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Customer Reviews of The War Wagon

Average Western despite star power
John Wayne playing Taw Jackson has just returned to Emmet, New Mexico after serving a three year term in prison. He was allegedly framed by bad guy Frank Pierce played by Bruce Cabot, who took over his homestead and land. While Wayne cooled his heels in prison, Cabot uncovered a huge vein of gold on the land and was getting rich mining it. His money bought him the allegiance of the law officers of the town. <
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>Cabot would transport his valuable hoarde from his ranch to El Paso in an armored wagon turreted with a gattling gun and accompanied by almost thirty outriders. <
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>Wayne seeking revenge formed an uneasy alliance with gunslinger Lomax played by Kirk Douglas. Douglas had been recruited by Cabot by a $10,000 bounty on Wayne's head. However Wayne's offer to share in the spoils of $500,000 in gold carried by the war wagon made Douglas a partner. Wayne recruited three other partners, explosives expert Robert Walker, Indian expert Howard Keel and inside man Keenan Wynn. Together they plotted to rob Cabot and his gold ladened wagon. <
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>While the plan was a success the outcome didn't go exactly as planned. Despite the statures of both Wayne and Douglas their collabration lacked chemistry religating "The War Wagon" to less than exceptional status.

"Look at those horses; what are they draggin'? Heavily guarded, what is that wagon?"
Framed and having served a prison sentence, Taw Jackson (John Wayne) is finally out and seeking revenge on Frank Pierce (Bruce Cabot), the mine owner who set him up and stole his land. Taw's scheme is to waylay Pierce's heavily guarded "war" wagon carrying a gold shipment worth half a million dollars. To assist him, he engages the services of a card-cheating Indian (Howard Keel), a young drunken explosives expert (Robert Walker Jr.) and a crazy old coot/wagoneer (Keenan Wynn). He is abetted also by Lomax (Kirk Douglas), a gunfighter/safecracker initially hired by Pierce to kill Taw, but who now is hedging his bets by playing both sides. As the day of the heist looms ever closer, Taw's team deals with petty animosities and mutual distrust of each other, as well as with the cagy Frank Pierce, who knows something is in the air. Will Taw be able to keep his team focused on the heist or will all the squabbling ultimately turn his dreams of retribution into fool's gold? And just whose side is Lomax really on? <
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>Based on the novel "Badman" by Clair Huffaker, this is a pretty diverting heist comedy, posing as a western. Director Burt Kennedy does this one by the numbers, but the movie is still elevated by the very capable veteran actors involved. John Wayne and Kirk Douglas make a fine team. The Duke is his usual gruff, no-nonsense iconic self, while Kirk matches him in machismo, bullets and quips. The friendly but perceptible rivalry between the two co-stars' characters is something well worth viewing. Bruce Cabot plays a good villain, savvy, calculating and determined to hold on to what he's stolen. A young Bruce Dern has an early supporting role as one of Pierce's henchmen. <
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>One amusing trivia fact: During the movie's filming, Kirk Douglas was late to the set one day because he was shooting a commercial endorsement for California Governor Edmund Brown. John Wayne was very irate but was late for work the following day because he himself had to shoot a commercial for candidate Ronald Reagan. <
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>This certainly doesn't come near the John Wayne all-time classic films. But by 1967, he had become such an icon and cinematic comfort food that, nevertheless, in the eyes of the moviegoers (me, included), War Wagon gleamed with the patina of the Duke's magic. The only minus to this film is the unnecessary romance between the explosives expert and Wynn's young bartered wife. But, driven by a rollicking theme music and interesting if stereotypical character play, this is a nicely-paced oater that's definitely worth 3 and a half stars and an hour and 41 minutes of the viewer's time. <
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