Chisum

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Chisum
Chisum1.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen
Written by Andrew J. Fenady
Produced byAndrew J. Fenady
Starring John Wayne
Forrest Tucker
Ben Johnson
Glenn Corbett
Andrew Prine
Patric Knowles
Richard Jaeckel
Geoffrey Deuel
Pamela McMyler
Cinematography William H. Clothier
Edited by Robert L. Simpson
Music by Dominic Frontiere
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release dates
  • June 24, 1970 (1970-06-24)(Premiere)
  • July 29, 1970 (1970-07-29)
Running time
111 min.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$4 million [1]
Box office$6,000,000 (rentals) [2] [3]

Chisum is a 1970 American Western film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, starring John Wayne in the title role, and adapted for the screen by Andrew J. Fenady from his short story "Chisum and the Lincoln County War." The supporting cast features Forrest Tucker, Christopher George, Ben Johnson, Glenn Corbett, Andrew Prine, Bruce Cabot, Patric Knowles, Richard Jaeckel, Lynda Day George, Pedro Armendariz Jr., John Agar, John Mitchum, Ray Teal, Christopher Mitchum and Hank Worden with Geoffrey Deuel and Pamela McMyler receiving "introducing" credits. The picture was filmed in Panavision and Technicolor.

Contents

Chisum is based on the Lincoln County War of 1878 and, although it changed a number of details, many of the historical figures in the film (such as Chisum, Tunstall, McSween, Murphy, Brady, Evans, Garrett, and Billy the Kid) were in the New Mexico Territory at the time and did play a part in the conflict.

Plot

In Lincoln County, New Mexico, John Chisum, a kindly and successful cattle baron, finds his peace threatened when amoral Lawrence Murphy and his business partner James Dolan forcibly buy up most of the land and businesses in the area. Initially, Chisum tries to not get involved, though he does allow ranchers forced out by Murphy to water their herds on his land.

Bribed by Murphy, corrupt Sheriff Brady secretly hires Neemo and his group of banditos, who kill two of Chisum's men and steal a herd of horses. Chisum and his men pursue the thieves, retrieve the horses, and discover the American money in the Mexican outlaw's pocket. They are assisted by Billy "The Kid" Bonney, a notorious killer who was recently hired and given a chance to reform by John Henry Tunstall, Chisum's philanthropic British neighbor.

Chisum's niece Sallie arrives in Lincoln to live with her uncle, and Billy begins to court her. Alexander McSween, invited by Murphy to be his lawyer, arrives with his wife Sue on the same stagecoach. During Sallie's welcome party, Murphy sends Jess Evans and his gang to rustle Chisum's cattle, which are being taken to the United States Army to feed the Native Americans on a nearby reservation. A wandering Pat Garrett warns Chisum's men of the approaching riders; during the subsequent shootout, one of Chisum's wranglers dies and the cows stampede away. Chisum sends for Justice J.B. Wilson to try Murphy's men for murder, but the damage is done and the Army starts buying its cattle from Murphy. McSween, not liking Murphy's methods, switches sides.

McSween, Tunstall, and Chisum open a new store and bank to combat Murphy's monopoly. Billy, Garrett, and several of Chisum's men go to Santa Fe to get supplies to stock the store. Billy is nearly killed when Murphy has Evans attack the wagon train as it is returning to Lincoln; in response, Tunstall decides to go to Santa Fe to ask Governor Axtell to intervene in the land war. Deputies Morton and Baker stop Tunstall on the road, falsely accuse him of rustling, shoot him dead, and plant a gun so it looks like Tunstall drew first.

Justice Wilson arrives in Lincoln during Tunstall's funeral. Brady refuses to go after his own men, so Wilson deputizes Chisum and Garrett, and they track and capture the fugitive deputies in a nearby town. On the way back, Chisum separates from the group to get the judge. Billy, wanting revenge for his friend and mentor, and skeptical that justice will be done in Lincoln, knocks out Garrett and kills Morton and Baker. He then rides into town, publicly murdering Brady before fleeing. Murphy convinces Governor Axtell to fire Justice Wilson and appoint bounty hunter Dan Nodeen, who harbors an old grudge against Billy, as sheriff.

