Blog Entry #3 (Chisum Review)

Chisum is a 1970 Warner Brothers film directed by Andrew McLaglen and stars; John Wayne as John Simpson Chisum, Forrest Tucker as Lawrence Murphy, and Ben Johnson as James Pepper (side kick of John Chisum). Headlined by John Wayne the film grossed over twelve million dollars at the box office. While the set filming Chisum John Wayne learned that he was up for an award for the film True Grit. McLaglen grew up around the film industry from his parents and with John Wayne. This was not the first time Wayne had been cast for film directed by McLaglen.
The movie takes place in the wild western territory of New Mexico. John Chisum was the first to take cattle and put up a home in the wild unknown territory of New Mexico. John Chisum was well liked in Lincoln were the big cattle war broke out. The movie starts out by going into a musical stanza that explains the travels of Chisum and the battles waged against the Comanche Indians which in the end Chisum befriends the Comanche Chief White Buffalo. After the musical stanza is finished you see Chisum on top of a hill staring out into the depths of this his land remembering the beginning. His closest friend James Pepper rides up and they exchange some words about changes and the head into town to meet Chisum’s niece. Since she was coming in on the noon stage they went to the saloon to water their windpipes. One of Chisum’s men comes in riding fast telling Chisum that some riders took his horses. This angers Chisum so he sets off to get them back. After he successfully retains his horses Chisum then sets back into town awaiting the arrival of his niece. In the saloon Chisum is confronted by Lawrence G Murphy about a small farmer that needs water from Murphy and is charging a high price for his water. Chisum settles the dispute by allowing the farmer to water his land and crops through Chisum’s water supply. This simple water dispute starts a whirlwind of events that lead up to Chisum and Murphy dueling it out in hand to hand combat. In the end Chisum and Murphy fall from a two story building and Murphy happens to land on the longhorns of a steer killing him instantly.
The aftermath of this cause a new sheriff to be appointed and the restoral of peace in Lincoln. The plot and subplots in this movie are based on the true walks in life of John Simpson Chisum, Billy the Kid, and Lawrence Murphy. The film is not totally acruate on how the cattle war was started and finished but John Wayne does make the film a hit. I recommend this film for anyone that loves John Wayne, is a western fanatic, or just wants a good movie on the history of the wild west.