Chisum

A cattle baron, along with Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett, battles a land grabbing outsider in the Lincoln County Cattle War.

Chisum can best be described as an almost ensemble movie. John Wayne is without a doubt the star and director Andrew V. McLaglen always frames him as such, but a great deal of screen time is given to the supporting cast. This can be disheartening at first, as none of them come close to Wayne’s screen presence, but Chisum is entertaining none-the-less.

As mentioned, none of the supporting cast can match John Wayne in terms of screen presence, but Glenn Corbett as Pat Garett, and Ben Johnson as James Pepper manage to hold their own and do a wonderful job of complimenting Wayne in their shared scenes.

The script by Andrew J. Fenady moves well, and sets up a great finale, though the film would have been stronger with a smaller cast of supporting players and more screen time for Wayne.

The direction by Andrew V. McLaglen is as capable as ever. Here he makes great use of the scenery and frames Wayne as an almost legendary character; a portrait that fits Wayne well. His only misstep is the shot selection during the final fight between John Wayne and Forrest Tucker: it’s too long and almost comical at times.