The Comancheros/The Undefeated [DVD]

Description

Product Description A John Wayne double bill. In 'The Comancheros' Wayne stars as Texas Ranger Jake Cutter whose path crosses with that of professional gambler Paul Regret (Stuart Whitman). The two become uneasy bedfellows in their quest to crush a powerful outlaw gang who are selling arms and alcohol to the local Indians. This was director Michael Curtiz's last film and also stars Lee Marvin and Ina Balin. Whilst 'The Undefeated' is set in the aftermath of the American Civil War. Confederate Colonel James Langdon (Rock Hudson) prepares to travel to Mexico with his family and when they are attacked by bandits, it is Union Colonel J.H. Thomas (Wayne) who comes to their aid. The former enemies find themselves united in their efforts to resist Mexican Emperor Maximillian, and Juarez, the rebel leader. When the rebels kidnap the Southerners, Colonel Thomas must decide whether to surrender his valuable herd of 3,000 horses and secure their release, or leave them to their fate. .co.uk Review This is a John Wayne Western double-bill featuring The Comancheros (1961) and The Undefeated (1969). Nobody made a fuss about The Comancheros when it came out, yet it has proved to be among the most enduringly entertaining of John Wayne's later Westerns. The Duke, just beginning to crease and thicken toward Rooster Cogburn proportions, plays a veteran Texas Ranger named Jake Cutter who joins forces with a New Orleans dandy (Stuart Whitman) to subdue rampaging Indians and the evil white men behind their uprising. The Comancheros was the last credit for Michael Curtiz (Casablanca), who, ravaged by cancer, ceded much of the direction to Wayne (uncredited) and action specialist Cliff Lyons. With support from Wayne stalwarts James Edward Grant (co-screenplay) and William Clothier (camera), the first of many rousing Elmer Bernstein scores for a Wayne picture and a big, flavourful cast including Lee Marvin (the once and future Liberty Valance), Nehemiah Persoff, Bruce Cabot, and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams (in his last movie), they made a broad, cheerfully bloodthirsty adventure movie for red-meat-eating audiences of all ages. In The Undefeated Wayne and Rock Hudson each play a Civil War commander who, after the ceasefire, lead a community of folks into Mexico to make a fresh start. Hudson is a Southern gentleman; Wayne commanded the Yankee cavalry at Shiloh, where Hudson's brother died. Nevertheless, Rock, with his extended family, and Duke, with his troop of cowboys and 3,000 horses to sell to Emperor Maximilian, soon join forces to outgun banditos and beam paternally over the budding romance between their respective daughter and son. Lingering North-South animosities are celebrated in an obligatory communal fistfight, and the showdown with both Maximilian's lancers and the rebel Juaristas is disconcertingly perfunctory. --Richard T Jameson