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This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Often brushed off as less than John Wayne's greatest, "The Train Robbers" has one of the best casts of the era, has some of the most gorgeous scenery, has some excellent dialogue, has some thoroughly admirable characters. and has more action than one could expect, or perhaps should expect, in its hour-and-a-half running time.John Wayne was perfectly cast as an honorable and brave man, and a good man, knowing he was getting old and realizing he could be crotchety -- somewhat of a running theme throughout, with the Ben Johnson and Rod Taylor characters also ruing the advancing years.(Where the Rod Taylor character tells the Ben Johnson character "Don't get old," I had a particular laugh because I must tell others that very thing at least once a day!)Jerry Gatlin was a very pleasant surprise. I don't believe I had noticed him before, and more often he is a stunt man, a breed I have unlimited admiration for; but in "The Train Robbers" he has a strong part. Watch him in his close-ups: He is a by gosh actor, strong but under-playing like the greats. This is an excellent performance!Bobby Vinton was one of the teen idols, or former teen idols, frequently popping up in John Wayne films, but his performance in this probably surpasses any of the others. Watching him in "The Train Robbers" all I can say is "Wow. He should have many more acting parts." Just a superb performance here.Chris George, here "Christopher George," is another I think should be much more highly regarded and remembered. He was another superlative actor and his 57 credits is far too few for a man of his talent. (I was once kissed by his gorgeous and also talented actress wife, Lynda Day George, but I had admired him even before that.)Rod Taylor should have been cast with John Wayne more often. He could carry a movie by himself, with his looks and ability, but he stood tall with the Duke and with that wonderful Ben Johnson, who was one of the greatest characters the movies ever had, even if a time or two he should have turned down the role.Ann Margret had several good scenes, but her first great one, well, all she had to do was walk outside and stand there, throwing her jacket over her shoulder. She was just perfect for a partner to John Wayne.Then in one other, when she has joined the men in fighting off the bandits, the silent visual exchange with the John Wayne character is just perfect in the acting and the directing and the photography.Burt Kennedy has probably never turned in better work, which he also wrote, and wrote well, and his cinematographer Bill Clothier was a perfect partner.Finally, the music by Dominic Frontiere was also perfect accompaniment to this totally enjoyable movie. A friend, another John Wayne fan, gave me a DVD with "The Train Robbers" and "Tall in the Saddle" and I will be able to watch again and again.I highly recommend this film.

THE TRAIN ROBBERS is another solid John Wayne adventure, not one of his best stories but certainly watchable enough. It's a film where you can just sit back and enjoy both the ruggedness of the scenery and the main actor, the performances of the recognisable supporting cast members, and the regular action bits with all of the shoot-outs, horse riding, and fist fights you could want. These films are neither the best nor the worst of the genre; they're merely pretty good, and pass the time ably enough.Wayne leads a posse of cowboys who are tasked by a beautiful widow to receive a missing gold shipment located on the far side of the desert. The film follows their journey through a hostile terrain as they face pursuit by the dedicated Ricardo Montalban and battles with various murderous bandits. There's a heck of a lot of horse riding here if that's your thing. Wayne is well supported in this one by a fading Rod Taylor (little seen after the 1960s), a hardy Christopher George, and the reliable Ben Johnson. Ann-Margaret does quite well in the rather thankless widow role.

Mrs. Lowe (Ann-Margret) is a widow of a man who led a 10 men gang who robbed a train of $500k of gold. He hid the gold, but was killed before he could return to it. She wants to tell railroad the location of the gold so she could clear the family name for her son. Lane (John Wayne) convinces her to get the gold themselves to get the $50k reward money. Lane gathers up his gang, but is soon being followed by others who want the gold for themselves.The biggest problem for this movie is the motivations. John Wayne is so perfectly good. There's a half a million dollars out there, and he never tries to steal it. When it's all over, they even give away the reward money. And Mrs. Lowe's story doesn't add up. She should be worried about being robbed showing the location. There is an easy trust at the start that makes no sense. Even with the reveal, the trust seems out of place. Everybody's motivations are all seen through rose colored glasses.The setting is beautifully desolated. Director/writer Burt Kennedy blew up a few things. It looks good. The action is reasonable, but the shootouts aren't that exciting. The story is straight forward and bland. It's an uninspired western.

I missed the first five minutes of this movie and thought I was watching a B movie western from the 1960s starring the Duke . It wasn't until I came onto this site to type my comments that this production was released in 1973 . Think about it . John Wayne had received an Oscar three years previously and Ben Johnson had received a Best Supporting actor Oscar for THE LAST PICTURE SHOW and yet here they were appearing in a Western that screamed B movie that American studios churned out in the 1950s and 60s . Everything is framed and shot like you'd expect from a Hollywood movie from that era It should also be remembered that with the release of BONNIE AND CLYDE in 1967 the whole Hollywood structure and ethos was changing . Films were geared to a younger audience with dubious morality and one can't help wondering who is the market for this type of film that still epoused White Anglo Saxon protestant ideals