FILM REVIEW OF ''PAYMENT IN BLOOD'' (ITALIAN-1967)

“Payment in Blood” qualifies as a violent, above-average Spaghetti western shoot’em up with a high body count. Like director Sergio Leone’s bigger budgeted “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” the lower budgeted “Payment in Blood” (**1/2 out of ****) concerns the quest for buried treasure. The outlaw villains embark on a search for a fabled fortune, approximately $200-thousand, stashed at an undisclosed location by Confederate General Beauregard. Of course, anybody who knows anything about Civil War history knows Beauregard had no such loot. Typically, most westerns that appropriate this plot attribute the lost Confederate gold to President Jefferson Davis. Ironically, during the opening credits sequence, which contains a montage of Civil War photographs, Beauregard’s portrait is conspicuous by its absence, while pictures of Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, and Ulysses S. Grant proliferate. The protagonist, Stuart (Edd Byrnes), has a grudge to settle with the head villain (Guy Madison) and his gang of bloodthirsty gunmen.

Primarily known overseas as “Seven Winchesters for a Massacre,” “Payment in Blood” was writer & director Enzo G. Castellari’s third western. Castellari’s first western as a director was "Few Dollars for Django" for which he received no credit, and “Any Gun Can Play” was his second oater, with a bigger, better cast. “Payment in Blood” isn’t as good as either “Any Gun Can Play” or a later Castellari Civil War western “Kill Them All and Come Back Alone” with Chuck Connors. Long-time screenwriting collaborator Tito Carpi of "Few Dollars for Django" and "Bullets and the Flesh" scribe Marino Girolami penned the formulaic plot with Castellari for “Payment in Blood.” The difference between “Payment in Blood” and “Any Gun Can Play” is the latter is more elaborate than the former. “Payment in Blood” amounts to a rather contrived western that uses the venerable plot about an individual who goes undercover to infiltrate a gang of homicidal criminals and thwart them. The dialogue is neither as amusing as “Any Gun Can Play,” but “Payment in Blood” boasts a surprise ending. Although it seems like scores of men wind up with bullet holes during the numerous shoot-outs, “Payment in Blood” lacks the titular element that became such a fixture in later westerns like “The Wild Bunch.”

The action takes place in Texas in 1867 after the conclusion of the American Civil War. A renegade Confederate officer, Colonel Thomas Blake (Guy Madison of “Drums in the Deep South”), refuses to give up the cause. During the opening moments of “Payment in Blood,” writer & director Enzo G. Castellari introduces us to not only the pugnacious Blake but also the hellspawn riding with him. Included in this notorious gang are Chamaco Gonzales (Ennio Girolami of "The Hellbenders"), knife-throwing Rios (Aysanoa Runachagua of “El Cisco”), Fred Calhoun (Federico Boido of "Planet of the Vampires"), bullwhip wielding Zeb Russel , and Mesa Alvarez (Attilio Severini of “Massacre at Grand Canyon”) who likes to kill with his spurs. Blake and his marauders carry out indiscriminate raids. They steal horses, loot homes; kill men, women and children without a qualm. Nameless supporting players standing around wanted posters of Blake’s men impart most of this information when they aren’t complaining about Blake’s depredations. The reward on Blake’s head has risen to $5-thousand. Chamaco rides into a town one day and eavesdrops on a conversation between a crippled, former Confederate soldier and a cowboy. “What can you expect from a rotten war like ours? Brother against brother. When you teach a man it’s right to kill, how can you unteach him?” The other man observes about Blake’s killers: “They have learned to like being heroes. They’ve learned to like killing.” Chamaco confronts the crippled Southerner, Jeremy, because the latter had ridden with General Beauregard and may know the location of the lost treasure. Before he can learn anything from Jeremy, Chamaco has to kill him. A military tribunal sentences Chamaco to die in front of an army firing squad. Stuart surprises the military and rescues Chamaco just as the soldiers are about to execute him. You see, Stuart is driving a covered wagon past the firing squad when he delivers his ultimatum to the army. He shoots the tip off the officer’s sword and several Winchester rifles spring out from the wagon, suggesting that several riflemen are aiming those repeaters. As it turns out, nobody has their shoulders against these long guns, and Stuart has packed a crate of dynamite in the wagon bed so when one of the soldiers opens fire on the vehicle, the wagon vanishes in an explosion.

