Previously 24/2/08. I managed to get this on by telling Q it's one of the most cheerful westerns ever made, and it is just great, though the opening moments are still quite shocking (and give the plot its bite). Apparently last time when I watched it on my own as a Sunday morning film, it went on so long 'Q got pissed off and we had a rar. Ended up eating apple turnover and carrot cake'. Well, there you are. It has a particularly friendly action climax.
Much enjoyed those moments that seem improvised, through the reactions of (a) John Wayne as he has kissed Walter Brennan's head (b) Dean Martin reacting again to one of Walter's jokes.
It's beautifully simply filmed - the camera hardly ever moves. And brilliantly written - Jules Furthman (The Big Sleep, To Have and have Not, Shanghai Express, Only Angels Have Wings) and Leigh Brackett (The Big Sleep, El Dorado).
Features John Wayne, Dean Martin (scarily good as alky), Angie Dickinson, Walter Brennan, Ward Bond, John Russell, Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez, Estelita Rodriguez, Claude Akins. Shot by Mockingbird's Russell Harlan.
Hawks - good old Hawks - was the pioneer of the buddy movie.
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