FILM REVIEWS

Warner

Director Andrew McLaglen’s western is a tedious, formulaic John Wayne vehicle, trying to cash in on the youth market, just as “The Cowboys” did in 1972, except that the latter was a good film and this one is not.

Wayne’s two sons, Billy Joe, 12 and Danny , 17, neglected by a father who’s all too often away from home rounding up outlaws, help Abe Fraser (George Kennedy) and his men commit a bank robbery during one of their father’s absence.

As usual, Wayne has an Indian sidekick (Neville Brand), and there are typical, clichéd moments to establish Wayne as the stuff of legend

In the opening, Wayne rides boldly up to a night camp to arrest some men. Aware of the two gunmen deployed to cover him from each side, he nevertheless shoots it out and manages to survive.  Later on, Wayne brings in some older prisoners and some stolen loot.

His conversation with the villain’s leader (Chuck Roberson) makes him realize their lack of determination. He rides straight through them, screaming, “Aw, hell, get out of the way!”  He recognizes the bad Fraser’s bluff, when Fraser pretends to be dead at the climax.

Ion the course of this overly familiar saga, Wayne is shot in the shoulder, but of course, it does not tarnish in the least his bravery and his indestructibility

The film was known as Wednesday Morning, the title referring to the time when a band of robbers will be hung unless Wayne can catch the real villains.