Cliff Lyons Movies

The Green Berets is an exciting war film that was lambasted by critics who at the time of its release opposed the war in Vietnam. Wayne's role is similar to his part in The Longest Day (1963), but it was evident to the worldwide public that the same bravado that flew well in World War II crash-landed in 1968 in the wake of a very different war and political time. Wayne plays the hard-nosed rough-and-ready Colonel Mike Kirby who heads a courageous bunch of tough-as-nails Green Berets determined to capture an important enemy general. They are accompanied by a skeptical reporter who soon becomes a gung-ho red-white-and-blue patriot as the Colonel and the others lecture and show him why they must defeat the "commies." Interestingly, despite the massive anti-war sentiments of the times, the film grossed over $11 million at the box-office and is especially notable for the fine battle scenes. The film also features the hit song "Ballad of the Green Berets," sung by Sgt. Barry Sadler. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

One of director John Ford's least characteristic films, it derives from the latter part of his career, when the director's belief in the myth of the West had faded, and he was beset by failing health and personal problems. In the cynicism of its humor, the director seems be to taking a page from the work of his friend Howard Hawks. James Stewart stars as Guthrie McCabe, the marshal of a Texas town who spends most of his time in front of the local saloon, where he gets 10 percent of the action, in addition to favors from its owner, Belle Aragon Anelle Hayes. Based on his knowledge of the Commanche tribe, his friend, cavalry officer Jim Gary (Richard Widmark), asks him to help the army to recover long-missing white captives. Despite his initial reluctance, the ability of the opportunistic McCabe to neogotiate a lucrative per capita deal for his recovery of the captives, in addition to his desire to evade the marital intentions of Belle, seal the deal. Even after interviewing the captives' desperate relatives, the hardened McCabe is unmoved, although he believes their chance of ever seeing their relatives again as they once knew them is remote. However, as events unfold, the all-knowing marshal find he has a few things to learn. ~ Michael Costello, Rovi

Although it revolves around a crucial issue in the history of California, this subpar drama misses its targets somehow. The time is 1848 in California when an American justice system has to try Californians who are either Mexican in culture and speech and heritage, or not. Hatfield Carnes (Dennis Hopper) is a sorry example of the "not" side of the equation, and he is on trial for murdering a Mexican. The Mexican-Americans who back California's U.S. government are anxious to see if American justice is racially and ethnically blind. In the meantime, there is a romance or two to divert attention as Hatfield's accusers get ready for the trial. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This 1959 version of Lew Wallace's best-selling novel, which had already seen screen versions in 1907 and 1926, went on to win 11 Academy Awards. Adapted by Karl Tunberg and a raft of uncredited writers including Gore Vidal and Maxwell Anderson, the film once more recounts the tale of Jewish prince Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston), who lives in Judea with his family during the time that Jesus Christ was becoming known for his "radical" teachings. Ben-Hur's childhood friend Messala (Stephen Boyd) is now an ambitious Roman tribune; when Ben-Hur refuses to help Messala round up local dissidents on behalf of the emperor, Messala pounces on the first opportunity to exact revenge on his onetime friend. Tried on a trumped-up charge of attempting to kill the provincial governor (whose head was accidentally hit by a falling tile), Ben-Hur is condemned to the Roman galleys, while his mother (Martha Scott) and sister (Cathy O'Donnell) are imprisoned. But during a sea battle, Ben-Hur saves the life of commander Quintus Arrius (Jack Hawkins), who, in gratitude, adopts Ben-Hur as his son and gives him full control over his stable of racing horses. Ben-Hur never gives up trying to find his family or exact revenge on Messala. At crucial junctures in his life, he also crosses the path of Jesus, and each time he benefits from it. The highlight of the film's 212 minutes is its now-legendary chariot race, staged largely by stunt expert Yakima Canutt. Ben-Hur's Oscar haul included Best Picture, Best Director for the legendary William Wyler, Best Actor for Heston, and Best Supporting Actor for Welsh actor Hugh Griffith as an Arab sheik. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

