Watch The War Wagon For Free

A Masterpiece!

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

I saw this at the pictures as a kid in the 60s and loved the action scenes at the film's climax. 50 or so years on I find I can happily sit through an afternoon showing of it on TV. It's fairly formulaic for Wayne but its strengths are in the (relatively) inventive plot and the expert interplay between Wayne and Douglas. One if those movies Wayne made now and again that have a big more spark in the dialogue.One notable line near the beginning is where Douglas' character refers to Keenan Wynn's as a 'crazy old man'. In reality Wynn was less than 5 months older than Douglas.

To many westerns fans, John Wayne is the ultimate symbol of the silver screen cowboy, and in his long career he clocked up many classic westerns and some not so. He was also capable of shifting from serious westerns to much more humorous ones with ease. This is one that falls into the latter category. It's a fun film with a simple but engaging plot.The movie begins with Wayne been released from prison after been framed by a ruthless miner played by Bruce Cabot, who has taken his land away and Wayne wants revenge by robbing him of his gold which is been transported in an armour plated horse carriage. He forms a mismatched group of desperadoes - Kirk Douglas (a gunslinging safe cracker), Howard Keel (a conniving Indian), an alcoholic explosives expert and a greedy "inside" man.It's amusing to see Wayne on the wrong side of the law for a change and that's just one of the surprising aspects of the film. Another is the unexpected situations that occur now and again throughout the plot, most of which involves the wary relationship between Wayne and Douglas, which is ambiguous to say the least. You're never sure if they're going to stand by each other, con each other or shoot each other. The star chemistry, amusing character interactions, wisecracking banter, and fun action (a bar room brawl been a particular hilarious highlight, which has everything but the kitchen sink thrown in) all combine nicely to make it an entertaining, tongue in cheek comedy caper and one of The Duke's overlooked westerns from the latter part of his career.

By the late 1960s the Western as an art form was pretty much fagged out and this is a nearly perfect example of its decadent period.Douglas is hired to knock off Wayne but discovers that, if he throws in with Wayne's plan, he stands to make much more money. The plan is to rob a wagon train full of gold. The problem is that the wagon is armored and equipped with a Gatling gun. Wayne and Douglas remain friendly enemies and trade wisecracks but they combine their efforts. They dig up a queer crew of gangsters including an Indian, Howard Keel, and a youngster who is an expert in explosive and an abject drunk, Robert Walker, Jr.It's as if everyone involved recognized the futility of continuing CPR on the corpse and just gave up. It was directed by Burt Kennedy, who wrote some of the most interesting little Westerns imaginable for Randolph Scott. His direction is pedestrian.Howard Keel, almost unrecognizable under his make up, I suppose is added for comic effect but isn't funny. Often the producers will insist on adding a younger actor for appeal to a different audience -- Ricky Nelson here, Fabian or some other heart throb there. In "The War Wagon" it's Walker and the attempt fails. He's not cute, talented, or appealing, although for all anyone knows he might be a splendid young man in real life, with a stamp collection and a Shih Tzu.If there's a cliché missing, I didn't notice. It's opens with a lively Country and Western tune about the things men will do for one of those wagons full of gold. (Music by Dmitri Tiomkin. Dmitri -- what happened to YOU?) We have one of those bar room brawls in which everyone is slugging everyone else without reason. Men have sturdy chairs splintered over their backs, then turn around and bash the guy who wielded it. Men are thrown through windows. A piano is flung around. Banter: the two heroes shoot a couple of bad guys. Douglas: "Mine hit the ground first." Wayne: "Mine was taller." A wagon load of flour detaches itself from the horses, as all racing wagons must, before rolling off a cliff and exploding at the bottom. Danger: Radioactive Flour.Even Wardrobe gave up. Wayne is dressed as he was always dressed in his later, less imaginative Westerns: jeans, pink shirt, vest, bandanna up around his chin, and the usual beige hat. Douglas is dressed as no cowboy ever was: an olive-green suede vest and matching boots. He wears what appears to be a pair of leotards. He has a black leather glove on his left hand and a big silver ring on the outside of the glove.No need to go on. I sat through it years ago and tried again recently but couldn't do it. It was almost painful to see some of these actors growing old and flabby, hefting themselves onto horses yet again, for the long ride downhill to the end of the trail.

John Wayne and Kirk Douglas, both big stars of the period, team up in THE WAR WAGON to steal $500,000 in gold and wreak revenge on a nasty land baron (Bruce Cabot) who has stolen Wayne's ranch while Wayne was in prison. Douglas' gunslinger character initially is hired by Cabot to eliminate Wayne, but ends up falling in with Wayne when promised a much bigger payoff. Along the way, they gather together a motley group (including Howard Keel as a feisty Indian and Robert Walker Jr. as an explosive expert) to grab Cabot's gold. A grizzled Keenan Wynn also is along for the ride. The title refers to a steel-plated wagon, an early version of an armored car, that Cabot uses to transport his gold. Douglas, who appears to have done all his own stunts, steals virtually every scene he is in, but he and Wayne manage to play very well together. An unusual role for the Duke, playing an ex-con with robbery and murder on his mind. Watch for a very young Bruce Dern as a hired thug.