Chamaco takes Stuart to Blake’s camp after they sneak across the Rio Grande. The place is like a natural fortress and Blake has a Gatling gun covering the entrance. Chamaco and Stuart pass inspection by the various sentries. It seems that Stuart rode with Beauregard, too, and served as one of the general’s chiefs of staff. The scenes where Stuart meets each of Blake’s gang and matches them at their own expertise are entertaining. The filming and editing of Zeb snatching the revolver out of Stuart’s holster with a bullwhip is exciting. Interesting, Mesa doesn’t perform one of his trademark flips using his spurs as deadly weapons. Each of Blake’s men has something distinctive about them from their look, heritage, and choice of weapon. After he arrives in Blake’s camp, Stuart refuses to divulge the whereabouts of the loot to the cunning colonel. Instead, Blake and his men leave the sanctuary of Mexico, cross the Rio Grande again, but with inevitable bloodshed, and ride into Texas. Along the way, they run into their first surprise and her name is Manuela (Luisa Baratto of “"Bloody Pit of Horror"). She keeps them pinned down with gunfire in one scene before they get the better of her. Feisty women are not a convention of the Spaghetti western. Before Blake’s men do anything else, they orchestrate the massacre of all the men in Durango. Castellari does a good job of staging this massive gundown. What makes the gunfight memorable is that one of Blake's men bites the dust. Eventually, Stuart does reveal the location, but only after Blake has turned his men loose on him and beaten Stuart to the point of unconsciousness. Stuart mutters the words ‘White Eagle’ and they set fire to the room and leave Stuart to burn alive. Blake’s men find a strong box buried in an Indian cemetery. Blake’s men are poised to take the loot when their commander kills Zeb for insubordination. When they finally open the strong box, Blake and his men are disgusted to learn that the $200-thousand was in worthless Confederate bank notes. Meantime, the survivors of the Durango come after Blake for killing their husbands.

Edd Byrnes appears out of place with his clean-shaven features among a cast who sport some form of facial hair. The off-beat casting of heroic Guy Madison as the murderous, tight-lipped villain isn’t as delectable as Henry Fonda’s dastardly turn in “Once Upon a Time in the West,” but it represents a considerable change of pace for Madison. The first time that we see Madison as Colonel Blake, Blake rides out of a cloud of gunfire in a town that his men and he are shooting up. Blake’s favorite words are “kill them.” As savage as this western strives to be with its high body count, there are moments such as when Blake’s men tickle their prisoner’s feet with a feather that really stand out in this above-average oater. "Few Dollars for Django" lenser Aldo Pinelli creates several interesting shots of riders-on-the-skyline with his widescreen, color cinematography. Composer Francesco De Masi provides a charismatic orchestral score that perks up this western. Once you’ve heard De Masi’s flavorful score, you won’t forget it.

You need to get the Wild East DVD copy of this movie, because all other copies are going to be defective.

FILM REVIEW OF ''RIO LOBO'' (1970)

According to Todd McCarthy, in his 756-page biography “Howard Hawks: The Grey Fox of Hollywood,” the legendary producer & director repeatedly admitted that he didn’t care for his final film “Rio Lobo.” Editor John Woodcock remembers Hawks advising him to whittle down scenes that didn’t live up to the director’s high expectations. Reportedly, Hawks enjoyed the American Civil War prologue, but his feud with lead actress Jennifer O’Neil and her appallingly callow performance as the heroine marred later scenes, such that Hawks eventually wrote her out of the finale altogether and gave Sherry Lansing the privilege of killing the vile villain. McCarthy’s opinion of “Rio Lobo” (**1/2 OUT OF ****) mirrors that of Hawks, too. He contends the entire film resembles a made-for-television feature with perfunctory dialogue and “shoddy” visuals and everything appeared “tired and unengaged, with the repetition of previous situations and conceits played out to diminishing returns.” Indeed, “Rio Lobo” isn’t the greatest western. Nevertheless, with its comic byplay between the principals, Jerry Goldsmith’s evocative music, and his scenes of violence, Hawks’ last collaboration with John Wayne manages to be a lot of fun. Moreover, “Rio Lobo” neither dawdles nor wears out its welcome. As bad as Jennifer O’Neil’s performance is, the cast seems to work together quite jovially and the dialogue—nothing memorable—flows with a rhythm. Hawks ribs John Wayne’s character for his increased girth and age and the girls ridicule Jorge Rivero’s romantic Frenchman without mercy. Let’s not forget Jack Elam as the cantankerous Mr. Phillips who chews the scenery with vigor as much as he loves to shred anybody and everybody with his double-barreled ‘splatter’ shotgun.