If John Ford is the greatest Western director, The Searchers is arguably his greatest film, at once a grand outdoor spectacle like such Ford classics as She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and Rio Grande (1950) and a film about one man's troubling moral codes, a big-screen adventure of the 1950s that anticipated the complex themes and characters that would dominate the 1970s. John Wayne plays Ethan Edwards, a former Confederate soldier who returns to his brother Aaron's frontier cabin three years after the end of the Civil War. Ethan still has his rebel uniform and weapons, a large stash of Yankee gold, and no explanations as to where he's been since Lee's surrender. A loner not comfortable in the bosom of his family, Ethan also harbors a bitter hatred of Indians (though he knows their lore and language well) and trusts no one but himself. Ethan and Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter), Aaron's adopted son, join a makeshift band of Texas Rangers fending off an assault by renegade Comanches. Before they can run off the Indians, several homes are attacked, and Ethan returns to discover his brother and sister-in-law dead and their two daughters kidnapped. While they soon learn that one of the girls is dead, the other, Debbie, is still alive, and with obsessive determination, Ethan and Martin spend the next five years in a relentless search for Debbie -- and for Scar (Henry Brandon), the fearsome Comanche chief who abducted her. But while Martin wants to save his sister and bring her home, Ethan seems primarily motivated by his hatred of the Comanches; it's hard to say if he wants to rescue Debbie or murder the girl who has lived with Indians too long to be considered "white." John Wayne gives perhaps his finest performance in a role that predated screen antiheroes of the 1970s; by the film's conclusion, his single-minded obsession seems less like heroism and more like madness. Wayne bravely refuses to soft-pedal Ethan's ugly side, and the result is a remarkable portrait of a man incapable of answering to anyone but himself, who ultimately has more in common with his despised Indians than with his more "civilized" brethren. Natalie Wood is striking in her brief role as the 16-year-old Debbie, lost between two worlds, and Winton C. Hoch's Technicolor photography captures Monument Valley's savage beauty with subtle grace. The Searchers paved the way for such revisionist Westerns as The Wild Bunch (1969) and McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), and its influence on movies from Taxi Driver (1976) to Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and Star Wars (1977) testifies to its lasting importance. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

John Wayne stars as Lt. Col. Kirby Yorke, whose devotion to duty has cost him his marriage to his beloved Kathleen (Maureen O'Hara). Yorke gets word that his son, Jeff (Claude Jarman Jr.) -- whom he hasn't seen in 15 years -- has been dropped as a cadet from West Point, and that he lied about his age to enlist in the cavalry, in an effort to redeem himself. By chance, the boy is then assigned to his father's post. Once more, as a function of his duty as a cavalry officer, Yorke must sacrifice his love of family -- he cannot show any preferential treatment to the boy, or exhibit any sign of love and affection. But Jeff is too strong to be injured by his father's actions, and already enough of a man that he is befriended by two older recruits, troopers Tyree (Ben Johnson) and Boone (Harry Carey Jr.), who watch out for him while taking him in as a virtual equal. Yorke's resolve is further tested when his estranged wife, Kathleen, arrives at the post, the better to look after her son -- and possibly to buy back the boy's enlistment, which Yorke, as commanding officer in a remote post with a critical shortage of men, can't and won't permit. After an attack by the Apaches, Yorke orders the post's women and children to be moved to safety, and Jeff is assigned as part of the troop conducting the caravan, despite his wish to participate in the planned action against the Apaches. The caravan is attacked, and the wagon with the children is taken by the Apaches to their encampment in a deserted village across the Rio Grande in Mexico. Yorke has been given permission by General Sheridan (J. Carrol Naish) to take his men into Mexico in pursuit of the Apaches, but the punitive expedition is now a rescue mission, as the Indians' night-time vengeance dance is the prelude to certain slaughter of the children at daybreak. As part of the mission, it's up to Tyree, the slyest man in the troop, to infiltrate the enemy camp, and he chooses Jeff and Boone as the two men he wants with him on this dangerous mission. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

The Milkman is a low-key variation of a theme explored in such slapstick festivals as The Fuller Brush Man and The Yellow Cab Man. Donald O'Connor plays Roger Bradley, who hopes to become a top-flight milkman to please his father (Henry O'Neill), the owner of the milk company. Jimmy Durante co-stars as Breezy Albright, the older milkman who teaches Roger the ropes. After several comic set pieces, the plot rears its ugly head in the form of John Carter (Jess Barker), the nephew of rival milk-company proprietress Mrs. Carter (Elizabeth Risdon). Carter has gotten mixed up with a nasty bunch of gamblers, led by Mike Morrel (William Conrad). This leads to an exciting, albeit chucklesome finale wherein Roger, Breezy and ingenue Chris Abbott (Piper Laurie) combine forces to rout the bad guys. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The second of John Ford's "Cavalry Trilogy," this film stars John Wayne as Cavalry Captain Nathan Brittles. In his last days before his compulsory retirement, Brittles must face the possibility of a full-scale attack from the Arapahos, fomented by the recent defeat of General Custer and by double-dealing Indian agents. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi

