Cahill: United States Marshall (1973)

Strong and Moving!

Please don't spend money on this.

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

One of the many Stereotypical Westerns that John Wayne made in His Waning Years. The Exceptions being True Grit (1969) and the Curtain Call, an Excellent Film, The Shootist (1976), Directed by the Great Don Siegel.In this one Wayne tries Half-Heartedly to Soften His Racist Image and the Conservative Persona by Inserting a Native-American as His Tracking Buddy and ONE SCENE where He swats His Son for dissing a "Squaw".Of course, none of this Contrived Apology would do anything to curry favor from His Detractors who were on the "Warpath" in 1970's America.The Film looks good with an Overrated and Pedestrian Score from Elmer Bernstein and a number of Familiar Faces. The Movie isn't much more than a rehashed Story of Fatherly Neglect and Rebellious Youth.It contains a few Scenes of the "New" but Toned Down Action (Wayne would have none of that new fangled Ultra-Violence), but the Story is so Heavy-Handed it gets Bogged Down at times as it labors on and on with its "Message".Worth a Watch for Wayne Fans but others can Skip-It.

'Cahill' is a film which follows US Marshal J.D. Cahill, played by John Wayne, on the trail of a group of bank robbers. To Cahill's surprise, he finds out that his two sons were implicit in the robbery, and he feels compelled to adapt his usual no-nonsense form of law enforcement. The film doesn't have one of the strongest Western plots, and it doesn't contribute anything substantial to the wider genre (especially for a 1973 film), but a number of qualities in 'Cahill' greatly benefit this title. McLaglen's film contains some of the most enjoyable cinematography I've ever seen in a Western, and I'd say that it almost compares to some of Sergio Leone's material in this regard. Moreover, the supporting cast is pretty great: George Kennedy portrays the menacing antagonist, and delivers a performance comparable to Lee Van Cleef's Angel-Eyes ('The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'); Neville Brand also shines as Cahill's war-chief accomplice, Lightfoot; and lastly, Clay O'Brien, around the age of 12 in 'Cahill', delivers an admirable performance. The film, for the reasons given, shouldn't be considered alongside the likes of 'Once Upon a Time in the West' or 'High Noon', but in its own right can be very enjoyable, and I was profoundly surprised when I saw that it only had a 6.5 IMDb rating. I consider it one of Wayne's stronger films, and I think it does a substantially better job than some of the other films from Wayne's later years, such as 'Big Jake' and 'Rooster Cogburn'.

(6/10) Not a great film, but is underrated simply for the fact that this is labeled by many as one of Wayne's weaker westerns in the latter stages of his career. Duke has a great supporting cast around him highlighted by Neville Brand as Indian tracker Ben Lightfoot, and villain George Kennedy. The Fink couple and writing team famous for penning Dirty Harry lacked originality for bringing up the same plot devices used in the Duke western Big Jake they wrote two years prior (Wayne choosing a gun slinging career over his children and Wayne teaming up with an Indian tracker). However I can forgive them since both areas were improved in this go around. Although some of their writing, such as Kennedy's sudden change of heart when Billy Jo was sick, was pretty weak.

Many liberals like to bitch John Wayne out - I know because being a left-winger I have to put up with whiny liberals for company! What many of these liberals forget is that John Wayne - whilst politically unacceptable in many ways - was still an actor and a human being. Something some ''liberals'' complain about is Republican political oriented criticism on liberal actors and directors and the disrespect of the artistic talents of these liberal personages. I see no difference in disrespect to a left-winger or a right-winger so the hypocritical stance of these liberal ''film fans'' doesn't do their ideology any favours.The film 'Cahill U.S. Marshal' whilst not being the greatest of westerns, is an enjoyable western with a good message - which isn't as Republican or right-wing as some other voters claimed. The wonderful acting from John Wayne and George Kennedy is on par with their best work, the plot is original and the opening of the film is fantastic and rousing.One of the features that other voters have not commented on is the music by Elmar Bernstein. The score for 'Cahill' is amongst the great composer's finest work and the song 'A Man Gets To Thinking'' sung by Charlie Rich is a good theme on par with the 'True Grit' by Glen Campbell and I am sure that a lot of Country and Western fans - I am only mildly enamoured with this genre - will enjoy it.