“Rio Lobo” opens with an entertaining and inventive prologue about a Civil War gold robbery. Four Union troopers load a strong box into a yellow caboose at the Plainsburg railway depot. Colonel Cord McNally (John Wayne)awaits the train at Rocky Ford. He remains in close telegraph communication with Plainsburg and orders Lieutenant Ned Forsythe (Peter Jason of "They Live") to proceed with caution and remain inside the caboose until he bangs on the door. Meanwhile, Confederate soldiers have been monitoring the telegraph and prepare to rob the train. Specifically, they grease the railroad tracks that the Union train transporting a shipment of gold is traveling on and then hurl a hornet’s nest into the caboose where the troops stand guard over the strongbox. Between the hornets and the Confederate gunfire, the Union soldiers are either shot or bail out. After they smoke the hornets out of the caboose, Captain Pierre Cordona and his men uncouple the caboose from the rest of the engine and the wood car. Just to make sure that the locomotive cannot follow them, the Southerners blow of the engine’s steam. Talk about a slick piece of work. The rebels ride the caboose and flat car down the mountain and halt the runaway vehicle with heavy ropes stretched across the tracks, the same way the Navy used to suspend a net across their carrier decks to stop careening jets. As soon as they discover that the telegraph lines are down, McNally and his men ride breathlessly to the scene of the robbery, and McNally finds one of most dependable officers, Lieutenant Forsythe lying in a field with his neck broken. Forsythe's last words to McNally are "catch them will you." McNally and his men split up as they trail the rebels into the woods. The rebels single out McNally and take him prisoner, among the Confederates are Capt. Pierre Cordona aka Frenchy (Jorge Rivero of “Soldier Blue”) and Sgt. Tuscarora Phillips (Robert Mitchum’s son Christopher of “Big Jake”), who are both pretty handy with this six-shooters. Eventually, McNally outfoxes them and leads them into Union territory. He offers to release them if they divulge the identity of the traitor who has been giving them insider information about the gold shipments. Cordona and Phillips refuse and serve their time out in a prison camp.

After the war ends, McNally visits Cordona and Tuscarora as they are being discharged and buys them some drinks. The colonel still wants to know who sold him out because he refuses to tolerate treason. When Tuscarora asks him why he doesn’t bear a grudge against them, McNally reminds them that what they did constituted an act of war. Selling information is on the other hand treason and McNally wants to get the soldier in his command who sold his country out. McNally gives them some money to supplement the two dollars that Union authorities have given them so that they are head west. Cordona and Tuscarora agree to alert McNally when they have any useful information. The time between the prison scene and the subsequent scene in the Texas town of Blackthorne is compressed and McNally shows up in civilian garb in response to a summons from Cordona. No sooner does McNally show up than trouble breaks out because a bunch of deputies from Rio Lobo, operating out of their jurisdiction try to arrest a willowy girl, Shasta (Jennifer O’Neil of “Class of ’42) for questioning in connection with a snake oil medicine show she was running. Blackthorne Sheriff Pat Cronin (veteran character actor Bill Williams of “Son of Paleface”) tries to intervene, but the Rio Lobo thugs get the drop on him. One of the villains is none other than journalist George Plimpton in a cameo. Shasta pulls a derringer out of her purse under the table where she sits and fires through it, wounding Deputy Whitey Carter(Robert Donner of “High Plains Drifter”) while McNally disarms the gunman with a rifle (Plimpton) who stands behind him. Cordona appears half-dressed at the top of the stair in the saloon/hotel and helps gun down the opposition.

