The Train Robbers

source: The Train Robbers

Trailer—The Train Robbers

The Train Robbers

I remember when this movie first came out. Most reviews were favorable. Sure, it wasn't in the same class as The Searchers or Rio Bravo, but the main point of the reviewers at the time was that it was refreshing because nothing was what it seemed, what you typically saw in a western didn't happen, and there was the hook at the end of the movie which gave the title a new meaning. Sure there were some poorly delivered lines, a few times you had to suspend your disbelief, but there were moments like Ben Johnson reprising his Oscar winning scene from The Last Picture Show and the Duke talking about the age of his saddle which had a double meaning. Not a great western, but a lot of fun with an ending left to your imagination and without any doubt!

This is another pretty good John Wayne movie. He leads a small team of adventurers in to Mexico to try and recover what is supposedly gold from a robbery. The widow is played by Ann- Margret and she is the eye candy for this movie and not a bad one at that. She says she wants to return the gold to clear her husbands name. The group goes looking for the gold. They end up finding it but a lot of bandidos show up to try and rob them. There is a lot of killing and explosions and they get the gold home. Here Ann-Margret takes the gold and as she is leaving on the train the guys learn she is just a hooker and is stealing the loot. Ben Johnson and Rod Taylor play two of the side kicks and are very good in their supporting roles. Bobby Vee is the youngster just starting out on the trail of the enforcer and does okay.

I have never seen a John Wayne movie that I didn't enjoy, although some of the very early stuff was a little hammy. The Duke always gave his best in all his films. Who cares about little little blips here and there. The Good guy always wins, and usually gets the girl. This film excels because of the way it leads the viewer down a dirty dusty path, with a wonderful twist just where you don't expect it. As always - Excellent Scenery, even the animals have their own little cameos. There is plenty of drama, and enough suspense to keep up concentration levels There are the usual little two way quips, and enough dialogue to paint a clear enough background to the key characters. Ben Johnson is his usual dry character, Rod Taylor plays a likable delayed adolescent, Ann Margret fills her part amply! Good Fun - Plenty of Bangs - Well Cast - Memorable Quips. Nobody minds a bit of repetition if it works, and contributes to the storyline which it does well.

I know this film since I was a kid. Nothing new here. I watched it yesterday, once more. It could have been made by Andrew Mac Laglen. All these westerns made in the late 60's and early 70's, starring John Wayne and his pals, have nothing to do with the same period Sam Peckinpah's or Monty Hellman's ones, the new western, another kind. But I like the both. The new generation was more downbeat, the counter culture, the death of the old west. Wayne was thousand miles away from this. On the contrary, he was still in the old western, from the fifties and forties. So, what could I say more about TRAIN ROBBERS? I like this kind of westerns, and always will do. Period.