Westerns of the 60's: The Sons of Katie Elder

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In 1963, John Wayne stunned Hollywood by announcing that he had cancer. Incredibly, "The Duke" would beat it (but it wouldn't be the last as it would reappear again in 1978 that led to his death a year later) and it came in the middle of a Western that he was filming (which had to be put on hold during that time): That was The Sons of Katie Elder.

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Produced and directed by Henry Hathaway and officially released in 1965, the story begins innocently enough with Katie Elder dying poor (she is never seen but in 1971 they brought back the character that would be played by Faye Dunaway in Doc) and that leads Morgan Hastings (James Gregory) and his friend Curley (George Kennedy) to make the decision of bringing back her sons for the funeral in Clearwater, Texas: John (Wayne of course), Tom (Dean Martin-six years after Rio Bravo with 'The Duke'),

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Bud (Michael Anderson), and Matt (Earl Holliman). Everything seems to be going fine but when Hastings kills the town's sheriff Billy (Paul Fix) John Elder knows that is time to retaliate.

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As the movie moves along we found out why Katie died as a poor woman: The brothers would not allow their mother to drink and be a gambler. My father is a big fan of Dean Martin and he really like this movie; although he has stated that he didn't like it when (spoiler coming) his character Tom gets killed.

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Above all, The Sons of Katie Elder is still a good western movie. Martha Hyer, Dennis Hopper, and Strother Martin co-star (it's a fact to know that Kennedy, Hopper, and Martin would co-star again two years later in Cool Hand Luke).

(Here is a scene that takes places early on in the movie in which the brothers discuss what should be put on their mother's tomb:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?bv=yckxR97KJ1A