5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Three great movies., June 19, 2006
This review is from: The John Wayne Collection, Vol. II (Big Jake / The Shootist / The Sons of Katie Elder) (DVD)
The three DVDs have no extras besides the one feature on The Shootist so I will focus on the movies:
The Sons of Katie Elder has two huge stars, John Wayne and Dean Martin, as the two eldest of the Elders. Earl Holliman and Michael Anderson star as the two younger Elder brothers. All four sons come back to town of Clearwater, Texas, to see her buried and pay their respects. The story is about a broken family trying to find peace but also four sons trying to find out who had killed their father and made their mother move from the family's land. Lots of gun fights but also lots of humor between the four brothers.
Big Jake has two stars who are the main focus of the movie. Of course there is John Wayne as Big Jake and then there is Richard Boone as the head of an outlaw gang who has kidnapped Little Jake, Jake's grandson. Richard Boone would show up in a few of John Wayne's films. There is a lot of humor in this movie but the gun fights are also bloody and dark. Maureen O'Hara is in the first act as his wife he hasn't seen in 18 years.
The Shootist is the last film John Wayne would be in and the 69th Western he made. Tons of star power. Richard Boone, James Stewart, Laurea Bacall, Ron Howard, Bill McKinney, John Carradine, Harry Morgan. Hugh O'Brian and more. The story, based on a book by the same title, is about a gunslinger who finds out his days are numbered and he tries to find peace during his final hours. The character of John Bernard Books, played by the ill and tired John Wayne, really comes out as realistic (maybe because John Wayne knew his days were short also). The film is well crafted and one of the first John Wayne movies I ever saw. From the start with the black and white clippings of Wayne movies that act as a background, a history, of the shootist's life to the scene of Ron Howard walking away from the last gunfight everything is set carefully into place like a lovely puzzle. Some of the lines in the movie, many copied right out of the book, sound like wishful echoes of a time long gone.
This three movies are a must for any Western collection.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worthy, May 31, 2005
This review is from: The John Wayne Collection, Vol. II (Big Jake / The Shootist / The Sons of Katie Elder) (DVD)
First of all, in "The Sons of Katie Elder", it is obviously still a wild wild west and so "Katie Elder" of this movie cannot be the relatively well-known frontier figure, "Big Nose Kate" Elder, Doc Holliday's girlfriend. (If you don't know who Doc is, you're in the wrong genre). Still, she must have been quite a gal as her oldest son (Wayne) is in his late 50s and looks it and his youngest (Michael Andreson, Jr) is in his 20s (but plays it younger). It's a decent tale of revenge with Wayne in a typical larger-than-life role though he was secretly sickly at the time. The other two flicks are more worth the ride. "The Shootist" portrayal might have even been Oscar-worthy in another year in a story of a dying gunfighter who faces a final challenge with three baddies. The character study includes standout performances in small roles by the ever-sexy Sheree North (in middle age), Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard, Jimmy Stewart and other well-known faces from Westerns. Richard Boone and TV's "Wyatt Earp", Hugh O'Brian, are two of the gunslicks in a memorable saloon shootout. Richard Boone had also been the chief bad guy in "Big Jake" where Wayne's grandson (in real life his young son Ethan) had been kidnapped from the care of his ex (Maureen O'Hara) for ransom. Son Patrick Wayne also appears, along with Wayne friend Bruce Cabot, and a dog named "Dog" who only has to have Big Jake call his name to cow an offensive person with an impatient threatening growl. All in all, a good package of Duke stuff.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Better Collection Than The First Three.............., March 9, 2007
This review is from: The John Wayne Collection, Vol. II (Big Jake / The Shootist / The Sons of Katie Elder) (DVD)
The Shootist at least had the extra features and interviews the other DVD's are lacking. Such a shame, so much more could be added to the other DVD's in this collection as well as the 1st volume. You will have to love them on the movies alone........
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