While a large posse scours the countryside to find Billy, he gathers his allies, starting with two of Tunstall's wranglers, Charlie Bowdre and Tom O'Folliard. They break into McSween's store to get dynamite to rob Murphy's bank, but Nodeen notices them inside, and a protracted firefight breaks out between Murphy's and Billy's men. McSween, unarmed and wanting no part of the battle, asks that he and his wife be allowed to leave, but only Sue is allowed to go. When the shooting resumes, she flees to get Chisum, so Murphy has his men erect barricades in the streets of the town. McSween comes out to bargain with Murphy, and Nodeen shoots him in cold blood.

Chisum and his men arrive in Lincoln, driving Murphy's own cattle before them to break through the barricades. Murphy's men are defeated, with Billy personally pursuing and killing Evans. Chisum gets into a fistfight with Murphy, ending with both men falling from a balcony. Murphy is impaled on a decorative bull's horn he was using as a weapon; Nodeen, his paymaster dead, leaves town, pursued by Billy.

Garret and Sallie begin a relationship. He is appointed Sheriff of Lincoln County, and the next governor of the territory, Lew Wallace, declares amnesty for those involved in the land war. With peace restored, Chisum goes up a hill to survey his land.

Cast

Production

The film was based on a screenplay by Andrew J. Fenady called Chisum and the Lincoln County Cattle War. [4] [5] Originally set up at 20th Century Fox, the project moved to Warner Bros.-7 Arts in August 1969 because John Wayne wanted to make the film that year, but Fox's production schedule was full. [4] [5] [6] Michael Wayne, John's son and the film's executive producer, took on the project of making Chisum because he felt the story summed up his father's political views. As is the case with many of Wayne's films, in this, his 200th starring role, [5] the sizeable cast is packed with familiar faces from earlier John Wayne films, among them Sands of Iwo Jima (Wayne, John Agar, Forrest Tucker, and Richard Jaeckel).

The picturesque vistas in the film were captured by cinematographer William H. Clothier in Durango, Mexico, where the film was shot. [7] [8] John Wayne was on the set of Chisum when he heard he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his work in True Grit , an award he would go on to win.

During filming, John Mitchum, brother of Robert, introduced John Wayne to his patriotic poetry. Seeing that Wayne was greatly moved by Mitchum's words, Forrest Tucker suggested Mitchum and Wayne should collaborate to record some of the poetry, which eventually resulted in the Grammy-nominated spoken-word album, America, Why I Love Her (1973).

The song "The Ballad of John Chisum", which is heard during the opening credits of the film, features verses spoken by William Conrad, while the song heard later in the film, "Turn Me Around", is sung by Merle Haggard.

Box office and reception

The film premiered in Dallas, Texas, on June 24, 1970. [9] It grossed $6 million at the box office. [3]

U.S. President Richard Nixon commented on the film during a press conference in Denver, Colorado, on August 3, 1970. In doing so, he used the film as a context to explain his views on law and order: [10]

Over the last weekend I saw a movie–I don't see too many movies but I try to see them on weekends when I am at the Western White House or in Florida–and the movie that I selected, or, as a matter of fact, my daughter Tricia selected it, was "Chisum" with John Wayne. It was a western. And as I looked at that movie, I said, "Well, it was a very good western, John Wayne is a very fine actor and it was: a fine supporting cast. But it was just basically another western, far better than average movies, better than average westerns."

I wondered why it is that the western survives year after year after year. A good western will outdraw some of the other subjects. Perhaps one of the reasons, in addition to the excitement, the gun play, and the rest, which perhaps is part of it but they can get that in other kinds of movies but one of the reasons is, perhaps, and this may be a square observation–is that the good guys come out ahead in the westerns; the bad guys lose.

