This is the cowboy movie where John Wayne speaks forcefully on behalf of the Comanches, and tells his daughter he'd rather give his land to the government "so no one will kill the beaver for hats or murder the buffalo for rope." He also gets plenty of mud on that most American of icons, himself.
All he needs is a McGovern button and he's be Billy Jack, right? Maybe not, but this is a very different kind of star vehicle for Wayne, in 1963 kicking back in his third full decade of screen stardom. Here, aided and abetted by director Andrew V. McLaglen and Maureen O'Hara playing his wife, Wayne gives his comedic side a thorough airing as G.W. McLintock, rancher and head citizen of the town of McLintock, Arizona, circa the 1870s, who must deal with changing times and a wife who doesn't understand him.
"What's 'reactionary' mean?" asks McLintock's right-hand man, Drago (Chill Wills).
"Me, I guess," McLintock replies.
"McLintock!" is knocked by some for its sexual politics, a variation on Shakespeare's "Taming Of The Shrew" where McLintock must take a hand to his wife Katherine (don't call her Kate) in order to win her back. Let it be said that O'Hara makes a great shrew, and as Leonard Maltin and Frank Thompson point out in their engaging DVD commentary, everything here is played too broadly to take at all seriously.
O'Hara sells the movie as much as Wayne. She was in her element playing broad comedy, and clearly relishes the chance to reteam with her "Quiet Man" co-star in a more farcical vein. McLaglen also worked on "The Quiet Man" as assistant director to John Ford, and if anything seems bent on a film more Fordian than Ford himself. Let it be said McLaglen, here and in other films, got very good ensemble work from his cast and created some extremely fun fight sequences. Here in "McLintock!, there's a huge, well-staged and -sustained brawl early on in a mudhole. Even O'Hara takes part, putting her hatpin on assorted cowboy keisters with an insane grin.
Nothing about "McLintock!" really bears up to scrutiny. Screenwriter James Edward Grant gives us many memorable lines, but no real story to hang your Stetson on, except Katherine and G.W.'s battle of wills. Some mention is made of homesteaders coming to McLintock, though that plot is quickly dropped unresolved. Later, the Comanches come, peaceful and batted around by an uncaring government, but other than giving Wayne some time in the spotlight to speak on their behalf, they come and go too fast to make an impression.
Impressions are made by a number of "McLintock's" supporting cast. Yvonne De Carlo has fun playing the mother of a full-grown son (Patrick Wayne, Duke's son) who G.W. hires as cook, sparking further rage from Katherine. Strother Martin amusingly suffers from failure to communicate as a ninny Indian agent, while Jerry Van Dyke shows off some of the goofiest dance moves west of the Pecos. Stefanie Powers, as the McLintock daughter, gets more mileage from her part than did most Wayne-movie ingénues. "Shoot him, Daddy!" is a hard line to sell for a laugh, but she does it.
There are other aspects of the film that bog it down, particularly a subplot involving a Chinese cook and some tinny line readings throughout, many by Patrick Wayne, the cast's weak link (though he does a good fight scene, very important in this film). The best thing you can say about the groaner moments of "McLintock!" is that they are soon over, to be replaced by something fun.
Something fun is what "McLintock!" gives you in the end, not profound or even that clever, but satisfying. It's not Wayne's finest hour, just one of his more pleasant.
All he needs is a McGovern button and he's be Billy Jack, right? Maybe not, but this is a very different kind of star vehicle for Wayne, in 1963 kicking back in his third full decade of screen stardom. Here, aided and abetted by director Andrew V. McLaglen and Maureen O'Hara playing his wife, Wayne gives his comedic side a thorough airing as G.W. McLintock, rancher and head citizen of the town of McLintock, Arizona, circa the 1870s, who must deal with changing times and a wife who doesn't understand him.
"What's 'reactionary' mean?" asks McLintock's right-hand man, Drago (Chill Wills).
"Me, I guess," McLintock replies.
"McLintock!" is knocked by some for its sexual politics, a variation on Shakespeare's "Taming Of The Shrew" where McLintock must take a hand to his wife Katherine (don't call her Kate) in order to win her back. Let it be said that O'Hara makes a great shrew, and as Leonard Maltin and Frank Thompson point out in their engaging DVD commentary, everything here is played too broadly to take at all seriously.
O'Hara sells the movie as much as Wayne. She was in her element playing broad comedy, and clearly relishes the chance to reteam with her "Quiet Man" co-star in a more farcical vein. McLaglen also worked on "The Quiet Man" as assistant director to John Ford, and if anything seems bent on a film more Fordian than Ford himself. Let it be said McLaglen, here and in other films, got very good ensemble work from his cast and created some extremely fun fight sequences. Here in "McLintock!, there's a huge, well-staged and -sustained brawl early on in a mudhole. Even O'Hara takes part, putting her hatpin on assorted cowboy keisters with an insane grin.
Nothing about "McLintock!" really bears up to scrutiny. Screenwriter James Edward Grant gives us many memorable lines, but no real story to hang your Stetson on, except Katherine and G.W.'s battle of wills. Some mention is made of homesteaders coming to McLintock, though that plot is quickly dropped unresolved. Later, the Comanches come, peaceful and batted around by an uncaring government, but other than giving Wayne some time in the spotlight to speak on their behalf, they come and go too fast to make an impression.
Impressions are made by a number of "McLintock's" supporting cast. Yvonne De Carlo has fun playing the mother of a full-grown son (Patrick Wayne, Duke's son) who G.W. hires as cook, sparking further rage from Katherine. Strother Martin amusingly suffers from failure to communicate as a ninny Indian agent, while Jerry Van Dyke shows off some of the goofiest dance moves west of the Pecos. Stefanie Powers, as the McLintock daughter, gets more mileage from her part than did most Wayne-movie ingénues. "Shoot him, Daddy!" is a hard line to sell for a laugh, but she does it.
There are other aspects of the film that bog it down, particularly a subplot involving a Chinese cook and some tinny line readings throughout, many by Patrick Wayne, the cast's weak link (though he does a good fight scene, very important in this film). The best thing you can say about the groaner moments of "McLintock!" is that they are soon over, to be replaced by something fun.
Something fun is what "McLintock!" gives you in the end, not profound or even that clever, but satisfying. It's not Wayne's finest hour, just one of his more pleasant.