Cahill U.S. Marshal (Warner 1973, John Wayne, George Kennedy)

John Wayne plays US Marshal J. D. Cahill, so wrapped up in work he neglects his motherless sons Billy (Clay O’Brien) and Danny (Gary Grimes). To get their revenge the pair fall in with outlaw Abe Fraser (George Kennedy) who leads them on a bank raid, but when a sheriff is killed Cahill gets involved.

The two boys find themselves in a situation where they don’t just have to hide the loot and keep Fraser out of sight, but also to help their dad hunt for a gang they know doesn’t exist and avoid suspicion falling on them. Andrew V McLaglen (who had worked with Wayne on Chisum ) directs the Duke in one of his last films, with excellent support from Neville Brand as Lightfoot, a would-be Comanche warrior and friend of Cahill’s whose laconic humour offers light relief.

production details
USA | Warner – Batjac | 103 minutes | 1973

Script: Harry Julian Fink, Rita M. Fink
Director: Andrew V. McLaglen
Director of Photography: Joseph Biroc
Producer: Michael A. Wayne
Composer: Elmer Bernstein

cast
John Wayne as J.D. Cahill
Morgan Paull as Struther
Paul Fix as Old Man
George Kennedy as Fraser
Rayford Barnes as Pee Wee Simser
Marie Windsor as Mrs. Green
Hank Worden as Albert, Valentine Stationmaster
Harry Carey, Jr. as Hank
Gary Grimes as Danny
Neville Brand as Lightfoot
Clay O’Brien as Billy Joe
Dan Vadis as Brownie
Royal Dano as MacDonald
Scott Walker as Ben Tildy
Denver Pyle as Denver
Jackie Coogan as Charlie
Dan Kemp as Joe Meehan
Walter Barnes as Sheriff Grady
Pepper Martin as Hard Case
Murray MacLeod as Deputy Sheriff Gordine
Hunter von Leer as Deputy Sheriff Jim Kane