THE SONS OF KATIE ELDER (1965) **1/2 Personable but contrived cowboy malarkey about the glory of putting down your guns. Internally inconsistent I say, because if John Wayne had put down his guns he would have hung by the neck until he was dead, dead, dead. More likely, the accidental message is don't put down your guns 'til you win. That's more like John Wayne anyway! He's been better, but he has Dean Martin with him. I'm not saying that Dino was a great leading man-I can't think of him ever carrying any good film by himself-but he's always a helluva sidekick. The shots of Dino and The Duke herding ponies are uproariously, historically funny, though I doubt that's quite the effect Henry Hathaway had in mind. The opening shot of Mr. Wayne is more what he was going for, I think, and that one worked just the way he planned it.
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