In his final epic Western, Errol Flynn plays cattleman Clay Hardin, who, on a trek south of the border, has discovered that San Antonio saloon proprietor Roy Stuart (Paul Kelly) is actually a cattle rustler of major proportions. Determined to bring Stuart to justice, Clay runs into difficulties when he mistakes feted chanteuse Jeanne Starr (Alexis Smith) for being on the saloon owner's payroll. Meanwhile, Stuart's French-accented partner, and enemy, Legare (Victor Francen), uses the taut situation to benefit himself. Then Clay's longtime friend, Charlie Bell (John Litel), is brutally slain and Jeanne's manager, Sacha Bozic (S.Z. Sakall) is forced to skip town, Bozic, unbeknownst to Clay, having witnessed the murder. The real killer is eventually forced to confess and San Antonio erupts in a climactic gun battle that culminates in a shootout at the historic Alamo. With Hungarian actor Sakall providing some much-needed comedy relief, Alexis Smith, Doodles Weaver, and a chorus perform a few songs, including: Ray Heindorf, M.K. Jerome, and Ted Koehler's "Some Sunday Morning"; "Put Your Little Foot Right Out," by Larry Spier; and Jack Scholl and Charles Kisco's "Somewhere in Monterey." According to some reports, both Raoul Walsh and Robert Florey directed a few additional scenes. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Johnny Hart (Rod Cameron) is on the run from the law after killing one of the men who shot his partner. He passes through a town and stops at a saloon owned by singer Lorena Dumont (Yvonne de Carlo). The two seem a good, albeit tempestuous match, although Johnny has no plans to marry -- Lorena has other ideas and a shotgun wedding ensues. Blackie (Sheldon Leonard), an outlaw who is jealous of the marriage, informs Lorena of Johnny's wanted status, and he ends up getting caught by the law after their wedding night. He serves six years and returns to find that he and Lorena don't get along any better than they did before, and that he's also the father of a five-year-old girl (Beverly Simmons). Also lurking about is Blackie, whom he recognizes as one of the men who killed his partner, and Blackie wants Johnny out of the way so he can marry Lorena. Johnny and Lorena fight over custody of their daughter and Blackie nearly gets them each killed at one point or another. He kidnaps their daughter before Johnny dispatches him. He finally realizes that the only way he can win Lorena is to meet her cup for cup and blow for blow, until she understands that he loves her. The film, a sort of Western Taming of the Shrew, ends on a note of romance and reconciliation. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

The most obvious discrepancies concerning this otherwise well-remembered cliffhanger from genre specialist Republic Pictures are the quite demure-looking leopard outfit worn by the serial's heroine, Linda Stirling, and that Darkest Africa looks suspiciously like the hills of suburban Chatsworth. Apparently, producer William J. O'Connell acquired the leopard costume on the cheap but too late for the title to be changed, and the location never really mattered to Republic's mostly juvenile target audience. Making her serial debut, Stirling's innate athleticism came in handy playing Kay Arnold, an heiress turned Jungle Goddess who helps oil company representative Allan Lane fight off a villainous competitor headed by unscrupulous attorney Fletcher Walton (LeRoy Mason) and his henchman, general store proprietor Tom Daggett (Crane Whitley). The remaining 11 chapters had either Stirling rescuing Lane from one peril after another, or vice versa. Although not quite as independently heroic as serial queens such as Pearl White and Ruth Roland, Linda Stirling came as close as anybody, which of course was Republic's goal all along. Her sex appeal, despite the demure costume, was obvious and although this was not why she had chosen the acting profession, Linda tore into her serial assignments with legendary gusto. Ironically, the native of Long Beach, CA, had begun her career studying with Ben Bard, the widower of Ruth Roland. The serial was re-edited and released in a feature version re-titled Jungle Gold. In 1951, Republic resurrected the entire chapterplay under the title Perils of the Darkest Jungle. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

With the 1939 Johnny Mack Brown western Desperate Trails, veteran B-flick director Albert Ray set up shop at Universal. Brown and comic sidekick Fuzzy Knight are cast as Steve Hayden and Cousin Willie, on the trail of cattle rustlers. The action highlights were exciting, if a bit hard to swallow: in one sequence, the hero shoots at a gang of outlaws, one-handed, with a repeating rifle, never missing his target! Desperate Trails represented a step down for singing cowboy Bob Baker, who after a year of starring in his own series was relegated to second lead in this Brown vehicle. Also on hand is Bill Cody Jr., son of the white-stetsoned cowboy hero of the silent era. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi