The Comancheros (1961)

as far as John Wayne movie go this is a decent.one.for the most,it's fast paced lots action,excitement,danger.of course there also a bit of a romance angle.the scenery is magnificent here as well.the only downside is that somewhere about halfway through,the movie slows down and loses momentum,which it never completely regains.it ranks somewhere in the middle as far as Wayne's Westerns go.Here,Wayne's ranger Capt.Jake Cutter teams up with Stuart Whitman(prisoner Paul Regret)and they are reluctantly forced to become allies,and they make a pretty good team.Lee Marvin co stars in a smaller role as an unlikable sort,to say the least.what more is there to say,really.if you're a fan of the Western genre,or of John Wayne,you might want to check this one out.for me,The Comancheros is a 6/10

Fmovies: A thrilling movie that stands the test of time. Exciting, action-packed, chock-full of engaging characters, coupled with a lively and evocative soundtrack, all combine to make this a real treat.

One of those rare movies that you hate to see end...

I rate it a 9.9 out of 10.

Good plot, stirring musical score and some welcome familiar faces. (I wonder why Guinn Williams was uncredited?) John Wayne lightens his customary toughness with dry humour, calling Regret "Monsewer" and complaining about strangers calling him "Friend".

The obligatory love interest is supplied by Ina Balin, who's not a great actress and looks a bit too nice to live among the Comancheros. Stuart Whitman does very well alongside Wayne.

The opening shot and a couple of topical references tell us that it's the early 40s, but this decade has no relevance at all to the plot. The film has an 1860s/1870s look to it - the buildings, outfits and, most of all, the guns are all of the latter period, and many anachronisms have been listed by other contributors. Of course using period guns that needed to be reloaded after every shot would have made for less spectacular battle scenes. So why not set it in the 1870s? After all, the very similar 1964 film "Rio Conchos", also with Stuart Whitman, was set after the Civil War, with former Confederate officers substituting for the Comanchero leaders.

I wonder if the cast said anything about this? I gather than Wayne was disgruntled when the year before the Mexican army in "The Alamo" was issued with the wrong guns, but this wasn't evident to any but the most experienced eye.

Apart from these anachronistic annoyances, the film makes very good viewing.

The Comancheros fmovies. The Comancheros" , Curtiz's last film , deals with a Texas Ranger named Jake Cutter ,a big man with soft heart , (the Duke John Wayne), assigned to bring a dandy gambler named Paul Regret (Stuart Whitman) for killing . Comancheros is a word that refers to those who favored or advantaged of Comanche Indians by selling weapons and alcohol . The relationship shared between the Ranger " and his prisoner" a dandy accused for murder in a duel to the son of an officer , gets enjoyable nuances and charm enough . Along the way confront bad boy (Lee Marvin) and a gang of liquor-and-gun running nasties of the title commanded by a villain ( Nehemia Persoff) whose daughter (Ina Balin) falls in love with Paul .

This actioner Western contains a wonderful friendship , thrills , adventures , rider pursuits , impressive attacks and loads of crossfire . ¨The Comancheros" Curtiz does the human touch including lots of nice moments , it is a very fine picture that could become another western worthy of any anthology. In the film "The Comancheros" the spectator enjoys because it has a lot of issues that make it agreeable . Even the female character played by attractive Ina Balin as "Pilar", reveals a woman who knows that she wishes and makes it irresistible. Large support cast formed by Western usual players as Edgar Buchanan , John Dierkes , Michael Ansara and special mention to big Lee Marvin . Breathtaking and lively musical score by Elmer Berstein , one of the best of Western genre along with ¨The Magnificent Seven¨ soundtrack. Colorful and spectacular cinematography in Cinemascope by William Clothier , John Ford's ordinary .

This well-paced film is stunningly directed by Michael Curtiz . He does the human touch and full of insight that accompanied him during most of his films and the story develops pleasantly in a large frame with an interesting plot and fully adjusted to the requirements of the action, which had to be shot in long part by specialist Cliff Lyons . Even in a time of filming, Curtiz had to be briefly hospitalized and the actor John Wayne, a character who gets very nice here, had replaced on the set. He was already sick, but accepted, perhaps because they wanted to die in a movie set . Michael Curtiz concludes a great legacy that included dramas, adventures, comedies, musicals, horror, historical films, police ... and a few westerns . He was an expert in strictly American film Noir genre and in drama as proved in ¨Bright Leaf , Flaming Road , Passage Marseille¨ and of course ¨Casablanca¨ . But also was specialist on adventure genre as ¨Adventures of Robin Hood , Sea Hawk ,Charge of the light Brigade , Private lives of Elizabeth and Essex¨ and Western as ¨Proud rebel, Dodge city¨and of course ¨Los Comancheros¨ . After directing about 180 films, the Hungarian director Michael Curtiz was already 73 years old, when he was called to lead what would be his last film and among all these pictures , many of them form already part of the great classics of cinema as ¨Angel with dirty faces¨ . .Rating : Good , above average . Worthwhile watching .

The scene where the Duke Wayne character (Texas Ranger Jake Cutter) meets the Joan O'Brien character (Melinda) after a long time away. The powerful Elmer Bernstein soundtrack combined with the beautiful cinematography of the Old Homestead make this scene one of the best of any Western. Also the scenes where The Duke is jesting with his real life son ("we didn't beat this boy enough when he was growing up") and where he lovingly takes his real life daughter in his arms (scene at Melinda's small farm) are first rate. I give the movie a 9 out of 10.

Directed by Michael Curtiz, the man who made Casablanca and The Sea Hawk, this film rises above most John Wayne movies of the era. It has enormous scale in the rocky horizons of the Southwest, lots of action and heroism, a young and beautiful Ina Balin, and an inspiring sound track courtesy of Elmer Bernstein, who was working up to his movie soundtrack masterpiece, The Magnificent Seven. It's not a typical Western plot. The Duke and his buddy fall into an evil hidden empire from which there is no escape. It has all the makings of a rustic James Bond situation. If you ever liked any Western, you have to like this one.