The Train Robbers (1973)

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Just perfect...

Admirable film.

A lot of fun.

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.

Train Robbers (1973): Dir: Burt Kennedy / Cast: John Wayne, Ann-Margaret, Rod Taylor, Ben Johnson, Ricardo Montalban: Appealing western about identity as John Wayne and his outlaws are hired by a widow to locate gold in order that she can return it. It was originally stolen by her late husband. Starts out fine until it falls into clichés with nameless gun slinging villains in hot pursuit zeroing in for a gun fight. Director Burt Kennedy is backed by great action sequences and a production that pays off. It doesn't quite measure up to The Wild Bunch or Stagecoach but fans of westerns will be entertained thoroughly. John Wayne plays the leader who knows the dangers that come with the territory yet evidently begins failing his judgements. Ann-Margaret plays the widow in the most interesting role. Wayne tells her to stand out in terms of how she dresses so to avoid certain death although he maintains watch over her well being at the same time. Supporting roles aren't as broad but feature Rod Taylor and Ben Johnson who are both capable performers. Ricardo Montalban is also featured in a key role but nonetheless the film mainly goes to the leads here. This is hardly the best western ever produced but it most certainly delivers on action scenes and all the clichés. Theme regards activities associated with oneself and the uncertainty of clouded decisions. Score: 6 / 10

This is another old John Wayne classic that, despite being a bit of an oldie, is still so much fun to watch. Being made as late as 1973 it is one of the later works of John Wayne. I quite like these later works where he is often playing a grumpy old hero.This movie is a good classical old western with a decent enough chunk of humor. It starts off fairly hilarious when Lane punches his friend for bringing a guy along who "could not take orders". The continued muttering and bickering between Lane and his two old war-buddies is one of the things that makes this movie so fun to watch.The story is a fairly simple one. A widow of a bank robber hires Lane and his friends to track down half a million in gold that said widow's husband stole and hid. Naturally there are other parties searching for the gold. The entire movie centers around Lane & Co though with the other parties just being kind of "around" which is perhaps a bit unusual. Apart from a few close-ups of a Pinkerton agent played by Ricardo Montalban (who of course will always be Khan for us sci-fi fans) and who has no major part to play until the end, we never really see the bad guys in any detail. They are just a bunch of men on horses riding over the country side or shooting at our heroes.As is often the case with American western movies the landscape and scenery is also a contributing factor to the enjoyment of the movie. The choice of the abandoned train wreck in the desert was an interesting, a bit unusual, and visually pleasing one. I have to say that the "town" where the train arrived with Lane and where the final fight took place was a wee bit disappointing though.It looked like three scattered houses and a water tower.The ending was just as hilarious as the beginning. Actually more so. I just loved it when Lane rode after the train and in answer to his friends question explained that he was going to rob a train.This was some very enjoyable 90 minutes indeed.

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.