seems to think the way to
a woman's heart is spanking her bottom. But again, it is Taming of the Shrew
in which Shakespeare did much worse to his Katherine.
Wayne's Katherine is played by the wonderful
Maureen O'Hara who is an incredibly good sport in this - besides being spanked
(for real she said) the one time, also gets tossed into the mud, falls down
the stairs, chases a carriage and hops on and has an epic slapstick finale
in her petticoats. O'Hara had already co-starred with Wayne in Rio Grande,
The Wings of Eagles and the classic The Quiet Man. She gives the film the
energy it needs as Wayne basically gets out of her way.
Rarely has Wayne been this likable in a
film. He plays McLintock who basically runs the town of McLintock and the
surrounding land as a cattle baron. But a very kindly one. Treats his men
well and is generous to all. His one cranky point is his wife Katherine aka
Katie who left him two years earlier with no explanation and has become a
figure in the state's high society. She returns in order to take her daughter
Rebecca (Stephanie Powers) away from the ranch. Wayne hires Dev (Patrick
Wayne) to work and play chess and his mother (Yvonne de Carlo) to cook.
Katherine now sees herself as a lady too
good for this podunk town and a man who drinks too much. But her hidden smiles
say something very different. Also appearing are Chill Wills, Edgar Buchanan,
Strother Martin, Hank Worden, Leo Gordon and Bruce Cabot. Sadly, Ward Bond
had died three years earlier or no doubt he would have been there. I enjoyed
this though it seems few others did. Not at all what I was expecting from
a Wayne Western. It was a big hit and McLaglen went on to direct a few other
Westerns of note, Shenandoah, The Rare Breed, Bandolero and Chisum.
