Chisum
1970  G  WESTERN  1h 51min
CAST— John Wayne, Forrest Tucker, Christopher George, Ben Johnson, Bruce Cabot, Glenn Corbett, Patric Knowles, Andrew Prine, Richard Jaeckel, Lynda Day, Geoffrey Deuel, Pamela McMyler
MUSIC— Dominic Frontiere  DIRECTOR— Andrew V. McLaglen  BASED ON— True events

     John Wayne is John Chisum, king of the Pecos. He resides on the biggest ranch in New Mexico. And Lawrence Murphy, the local land-grabber, covets it. He hires rustlers and banditos to try to force Chisum off his land. Big mistake. Chisum has just made the acquaintance of one William Bonney, aka Billy the Kid, a crack shot who’s loyal to Chisum’s new business partner, Henry Tunstall. While Murphy uses hook and crook to meet his goals Billy is busy defending the honorable (using less than honorable methods). Another account of the Lincoln County war, but its slow pace prevents it from being a classic interpretation. Redeemed somewhat by a slam bang finale, though to tell the truth, we’ve seen it all before.
OUR RATING— ** ½