In the end, as this movie particularly pointed out, even in the old West, the time before New Mexico was a state, there was a time when there was no law. But the law eventually came, and the law was important from the standpoint of not only prosecuting the guilty, but also seeing that those who were guilty had a proper trial.

Director Andrew V. McLaglen called the film one of his favorites and said: "I wanted Billy the Kid to just be Billy the Kid, a human being, not a bad little boy. Fenady was sort of a scholar about the Lincoln County Cattle War, which was a conflict over water and cattle—trading cattle—and John Chisum actually became a very powerful landowner. It was an American story." [11]

Home media

Warner Home Video released Chisum on Blu-ray on June 7, 2016.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lincoln County War</span> 1878–1881 conflict in the Old West of the US

The Lincoln County War was an Old West conflict between rival factions which began in 1878 in Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory, the predecessor of the state of New Mexico, and continued until 1881. The feud became famous because of the participation of William H. Bonney. Other notable participants included Sheriff William J. Brady, cattle rancher John Chisum, lawyer and businessmen Alexander McSween, James Dolan and Lawrence Murphy.

<i>Young Guns</i> (film) 1988 film by Christopher Cain

Young Guns is a 1988 American Western action film directed and produced by Christopher Cain and written by John Fusco. The film dramatizes the adventures of Billy the Kid during the Lincoln County War, which took place in New Mexico in 1877–78. It stars Emilio Estevez as Billy, and Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Charlie Sheen, Dermot Mulroney and Casey Siemaszko as the other Lincoln County Regulators. The supporting cast features Terence Stamp, Terry O'Quinn, Brian Keith, and Jack Palance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie Bowdre</span> American cowboy and outlaw (1848–1880)

Charles Bowdre was an American cowboy and outlaw. He was an associate of Billy the Kid and member of his gang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Tunstall</span> English-American rancher (1853–1878)

John Henry Tunstall was an English-born rancher and merchant in Lincoln County, New Mexico, United States. He competed with the Irish Catholic merchants, lawmen, and politicians who ran the town of Lincoln and the county. Tunstall, a member of the Republican Party, hoped to unseat the Irish and make a fortune as the county's new boss. He was the first man killed in the Lincoln County War, an economic and political conflict that resulted in armed warfare between rival gangs of cowboys and the ranchers, lawmen, and politicians who issued the orders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Chisum</span> American businessman, rancher (1824–1884)

John Simpson Chisum was a wealthy cattle baron on the frontier in the American West in the mid-to-late 19th century. He was born in Hardeman County, Tennessee, and moved with his family southwest across the Mississippi River to the newly independent Republic of Texas the year after the Texas Revolution in 1837, later finding work as a building contractor. He also served as a county clerk in Lamar County, Texas. He was of Scottish, English, and Welsh descent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom O'Folliard</span> Outlaw and figure in the Lincoln County War (1858–1880)

Tom O'Folliard was the best friend of outlaw William Bonney, a.k.a. Billy the Kid. Both were members of the Regulators during the Lincoln County War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doc Scurlock</span> American Old West figure (1849–1929)

Josiah Gordon "Doc" Scurlock was an American Old West figure, cowboy, and gunfighter. A founding member of the Regulators during the Lincoln County War in New Mexico, Scurlock rode alongside such men as Billy the Kid.

The Lincoln County Regulators, or just the Regulators, were an American Old West deputized posse that fought in the Lincoln County War in New Mexico, during the late 19th century. They are well known for including Billy the Kid as a member.

<i>The Left Handed Gun</i> 1958 film by Nik reby

The Left Handed Gun is a 1958 American Western film and the film directorial debut of Arthur Penn, starring Paul Newman as Billy the Kid and John Dehner as Pat Garrett.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William J. Brady</span> New Mexico sheriff (1825–1878)

William J. Brady was an Irish-born American soldier, politician, and corrupt law enforcement officer who served as the sheriff of Lincoln County during the Lincoln County Wars in New Mexico, United States. He was murdered in an ambush, aged 48, by the Lincoln County Regulators and Billy the Kid.

