The last film from Howard Hawks, it came out around the time his reputation as an auteur was really starting to flourish. As a result the film received a lot of serious attention it probably didn't really warrant, and Hawks had to explain a lot of it away - he dumped blame on Jorge Rivero and Jennifer O'Neill especially.
Rivero is certainly no Dean Martin or Robert Mitchum; a good looking boy, as Hawks said, but he lacks presence, and he has troubles enunciating his lines. But to be fair he doesn't have as strong a character to play - no alcoholism or anything interesting, like Martin and Mitchum got to act - he's just a Mexican Confederate who is helping out.
Jennifer O'Neill comes off better; she is is very pretty and does have some edge to her character (she's a medicine woman, out for vengeance) - although Hawks didn't like her I'd put her on par with Angie Dickinson and Michelle Carey, but better than Elsa Martinelli in Hatari.
While I'm at it Chris Mitchum is no James Caan; he's not a bad actor, not as good as Caan but he's not as annoying as Ricky Nelson - but he doesn't have as good a character to play as Nelson or Caan did. The more I think about it, the more annoying it got - in Rio Bravo Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson had clear characters with specific agendas; ditto James Caan and Robert Mitchum in El Dorado. But not Rivero here; Mitchum has an agenda (get his land) but no character.
On the topic of cast, Jack Elam is no Walter Brennan, though he is better than Arthur Hunnicut was in El Dorado. And I did like the way the moment Elam and Wayne met they kind of fell in love, as if they recognised each other from other movies.
Victor French is a very weak antagonist - the moment Duke meets him he just smacks him around and the guy whimpers. Mike Henry is better in the Chris George role as a corrupt sheriff. I think we missed out seeing the scene where Henry injured Sherry Lansing - it would have made her revenge at the end better.
By the way, Lansing's character feels shoe horned in. I gather that Hawks got sick of O'Neill and gave the emotive act of killing Henry to Lansing. Lansing is actually a lot better than O'Neill; there's a sexy scene where she covers her breasts while talking to Rivero. I'm not sure what she's doing in the film, why they didn't make her Mitchum's girlfriend or something, but she adds to the entertainment.
The story of this is problematic - the set up is John Wayne seeking revenge for his lifelong friend during the Civil War; the Confederates were responsible but only because of the work of a traitor, and the Duke goes after the traitor. This makes up the first thirty minutes and is quite fresh - with a neat attack on a train (they use bees and grease on a wheel), and some fun reversals where Wayne is captured by Rivero then outsmarts them.
But then the film becomes about all these other plot lines - Riviero going to help Mitchum reclaim his property in Texas (and we care because?), O'Neill seeking revenge for murder. Then Hawks throws in some more new characters - Sherry Lansing wanting revenge on Mike Henry.
You can hear Hawks trying to recreate his old magic. Sometimes it doesn't work - such as the flirting banter between O'Neill and Riviero, and between O'Neill and Wayne - but sometimes it does - such as Wayne and Elam's by play, Wayne being exasperated all the women call him "safe" (actually every scene with Wayne has something to recommend it). And the movie does have some of the old relaxed Hawks camaraderie.
I actually enjoy this movie a lot - the crap things like its weird plot and Riviero add to its charm.
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