Cordona explains that the man that they think sold them the information about McNally’s gold trains is a wealthy rancher in Rio Lobo named Ketchum. Veteran heavy Victor French of “Charro!” is the slimy villain who is forcing everybody to sell their land at rock bottom prices. Ketchum has the notoriously corrupt sheriff, Blue Tom Hendricks (Mike Henry of the “Smokey and the Bandit” movies) on his payroll. Hendricks’ chief deputy is played by future “Dallas” patriarch Jim Davis. Shasta guides Cordona and McNally to Rio Lobo, and they arrive under cover of darkness. The next day McNally watches as couple of Blue Tom’s deputies give Tuscarora a beating, charge him with stealing his own horses, and lock him up. McNally, Shasta, and Cordona visit Tuscarora’s father’s ranch where Blue Tom's gunmen have besieged old man Phillips. Our heroes and heroine shoot their way into Phillips’ ranch and convince him to accompany them to Ketchum’s ranch. McNally catches up with Ketchum who he knows better as Sergeant Ike Gorman. He roughs up the former noncommissioned officer. Our heroes kidnap Ketchum after busting heads and shoot their way into Blue Tom’s jail to free Tuscarora. Meanwhile, Cordona heads off to fetch the U.S. Calvary, but the villains capture him and engineer an exchange, Cordona for Ketchum.

Leigh Brackett, who co-wrote both “Rio Bravo” and “El Dorado,” contributed to Burton Wohl’s original script, and the result is a retread of many earlier scenes that have been altered to fit the new movie. Instead of the heroes slinging dynamite as they did against the villains in “Rio Bravo,” the villains get to sling dynamite at the heroes. Nevertheless, the pace is fast, the shoot-outs are vigorous enough, and the dialogue bristling with enough humor to make the all-too liesurely “Rio Lobo” a pleasure to watch. Nevertheless, "Rio Lobo" emerges as the least entry in this western trilogy. John Wayne is the only star left over from "Rio Bravo" and "El Dorado." "Rio Bravo" and "El Dorado" boasted famous co-stars. More importantly, "Rio Lobo" lacks a strong heroine like Angie Dickinson in "Rio Bravo." As a result, "Rio Lobo" seems almost lightweight and awkwardly comic by comparison. Future movie studio chief Sherry Lansing has a bit part as Amelita, a Mexican girl that Blue Tom disfigures. “Rio Lobo” has a solid plot and makes good use of foreshadowing. Of course, the real star is Howard Hawks' distinctive dialogue. Bob Steele and Don “Red” Barry have cameos.

FILM REVIEW OF ''A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS'' (ITALIAN-1964)

Sergio Leone’s “Per un pugno di dollari” (***1/2 out of ****) ranks not only as a landmark horse opera in the history of the western but also in evolution of the spaghetti western. Hollywood had been churning out westerns since “The Great Train Robbery” in 1903, and the Italians had been cloning those westerns before Leone revolutionized them with this Clint Eastwood epic. Indeed, mainly on the plains of Spain, Leone would reinvent the western and make it more violent than it had been until Sam Peckinpah broke new ground with his controversial 1969 western “The Wild Bunch.” “Per un pugno di dollari” altered everything and forged a new hero who was for all practical purposes an anti-hero. Joe (Clint Eastwood) shoots first in a duel, wears stubble on his jaws, and seems motivated largely by money. At one point, he behaves like a guardian angel, but for the most part, he is in it for what he can get out of it. Leone had to pare this sagebrusher down to its quintessential components because of a shoestring budget. Nevertheless, despite its financial shortcomings, this Italian-German-Spanish co-production looks fantastic in its 2.35.1 letterbox format and the Spanish and Roman locale double more or less invisibly to the simple but exciting plot. Most die-hand “Dollar” fans know that Leone and producers Arrigo Colombo and Giorgio Papi had to settle a copyright infringement suit with Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s “Yojimbo” before they could release the film outside of Italy. Leone maintained that eighteenth Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni’s play “A Servant with Two Masters” inspired “Per un pugno di dollari,” but the courts ruled in Kurosawa’s favor.

