McLintock! (Batjac 1963, John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara)

John Wayne stars in comedy-western McLintock broadly inspired by Shakespeare’s Taming Of The Shrew, with Maureen O’Hara taking the role of the fiery Kate.

Wayne is McLintock, a hard-drinking, hard-living and hard-fighting cattle baron who has been so successful that the town has been named after him. Despite this, he’s not lucky in love. His wife has left him and he hires a housekeeper (Yvonne De Carlo), who has two children of her own (Patrick and Aissa Wayne – John Wayne’s own children). This arrangement is convenient for Wayne, who is able to continue his straight-arrow life with the rest of the cattle ranchers.

However, as homesteaders move in to town, looking for land on which to live, fighting begins to erupt and McLintock thinks he has his hands full dealing with the disputes. Unfortunately for him, his wife comes blazing back into town. She is not happy about the situation he has with the housekeeper. She wants a divorce and custody of their daughter (Stefanie Powers), who has been sent away to college. When the daughter returns to the family home to discover the in-fighting taking place, she also faces emotional upheavals. Young Devlin (Patrick Wayne) takes an immediate liking to her as does local buffoon Matt Douglas Jr (Jerry Van Dyke). Against the conflicts between homesteaders and cattle ranchers, the emotional warfare of the McLintock family is battled out.

The comedy of the film comes from some wonderful comic set pieces as masses of homesteaders take on the assorted ranks of the cattlemen in a glorious mud fight and the fast and feisty interplay of dialogue between Wayne and O’Hara.

production details
USA | United Artists – Batjac / 127 minutes / 1963

Director: Andrew V. McLaglen
Producer: Michael Wayne
Cinematography: William H. Clothier
Editor: Otho Lovering
Music: Frank De Vol
Script: James Edward Grant
Art Direction: Eddie Imazu, Hal Pereira

cast
John Wayne as George Washington ‘G.W.’ McLintock
Maureen O’Hara as Katherine Gilhooley McLintock
Patrick Wayne as Devlin Warren
Stefanie Powers as Rebecca ‘Becky’ McLintock
Jack Kruschen as Jake Birnbaum
Chill Wills as Drago
Yvonne De Carlo as Louise Warren
Jerry Van Dyke as Matt Douglas Jr.
Edgar Buchanan as Bunny Dull
Bruce Cabot as Ben Sage
Perry Lopez as Davey Elk
Strother Martin as Agard
Gordon Jones as Matt Douglas
Robert Lowery as Gov. Cuthbert H. Humphrey
Hank Worden as Curly Fletcher