The Train Robbers *** (1973, John Wayne, Ann-Margret, Rod Taylor, Ben Johnson, Bobby Vinton) – Classic Movie Review 4592

Burt Kennedy, the script-writer of Budd Boetticher’s classic Fifties Westerns, wrote and directed this 1973 Western for a rather plump and elderly-looking John Wayne, who, as gunhand Lane, leads a gang taken on by worthy young widow Mrs Lowe (Ann-Margret) to retrieve gold stolen by her husband.

The amiable, good-hearted film puts the accent on adroit dialogue and creating fully-fleshed real-seeming people, due perhaps to its inability to produce either comic or dramatic episodes.

It is only a minor Western maybe, but Kennedy’s craftsmanship, William H Clothier’s cinematography and the performances still manage to keep it continually entertaining.

It co-stars Rod Taylor, Ben Johnson, Bobby Vinton, Christopher George, Ricardo Montalban as The Pinkerton Man and Jerry Gatlin.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4592

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com