Chisum

"THE LEGEND - John Wayne is 'Chisum'"

1970 1h 51m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

★6.6TMDB · 212

Western

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Cattle baron John Chisum joins forces with Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett to fight the Lincoln County Land War in the New Mexico Territory of 1878.

“THE LEGEND - John Wayne is 'Chisum'”

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Cast

John Wayne
John Chisum
Forrest Tucker
Lawrence Murphy
Christopher George
Dan Nodeen
Ben Johnson
James Pepper
Glenn Corbett
Pat Garrett
Andrew Prine
Alex McSween
Bruce Cabot
Sheriff Brady
Patric Knowles
Henry Tunstall

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Andrew V. McLaglen
Writers: Andrew J. Fenady
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

56 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, shot by William H. Clothier. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Dominic Frontiere. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Robert L. Simpson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

John Wayne and Forrest Tucker and Christopher George carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "THE LEGEND - John Wayne is 'Chisum'".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0065547 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Andrew V. McLaglen directs. William H. Clothier behind the camera. Dominic Frontiere scores. Robert L. Simpson cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
256 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, shot by William H. Clothier. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Dominic Frontiere. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Robert L. Simpson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6John Wayne and Forrest Tucker and Christopher George carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "THE LEGEND - John Wayne is 'Chisum'".
8IMDB entry: tt0065547 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 22 themes, including "gunslinger", "monopoly", "moral conflict", "cattle drive".

The technical file

Cinematography: William H. Clothier
Original score: Dominic Frontiere
Editing: Robert L. Simpson
Stunt coordinator: Hal Needham
Runtime: 111 min · 1h 51m
Status: Released
Budget: $4,000,000
Box office: $6,000,000
Return: 150% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): G
IMDB: Chisum (1970)

Also by

Andrew V. McLaglen

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Dark Jedi2014-06-03
★ 7/10
Maybe it is because I grew up with watching John Wayne (my father was a big fan of western movies) but I still really like these old goodies with John Wayne. Actually there are few movies with John Wayne that I do not like even though all of them are rather outdated in this age of overkill action and special effects. This is definitely one of the better ones. John Wayne is doing what he does best. That is playing a slightly grumpy, hard-hitting cowboy. The role of Chisum is really perfect for John Wayne. That is not to say that the others are not doing a decent performance but it is really John Wayne that makes this movie. The movie itself is a fairly standard land-grabbing, cattle-steeling and bullying western story were two men spend most of the movie working themselves towards the final confrontation which, as good western tradition prescribes, involves a hearty exchange of gunfire. Just for good measure a bit of fist fighting was thrown in as well. There is nothing special with the story, there is nothing special with the acting, there is nothing special with the footage. It is just that everything is what I would expect, or at least hope for, in this kind of movie. The entire movie is just right in some old-fashioned way. The fact that the ending is reasonably happy is of course an additional plus. This movie is simply great uncomplicated entertainment.
CinemaSerf2023-06-03
★ 7/10
When "Sallie" (Pamela McMyler) arrives at her uncle's ranch, she is immediately impressed by the huge scale of the place. "It'd take a man on a good horse most of the summer to cover it" explains her uncle, it's owner, John Chisum (John Wayne). Together with his weary sidekick "Pepper" (Ben Johnson) they fought pestilence and Indians and now have a cattle empire the envy of many - including the upstart "Murphy" (Forrest Tucker) who engages the help of legendary gunslinger "Nodeen" (Christoper George) and naive lawyer "McSween" (Andrew Prine) to address what he sees as a bit of an imbalance. Needless to say Chisum isn't going to just hands things over, and with the help of his decent neighbour "Tunstall" (Patric Knowles) decides to set up a bank and a store to combat their ever ambitious new nemeses. Tragedy ensues that adds the fury of "Billy the Kid" (Geoffrey Deuel) to this increasingly potent mix of treachery and gunpowder and leads to an exciting denouement with Yakima Canutt certainly earning his fee! It's a tad long, but Wayne is very much in his element here atop a solid story with a little humour from Johnson, plenty of gun-totin', and some grand cinematography set to a fine Dominic Frontiere score. If you like the genre - I do - then this is an easy watch with just an hint of moral fibre!