George W. Hindman was a 19th-century American cowboy and law enforcement officer serving as a deputy sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico, during the early months of the Lincoln County War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jesse Evans</span> 19th-century American criminal

Jesse Evans was an American outlaw and gunman of the Old West, and the leader of the Jesse Evans Gang. He received some attention due to his disappearance in 1882, after which he was never seen or heard from again. Commentators speculated that Evans was living in Florida under the name Joe Hines in 1948, though no definitive proof was ever provided.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander McSween</span> American Old West figure (1837–1878)

Alexander McSween was a prominent figure during the Lincoln County War of the Old West, and a central character, alongside John Tunstall, in opposing businessmen and gunmen Lawrence Murphy and James Dolan.

The Battle of Lincoln, New Mexico, so-called Five-Day Battle or Five-Day Siege, was a five-day-long firefight between the Murphy-Dolan Faction and the Regulators that took place between July 15–19, 1878, in Lincoln, New Mexico. It was the largest armed battle of the Lincoln County War in the New Mexico Territory. The firefight was interrupted and suppressed by United States Cavalry led by Lt. Col. Nathan Dudley from Fort Stanton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Peppin</span> American sheriff in New Mexico (1841–1904)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Dolan (rancher)</span> American Old West businessman and cattleman (1848–1898)

James Joseph Dolan was a Union Army veteran, Grand Army of the Republic member, Republican Party political boss, racketeer, Old West businessman and gunman, cattle baron, and a key figure in the Lincoln County War, in New Mexico, which launched Billy the Kid to fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lawrence Murphy</span> Irish-American Union Army veteran, politician, and mobster

Lawrence Gustave Murphy was an Irish immigrant to the United States, Union Army veteran, Grand Army of the Republic member, Democratic Party ward heeler, racketeer, Old West businessman and gunman, and a main instigator of the Lincoln County War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan McSween</span> American businesswoman and rancher

Susan McSween was a prominent cattlewoman of the 19th century, once called the "Cattle Queen of New Mexico", and the widow of Alexander McSween, a leading factor in the Lincoln County War, who was shot and killed by members of the Murphy-Dolan faction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ab Saunders</span> American cowboy and gunfighter (1851–1883)

Ab Saunders was an American cowboy, and at times gunman, best known for his association with Billy the Kid, Charlie Bowdre, Frank McNab, Doc Scurlock, and Saunders's cousins Frank and George Coe, when he was a member of the Lincoln County Regulators, a deputized posse, during the 1878 Lincoln County War in the New Mexico Territory

References

  1. ↑ Warga, Wayne. (May 10, 1970). "Galley a Philosopher-Realist: Warners' Philosopher-Realist Warners' Philosopher and Realist". Los Angeles Times. p. c1.
  2. ↑ ""Big Rental Films of 1970". Variety . January 6, 1971. p. 11.
  3. 1 2 "Chisum, Box Office Information". The Numbers . Retrieved May 26, 2012.
  4. 1 2 "John Wayne's 'Chisum' Goes From Fox to W7". Variety . August 20, 1969. p. 6.
  5. 1 2 3 Chisum at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
  6. ↑ "Andrew V. McLaglen: Last of the Hollywood Professionals – Senses of Cinema". November 25, 2007.
  7. ↑ "John Wayne Finds Home in Durango". Los Angeles Times. October 29, 1969. p. g13.
  8. ↑ "DUKE". Los Angeles Times. January 25, 1970. p. n6.
  9. ↑ "WB Sets Dallas As 'Chisum' Preem Site". Variety . June 17, 1970. p. 5.
  10. ↑ Richard M. Nixon (August 3, 1970). "Remarks to Newsmen in Denver, Colorado". University of California, Santa Barbara: The American Presidency Project. Retrieved December 28, 2009.
  11. ↑ "Chisum".
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