The action unfolds as our anti-heroic protagonist rides up to a well located near two white-washed, single-storied dwellings in the middle of a parched desert. While he quenches his thirst, Joe watches as an ugly, gigantic Mexican gunman, Chico (Mario Brega of “Death Rides A Horse”), bangs off shots at the heels of a tiny boy, Jesus (Nino Del Arco), and chases him between the two houses. When Chico reaches the other house, he brutalizes the father, Julián (Daniel Martin of “The Last Tomahawk”), for letting the lad run loose. Little Jesus was only trying to see his mother, Marisol (Marianne Koch of “Clint, the Nevada's Loner”), who has been abducted by the gunmen for their boss. This unforgettable opening scene represents the first instance that we’re watching a different kind of western. Spaghetti westerns were notoriously violent yet seldom as sanguine as Sam Peckinpah’s oaters. The chief reason “A Fistful of Dollars” is not three times as bloody is that Leone was working on a low-budget and couldn’t afford such luxuries. Joe watches all of this transpire with mild curiosity. Unlike an American western hero, he doesn’t intervene, at least until later.

Joe rides into the arid hamlet of San Miguel near the Mexican border on his mule and a corpse astride a horse with the sign ‘Adios, Amigo’ passes him. No sooner has Joe gotten into town than four trigger-happy cowboys spook his mule with their gunfire. Joe grabs an overhanging pole and swings crucifixion style on it as Silvanito (José Calvo of “Twice a Judas”) steps out of his tavern to watch. Silvanito prepares food and drink for him and talks about San Miguel and its reputation for death. "Never saw a town as dead as this one," Joe observes. He explains that the town has two bosses, the Rojos and the Baxters. Joe surveys San Miguel from the second-story balcony. Silvanito explains the presence of all the gunmen in town. "They've enlisted all the scum that hangs around both sides of the frontier and they pay in dollars." Joe concocts a plan after Silvanito tells him that the Rojos are stronger than the Baxters. He ambles back down the street and kills all four of them. What differs here is that Joe draws first and faster and kills them all. The entire shoot-out is captured in a long shot with Joe fanning his revolver in the foreground.

Afterward, Joe plays both ends against the middle. The Rojos, lead by Gian Maria Volontè as Ramón Rojo, sell liquor to the Indians, while with the Baxters, led by Consuelo Baxter (Margarita Lozano), are "big gun merchants." Their respective houses face each other at either end of the street. Ramón wields a Winchester repeating rifle with devastating accuracy and always shoots for the heart. He boasts that “When a man with a .45 meets a man with a rifle, the man with the rifle wins.” Initially, Ramón is not in town when Joe goes to work for his older brother Don Miguel Rojo (Antonio Prieto of “The Sword of Zorro”) and moves in with their gunmen until he hears Ramón’s murderous younger brother Esteban (Sieghardt Rupp of “The Killer Likes Candy”) talk about killing him and retrieving the money. Meanwhile, a Mexican calvary escort passes through San Miguel with a mysterious wagon. Joe tries to peek into the stagecoach and finds a six-shooter pointed at his face.

Joe and Silvanito follow the Mexican cavalry to the river. "It's like playing cowboys and Indians," the tavern owner remarks. The Mexican Army escort arrives at their rendezvous with the U.S. Calvary at the Rio Bravo. The Mexicans have brought gold to pay for guns. They are in for a rude awakening. The Americans have been killed, and coyote-faced Ramón and his men are impersonating them. Ramón wipes out the Mexican soldiers to the last man with a machine gun. The machine gun is all wrong for the time period as well as the fact that it houses no ammunition drum on it to feed it bullets. Ramón displays his accuracy with a Winchester when one lone Mexican tries to escape on horseback and he knocks him out of the saddle with one shot. When Ramón returns from the massacre, he meets Joe. Curiously, Joe decides to hand back what is left of the money that Don Miguel gave him. "I don't like to take money unless I feel I've earned it," Joe explains. This is unusual for a Spaghetti western where refunds weren't standard. Ramón scares Joe off because he wants to call a truce with the Baxters. When Ramón asks Joe if he doesn't prefer peace to violence, Joe shrugs and replies that he has little knowledge of peace. After Joe leaves, Don Miguel reiterates his respect for the American. "At shooting a pistol no one can touch him." Ramón remains suspicious about Joe: "When someone with that face works with his gun, you may counton two things. He's fast on the trigger, but he's also intelligent."

