The one thing about John Wayne productions is they have a few things that make them good. They have a comic element, an unsympathetic bad guy and a good supporting cast. The War Wagon follows this formula.
John Wayne stars as Taw Jackson, a man who spent three years in prison. He was framed by Pierce, (Bruce Cabot), who stole his land, while Jackson was away. He’s come looking for Pierce, with the goal of robbing him of a gold shipment. Taw needs aid in this task, and seeks out Lomax,(Kirk Douglas), a gunman who almost killed him, when he worked for Pierce. Taw Jackson forgets the bad blood, because Lomax is a safe cracker. Pierce finds out about the plan, and get two of his hired hands to kill Jackson and Lomax. Jackson and Lomax confront the gunmen and kill them first. This leads to a great line in the film. Douglas character says, “mine hit the ground first.” Wayne says, “mine was taller.”
Jackson and Lomax need other recruits for their heist. Wayne has a friend Levi Running Bear, (Howard Keel), who is half Indian and half Jewish. He can help by recruiting his tribe, for the heist, but first he has to be rescued. He is being used for target practice by a few Indians. They manage to set fires, to distract Levi’s captors and free him. Jackson and Lomax also recruit Billy Hyatt,(Robert Walker Jr.), an explosives expert and Wes Fletcher, (Keenan Wynn), a thief. Wes Fletcher has a wife who is attracted to Billy, and he to her. This sets off Fletcher who wants to kill him, but Jackson intervenes.
The gang go into town, and the obligatory fight in a western happens. This is started by Levi Running Bear, when he hits Taw Jackson, to distract Pierce’s gunmen; who’ve come to kill Jackson. It turns into a full scale brawl, with Levi even using a piano as a weapon. This fight even has Kirk Douglas swinging on a chandelier, to prevent John Wayne’s character from being killed. It ends with Jackson pushing Levi through a window to get the horses. They ride out of town.
The gang comes back to town that night, to steal nitroglycerin, that Pierce keeps in his safe.This is the explosive that Billy Hyatt prefers. The next day, he rigs the explosives to a bridge that Pierce’s war wagon: an armored wagon with a Gatling gun will cross. Pierce and his guards cross and the explosives go off, isolating Pierce and his two guards. The guards want to abandon the wagon, but Pierce shoots them dead. Pierce is also killed by one of the guards. The wagon crashes and Jackson and Lomax go down and get the gold dust. They load it into flour barrels that Wes Fletcher has on his wagon. A tribe of Indians see the gold and attack the wagon. Fletcher is killed trying to stop them. Billy Hyatt pulls out a bottle of nitro and the Indians think it’s alcohol. One of them takes a drink, and spits it out. He then throws the bottle to the ground, and it explodes. This allows Wayne and company to escape. While the gang escapes, the barrels fall out of the wagon, and the Indians go after them, thinking it is flour. Levi leaves and says he going to be with his people. Taw Jackson gives Billy Hyatt and Wes Fletcher‘s widow some of the gold dust that was saved, and they go their own way. Lomax catches up with Jackson and demands his share. Jackson says its gone, and all he has is his horse. Lomax says he’’ll take it, leaving Jackson stranded. Later, Lomax confronts Jackson about his share of the gold. He says they’ll divide it up in six months, and Lomax better make sure Jackson stays alive, if he wants his share.
John Wayne scores big with The War Wagon. He and Kirk Douglas pull off a buddy/heist movie set in the west. It is a good tale with two big stars leading the way. John Wayne casting Kirk Douglas as Lomax, proved to be a good decision. It was one of many movies they made together. The Duke with these type of movies, kept his image alive, and gave the public what they wanted.
Burt Kennedy helmed The War Wagon, and keeps the dialogue and the action flowing. The fight scene, although standard in most westerns, does take skill to pull off. Kirk Douglas hanging onto the war wagon, while the Gatling gun is firing is a very good action scene. It also is an achievement to keep shooting going with two big stars; without ego getting in the way. He has gotten a quality effort from both John Wayne and Kirk Douglas.
There is nothing exceptional about The War Wagon. It does keep the viewer entertained. This is the primary purpose of a movie. It is also a western that doesn’t take itself seriously, and thats not a bad thing.