John Wayne and Dean Martin star in the 1965 Panavision American Western The Sons of Katie Elder, directed by Henry Hathaway, shot almost in Mexico. In 1955, Paramount acquired the story written by William Wright and Talbot Jennings. Five brothers were involved, and the story focused on a cattle drive from Texas to Colorado. Sam Briskin handled producer duties. Alan Ladd, who had been away from Paramount for a while and still owed them a movie, was set to feature in the Frank Burt-written drama under the direction of John Sturges. Filming was scheduled to begin in April 1956, and Noel Langley agreed to pen a draught of the script. However, disclosed in July 1956 that Ladd had paid $135,000 to release himself from his Paramount contract and would no longer be producing the photo.
LET’S TAKE A DIVE INTO THE PLOT OF THE SONS OF KATIE ELDER
The four adult sons of Katie Elder—John, a well-known (or infamous) professional gunman; Tom; a professional gambler; Bud, the youngest, in his first year of mining college; and Matt, a doomed appliances dealer—reunite. In 1898, while attending their mother’s funeral in their hometown of Clearwater, Texas (107 miles east of Dallas in northeast Texas), they expressed grief that none of them had met their mother’s high expectations. The locals and the new deputy sheriff are unpleasant to John and Tom. However, Katie Elder was well-liked by everyone in the neighbourhood. They were all aware of her forthrightness, poverty, kindness, and unwavering love for the boys who had abandoned her. The brothers decide to send Bud back to college after a fight breaks out over marble statues because they want to do something for Katie’s sake. Bud, however, aspires to be like his older brother.
WHAT WERE THE FILMING LOCATIONS OF THE SONS OF KATIE ELDER?
After Wayne was told he had lung cancer, filming had to be put off until January 1965. September was intended to be the original date in 1964. Wayne insisted on performing his stunts after having a malignant lung and two ribs removed; as a result, he almost had pneumonia after being pulled into a river. The opening credits scene, in which a locomotive moves down a tiny stream canyon valley on the renowned Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (now a scenic tourist train) in Colorado, United States, was shot outdoors in Durango, in northern Mexico. The scene where the brothers wait for an absent John Wayne in the train depot that follows was shot in Perkinsville, Arizona, and The Gold City portion of How the West was Won was filmed at the same railroad depot. The Verde Canyon Railroad, a tourist train with its origins in Clarkdale, Arizona, stops at that train depot at the end of the journey before turning around and heading back.
REVEALING ALL THE STARCAST, THE SONS OF KATIE ELDER
As John Elder, John Wayne Tom Elder, played by Dean Martin. Mary Gordon, played by Martha Hyer. Michael Anderson Jr. plays Bud Elder As Matt Elder, Earl Holliman, and Jeremy Slate plays Ben Latta, a deputy sheriff. James Gregory plays Morgan Hastings. Billy Wilson, as portrayed by Paul Fix. In the role of hired gunman Curley, George Kennedy. Dave Hastings, played by Dennis Hopper. and Sheldon Allman, plays Harry Evers. The minister is John Litel. Hyselman is John Doucette. James Westerfield plays Mr Vennar, a horse broker. Role of Charlie Striker by Rhys Williams. Charlie Biller, played by John Qualen. Acosta as Bondie Adams in Rodolfo. Percy Helton portrays Mr Peevey, and Strother Martin plays Jeb Ross. Doc Isdell, played by Karl Swenson.
WHAT WAS THE HISTORY BEHIND THE SONS OF KATIE ELDER?
The film’s subjects, the five Marlow Brothers (George H., Boone, Alfred, Lewellyn, and Charles) of Graham, Texas, in Young County, and Marlow, Oklahoma, are the film’s subjects loosely based on their 1888 actual story (then Indian Territory). The Marlow family, incredibly their parents Dr Wilburn Williamson Marlow, Sr., and Martha Jane (née Keaton) Marlow, are honoured by the naming of the city of Marlow, Oklahoma. The town’s first doctor and a well-known citizen were Dr Marlow. Before, Marlow was a Chisholm Trail rest area close to Wild Horse Creek. In 1880, the Marlow family dug a dwelling they called “Marlow Camp.” the arrival of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad ten years later and erected a station there, naming it Marlow. Along with the five brothers, Dr Wilburn and Martha Marlow had four other children: Nancy Jane “Nannie” Murphy, Charlotte Murphy, Elizabeth “Eliza” Gilmore, and Wilburn Williamson “Willie” Marlow, Jr.