The Way West
Dir: Andrew McLaglen
1967
***
I quite liked The Way West even though it's not a particularly good Western. You'd think you'd get at least one great performance considering it's big stars; Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum and Richard Widmark but no. Douglas keeps it together but his character is somewhat two dimensional, Widmark over does it somewhat and Mitchum looks like he'd rather be somewhere else (in 1967 it was probably the recording studio). It's Sally Field who steals the show in my opinion, her sassy and flirtatious Mercy McBee brings the film alive somewhat in what is, much like a caravan in the old west, slow, meandering and occasionally perilous.

Shenandoah

Dir: Andrew V. McLaglen

1965

***

A forgotten and almost unfashionable anti-war western. When I hear the far right, particularly the American far right, talk of the good ole days they often site Westerns as being one aspect of that better life of old. They seem to have forgotten the message that many of these films deliver. Shenandoah is anti-war, anti-religion but pro-family and pro-productiveness. It's a socialist western made just 10 years after the 'Red Scare' starring American golden boy James Stewart no less. I guess people were more concerned with the historical inaccuracies but it's nice to see an old film that goes against the grain and no one seems to have noticed.

The Wild Geese
Dir: Andrew V. McLaglen
1978
**
It's hard to take The Wild Geese seriously, it is instead purely enjoyed as both a nostalgia trip and an example of 'it shouldn't be half as fun as it is'. I say that because of the obvious attempt at trying to give an anti-racist message, making the film acceptable when it is in fact not just racist but homophobic and sexist too. It's a sign of the times for sure. It is both fun and completely ridiculous to watch these aged men act like what have to be the worst mercenaries the world has ever seen. They do a really crap job of it as well, it's pretty laughable throughout even considering its age. It does have some cracking lines in it;

Faulkner: I'm dry when I work.
Sir Edward Matherson: Yes, so I've heard.
Faulkner: There's a separate clause in my contract that says my liver is to be buried separately with honors.
Sir Edward Matherson: I'm not a very humorous man.
Faulkner: So I've noticed.

It would have been a much better film had they just taken it all a little less seriously.

The Sea Wolves
Dir: Andrew V. McLaglen
1980
*
The Sea Wolves may have been based on a true story but it seems obvious to me that this is yet another case of well seasoned actors wanting to make War films that they used to back in the day. You would have thought that The Wild Geese would have been enough for director Andrew V. McLaglen, a director who like many of the actors in The Sea Wolves, was I'm sad to say, past his prime at this point. I don't want to be unkind because I didn't hate this film nor do I hate these types of film but The Sea Wolves is a carbon copy of The Wild Geese. It has the same poorly written characters; the old timer, the gay one, the funny one..etc, the same unconvincing idea that these old men can perform the impossible and the same frame for frame formulaic action sequences. All that and at no time does it seem that they even attempt to pretend this was the 1940s, something of importance when making a WW2 movie. If this was one of your Granddad's favorite films then I can only imagine he wasn't actually in the War! A great cast, utterly ridiculed.

The Rare Breed
Dir: Andrew McLaglen
1966
***
I quite like The Rare Breed as it is an odd but successful combination of shared British and American mannerisms. On one side you have the naive arrogance and charmingly full-hardy attitude of the British elite and the brash stubbornness and blind faith of the old West, neither was ever very good at being told what could and couldn't be done and so they got on and did what ever it is they wanted, regardless. They succeeded too. Also, I really like Maureen O'Hara's sass, Brian Keith over-acting, James Stewart's voice and furry Cows. The overlooked alternative western.