Later, Joe returns to the scene of the massacre and appropriates two Mexican bodies and deposits them in the local graveyard. He earns $500 from each the Rojos and the Baxters when he tells them about the surviving soldiers. While the two clans are shooting at each in the graveyard, Joe finds Ramón’s gold and runs into Marisol. He punches her in the face quite by accident and then hands her over to the Baxters who engineer a trade for their son.

Sergio Leone displays a splendid flair for visuals as well as storytelling in “A Fistful of Dollars.” Ramón qualifies as the best kind of villain because he is dangerous, but Ramón’s pride at “aiming for the heart” is what leads to his destruction. Ennio Morricone’s distinctive music sets “A Fistful of Dollars” apart from all Spaghetti westerns and established new conventions for the genre. Clint Eastwood plays the anti-heroic Joe with glacial calm and Gian Maria Volontè is simply brilliant as Ramón. A number of people collaborated on the screenplay, among them Sergio Leone, Fernando Di Leo of “Wipe Out!,” Duccio Tessari of “A Pistol for Ringo,” Víctor Andrés Catena of “Three Sergeants of Bengal,” Jaime Comas Gil of “Danger! Death Ray," and even Clint Eastwood. Despite all these scribes, “A Fistful of Dollars” boasts several memorable lines.

"A Fistful of Dollars" is not without flaws. Of course,Ramón should have put a bullet in Joe's head instead of repeatedly shooting him in the heart in the final duel. Clearly, however, the villain must have his own flaws and Ramón's incredulity at his failure to kill Joe with his first shots undermined him. Chico should have smashed up Joe's right hand--his gun hand--instead of stomping on his left hand. Curiously, nobody ever gets the gold that Ramón stole from the Mexicans and concealed in his warehouse. Did the Baxters have to pour out of the front door of their headquarters during the massacre? Couldn't they have exited by the back doors. Presumably, the low budget prevented this alternative from being staged. Esteban could have shot Joe down from ambush when Joe empties his gun before the final duel with Ramón.

FILM REVIEW OF ''THE WAR WAGON'' (1967)

 "Return of the Seven" director Burt Kennedy helmed the most imaginative John Wayne western of the 1960s with "The War Wagon." This improbable but entertaining horse opera co-starred a trim Kirk Douglas at his acrobatic best as well as Howard Keel, Bruce Cabot, and Robert Walker Jr. Novelist Claire Huffaker adapted the screenplay from his novel and remains faithful to it for the most part. Huffaker penned paperback westerns so he was no stranger to the genre. He later wrote "The Deserter," "The Valdez Horses," "100 Rifles," "The Hellfighters," "The Comancheros," and "Tarzan and the Valley of Gold." Of course, a seasoned western movie scenarist like Burt Kennedy, whose writing credits include four Randolph Scott westerns "Seven Men from Now," "The Tall T," "Comanche Station," and "Ride Lonesome," brought his sensibility to the subject matter. Kennedy has said that he lightened up Huffaker's dark script. Remember, Kennedy later helmed the classic James Garner western comedy "Support Your Local Sheriff" and its lesser sequel "Support Your Local Gunfighter."  One of the weapons that all Spaghetti westerns featured prominently was the Gatling Gun, and Kennedy makes good use of a Gatling gun.

