The War Wagon (1967)

John Wayne is Taw Jackson, who returns home after a three-year stint in prison determined to get even with Frank Pierce.

After all, Pierce swindled him out of his land, out of the gold discovered on it and was responsible for sending him to prison.

Now Pierce ships the gold from Jackson’s land in an armored wagon escorted by a couple dozen well-armed riders.

Jackson is determined to take that wagon and the gold in it, with the help of Lomas (Kirk Douglas), a fast gun; Wes Fletcher, who works for Pierce; Levi Walking Bear, who can get the Indians to help; and Billy Hyatt, an explosives expert.

Not that there won’t be problems.

Billy has a taste for whiskey, and an eye for the pretty young gal Fletcher calls his wife.

And Pierce has acquired a new toy for that armored wagon of his, a Gatling gun he can mount atop it.

John Wayne as Taw Jackson, announcing he’s out of jail and back in town in The War Wagon (1967)

Kirk Douglas as Lomax, a man with lots of reasons to make sure Taw Jackson stays alive in The War Wagon (1967)

Review:

Great fun, especially the banter between Taw (Wayne), who’s all business, and Lomax (Douglas), who has a flashy way of mounting horses and a silver tongue to help him mount the ladies.

Kennedy strikes a nice balance between the humor and the action, and the plot tosses in a couple neat twists at the end, even if the taking of the war wagon proves much easier than one would ever have expected.

Douglas and Wayne appeared in three films together, but this was the only Western. The others were “In Harm’s Way” and “Cast a Giant Shadow.” And, yep, that’s Howard Keel as an Indian and Robert Walker Jr. as the young drunk. Five years later, he would star in “Beware! The Blob.”

Robert Walker Jr. as Billy Hyatt, working on his part of the plan to steal a fortune in gold in The War Wagon (1967)

Howard Keel as Levi Walking Bear, the partner who helps Taw Jackson negotiate with the Indians in The War Wagon (1967)

Directed by:
Burt Kennedy

Cast:
John Wayne … Taw Jackson
Kirk Douglas … Lomax
Howard Keel … Levi Walking Bear
Robert Walker Jr. … Billy Hyatt
Keenan Wynn … Wes Fletcher
Bruce Cabot … Frank Pierce
Joanna Barnes … Lola
Valora Noland … Kate Fletcher
Bruce Dern … Hammond

Runtime: 101 min.

Title tune: “War Wagon”
sung by Ed Ames

Keenan Wynn as Wes Fletcher, the Pierce employee working with Taw Jackson in The War Wagon (1967)

Valora Nolad as Kate, bartered to Wes Fletcher but catching the eye of Billy Hyatt in The War Wagon (1967)

Memorable lines:

Lomax, after he and Taw gun down two of Pierce’s men: “Mine hit the ground first.”
Taw: “Mine was taller.”

Lomax to Taw: “You caused me a lot of embarrassment! You’re the only man I shot that I didn’t kill.”

Lomax to Taw: “You were a hard-working rancher defending your property. Yet it’s you who gets shot, framed and sent to jail. I always thought that was kind of amusing.”
Taw: “Well, it’s nice to find a fellow with a keen sense of humor.”

Lomax, upon learning of Taw’s plan to take the war wagon and the gold aboard: “How are we going to take it? With the Prussian Army?”
Taw: “With three other fellas. Five of us.”
Lomax: “Five. I’m kind of glad I didn’t kill you tonight. You’re funny as hell.”

John Wayne as Taw Jackson and Kirk Douglas as Lomax, trying to locate Levi Walking Bear in The War Wagon (1967)

Bruce Cabot as Frank Pierce, admiring the war wagon he relies on to keep his gold shipments safe in The War Wagon (1967)

Bruce Dern as Hammond and Brown, two Pierce men willing to help out with a Taw problem in The War Wagon (1967)

Terry Wilson as Strike, the sheriff in the town Frank Pierce runs in The War Wagon (1967)

Gene Evans as Hoag, the deputy in the town Frank Pierce runs in The War Wagon (1967)

Joanna Barnes as Lola, letting Lomax know her choice of games is stud in The War Wagon (1967)

John Wayne as Taw Jackson, in a jovial mood as he plans a heist in The War Wagon (1967)

Kirk Douglas as Lomax and John Wayne as Taw Jackson, staying healthy in The War Wagon (1967)