The Comancheros (1961)

I sincerely hope the Duke had a stunt double for that scene where he & Stuart Whitman were supposed to be hanging by their arms in the desert sun. That'd be a lot to ask of a 54 year old actor. Stuart Whitman & John Wayne made a very odd couple in this flick, but they're an agreeable pairing, given to a lot of verbal sparring. It's a shame they didn't pair up for more films.

It begins with a duel in which Whitman's character Paul Regret wins. Unfortunately he's done so right at the exact tune that dueling became illegal in Louisiana. That puts him in the sights of Texas Ranger Jake Cutter (Duke). I don't know who gave it to him worse on that steamboat; the Duke or Pilar (Ina Balin), the Hispanic lady he tried to hook up with. Sad;y for him, Pilar is a strong-willed woman who regards love as a game of war.

Now the only thing my son Nathan could think of after Regret clocks Cutter with a shovel was that scene from "Blazing Saddles" where Clevon Little does the same to Slim Pickens. Before long Cutter has to recruit his own prisoner Regret in an undercover operation to find the outlaw band of the film title. What they are is a secret society of banditos, a literal army fond of inflicting the cruelest punishments, even on their own members.

Here Regret is reunited with Pilar, the daughter of Graille, the man in charge of this merry band. A frantic wagon chase ensues with both Comancheros and their white bandits brothers in hot pursuit. The Texas Rangers arrive just in time to save our heroes.

It's a bit of a family affair as far as casting went. Duke's son Patrick Wayne makes his third appearance in one of his father's films, this time in a minor role as rookie Ranger Tobe. Although here he was billed as 'Pat' Also on board was his five-year-old daughter Aissa Wayne in an uncredited part as Bessie Marshall. She was his child, ironically enough, by his wife Pilar, and this would be little Aissa's second time in a Duke film, after the previous year's "The Alamo".

Don't miss Lee Marvin's brief part as the drunken ill-tempered gun-runner Crow. His luck to be just a tad slower on the draw than the Duke. The producer by the way was George Sherman, the director of all the Duke's Three Mesquiteer movies in 1938-39. Sherman would return one last time to direct "Big Jake".

Elmer Bernstein delivers a solid soundtrack that keeps the ball rolling. This movie was everything you would expect from a western, and everyone seemed to enjoy being a part of it, judging by the big grin Duke wore throughout the picture. One last footnote: Cutter is referred to as Big Jake in the end, which would be the same of another John Wayne movie in the future.