In "The War Wagon" (***1/2 out of ****), Taw Jackson (John Wayne) rides into Emmett, New Mexico, to report to Sheriff Strike. Initially, Strike (Terry Wilson of "Westworld") is surprised by Taw's arrival and believes that he has broken out of prison. No, Taw explains that he behaved himself so well for three years that he received a pardon with the stipulation that he check in every Monday with the local authority. Deputy Hoag (Gene Evans of "Fixed Bayonets!") observes critically, "Maybe prison took some of the starch out of you." Taw leaves the jail and finds Wes Fletcher (Keenan Wynn of "Point Blank") stealing sugar from Pierce and forces him to put it back. Wes plans to participate in a robbery that Taw has put together. Wes is a harsh, abrasive old man that drives a supply wagon for Pierce and has a beautiful young wife, Felicia (Ann McCrea of "River of No Return"), that he bought for $20 and a horse from her poor parents. Our protagonist sets out to find a flamboyant, temperamental gunfighter named Lomax (Kirk Douglas of "Seven Days in May") because he can crack safes and he is extremely handy with a six-gun. Taw finds him easily enough, but Lomax holds a grudge against him. "You're the only man I ever shot," he snarls with venom, "didn't kill."  We learn from Lomax that Frank Pierce paid him to kill Taw Jackson. "Sure, so he (Pierce) could legally steal your land once he found gold on it. You were a hard-working rancher defending your property yet it was you who got shot, framed, and sent to jail." Taw shares his far-fetched plan with Lomax to rob Pierce. Of course, Lomax points out Pierce transports his gold dust 43 miles between Emmett and the railhead at El Paso in an iron-plated stagecoach and with plans to add a rapid-firing Gatling gun to the roof. Taw knows that they will be pitted against 28 horsemen each armed with Henry repeating rifles, two Colt .45 revolvers, and 200 rounds of ammunition. Five men including Pierce ride in the armor-plated coach. Taw explains, however, that he has assembled five men to pull the job off... Lomax will handle the gunplay and the safe cracking. Billy Hyatt (Robert Walker Jr. of "Young Bill Young") is a teenage alcoholic but an expert with explosives. Levi Walking Bear (Howard Keel of "Kismet") will recruit an army of Native Americans to serve as their cavalry, while Wes Fletcher will be in charge of concealing the loot for six months after the robbery. Predictably, Lomax objects to Taw's grand scheme, despite the $100-thousand pay per man, because of the danger. Taw sweetens the pot. Pierce plans to haul a half-million dollars in gold dust in four days as soon as he installs the Gatling gun.

Meanwhile, when Frank Pierce (Bruce Cabot of "King Kong") learns about Taw being in town, he summons two gunmen, Hammond (Bruce Dern of "The Cowboys") and Brown (Chuck Robertson of "McLintock!"), and orders them to find Lomax. Pierce is prepared to pay Lomax up to $10-thousand for him to kill Taw. Another example of Kennedy's sense of humor occurs when Hammond and Brown find Lomax, discover that Taw is with Lomax, and try to blast them on their own. Our heroes have no trouble killing them. "Might fell first," Lomax chides Taw. "Mine was taller," Taw retorts. Our heroes rescue Levi Walking Bear from an evil band of Mexican outlaws, steal nitroglycerin from Pierce's own supplies and set about arranging their scheme to take the war wagon. At the same time, the conspirators don't like each other. (Kennedy's gunmen in "Return of the Seven" didn't get along with each other either.) Lomax detests Billy because he doesn't trust a drunkard handling explosives and Wes hates Billy because he mistakes Felicia as Wes' daughter not his wife.

The success of "The War Wagon" hinges largely on Kennedy's helming as well as his abundant sense of humor. He covers all bases in this western in 101 minutes without wearing out his welcome. There's a funny barroom brawl and the actual robbery of the war wagon is exciting stuff. The only flaw in this wonderful western adventure is the ending. The heroes are punished as if they were villains. They wind up with only a fifth of the loot. The John Wayne character here is one of the few who was convicted of a crime and had to do the time. A corrupt society enables Pierce to gain control of Taw's land and the fortune underneath it and there is no hope that Taw will ever get his ranch back or clear his name. These are events that would have been reckoned with in his Lone Star B-movie westerns. "The War Wagon" is a postmodern oater because everything is flipped upside down. Just for the record, too, the villains kill themselves so that our heroes need not dirty their hands.