The War Wagon Rolls And The Screen Explodes!
Imagine. The thunderous sound of over two dozen horses stampeding through the desert. Half a dozen horses are pulling a mysterious iron coach. The camera zooms in tight on their hoofs kicking up the dust, and we see the spoked wheels barreling down the trail. All while Ed Ames sings "Ballad of the War Wagon".
This is how John Wayne's 162nd film, "The War Wagon" begins.
Released in 1967 and directed by Burt Kennedy, "The War Wagon" teams the Duke up with Kirk Douglas to tell the story of five men who come together to plan a harrowing heist of a mysterious iron wagon. The wagon is transporting gold dust that has been mined from the very ranch stolen from Wayne.
The film has all the action and adventure one would expect from a John Wayne film, and even includes a bar-room brawl that Wayne describes as being "among the best screen fights I've had".
There is an amusing chemistry between Douglas and the Duke, as one is constantly trying to out-do the other, and this provides for some rather comical scenes.
And in the end, the good guys win, the bad guys loose, and all is right with the world.