The War Wagon (1967)
1h 41m | PG-13
An ex-con seeks revenge on the man who put him in prison by planning a robbery of the latter's stagecoach, which is transporting gold. He enlists the help of a partner, who could be working for his nemesis.
Director: Burt Kennedy
Studio: Marvin Schwartz Productions
Genre: Western, Action, Crime
Video: 720p
Cast
John Wayne
as Taw Jackson
Kirk Douglas
as Lomax
Howard Keel
as Levi Walking Bear
Robert Walker Jr.
as Billy Hyatt
Keenan Wynn
as Wes Fletcher
Bruce Cabot
as Frank Pierce
Reviews
"Lomax" (Kirk Douglas) has an axe to grind with "Jackson" (John Wayne). Indeed, he has sworn to kill him when he is eventually let out of prison. Meantime, "Jackson" has a cunning plan to relieve a greedy mining boss "Pierce" (Bruce Cabot) of a load of gold. Maybe they could work together? Well "Lomax" agrees on the basis that he gets a share and a daily rate. Extra if he has to draw his gun, even more if he has to fire it. Fair enough, now they must recruit others to help out. With their plans coming along nicely, they face a new technological problem. "Pierce" has gone and got himself an horse-drawn armoured car, compete with a turret-mounted Gattling gun that can fire hundreds of rounds a minute, mowing down anything in it's path. Now they must adapt their plans and engage the help of the local Indians led by "Levi Walking Bear" (Howard Keel) as well as the sleazy but wily "Wes" (Keenan Wynn) who has a wife young enough to be his daughter and the young "Billy" (Robert Walker Jr) who might just prove to be more of a liability than an help! The last twenty minutes of this are about as good as westerns get, with plenty of action, pyrotechnics, screaming Indians and just a little bit of just desserts. Wayne, Douglas and Wynn work well together and Cabot does the smugly suited bully well too. A proper western adventure that I really quite enjoyed.