Sergeant, there’s one thing I ought a tell you; if you lay a hand on White Buffalo again, I’ll kill ya’. – Chisum (1970)
Chisum (1970) and the True Story of William Bonney AKA Billy the Kid
The Old West was a land of opportunity—but also a place where the strong preyed on the weak. One man built his empire with his own two hands, carving out a legacy of hard work, honor, and justice. But when a ruthless land baron arrives, looking to take everything for himself, the frontier is set to explode.
As corrupt officials and hired guns stack the deck, the town’s fate hangs in the balance. Outlaws ride freely, the law is bought and paid for, and the people have nowhere to turn. But one thing about the West—it doesn’t take kindly to bullies.
When young guns and seasoned ranchers find themselves pushed to the edge, the battle lines are drawn. Alliances are tested, bullets fly, and the land’s future will be decided in a showdown that will go down in legend. Can one man stand tall against an empire of greed? Or will everything he built go up in smoke?
Hello to all of the classic people who are returning. I am glad you are back. I want to welcome any new visitors and let you know there will be spoilers ahead. Today on Classic Movie Review, we are taking on the John Wayne Western Chisum (1970). My name is John.
When I say it’s classic John Wayne, it is similar to many of his other films. New York Times film critic Howard Thompson[1] stated, “Forget substance. Settle for color and commotion, and you won’t feel cheated.”
The movie only boasts a 6.9 on iMDB.com[2]. Still, it is a fan favorite, with 83 percent on the Tomatometer and 74 percent on the Popcorn audience score at RottenTomatoes.com[3]. I have to agree that the supporting cast is great, the backstories are compelling, and the bad guys getting what’s coming to them in the end is just good black-and-white justice. This movie generally covers the Lincoln County War and the rise of Billy the Kid but with very little attention paid to historical accuracy.
Actors – Chisum (1970)
Returning
The villainous Sheriff Brady was played by John Wayne’s old drinking buddy, Bruce Cabot. We talked about Cabot in King Kong (1933), where he played a leading role as the hero and love interest of Fay Wray.
New
What can I say about the star of this movie that hasn’t been said before? Marion Robert Morrison starred as John Chisum, but of course, you know the actor as John Wayne. John Wayne is arguably the most well-known of all American actors. For many, he embodies the quintessential American spirit. His bold swagger and take-charge attitude are values highly regarded by many Americans. These are also the same values that cause many non-Americans to have contempt and hatred for our country.
John Wayne had 181 acting credits spanning 50 years from 1926 to 1976. In those early years of Wayne’s career, he met a real Western lawman who had come to Hollywood to try to sell his story. That man, from whom John Wayne learned to act like a cowboy, was none other than Wyatt Earp.
Wyatt Earp is such an icon of the Western movie genre that a review of IMDB shows no less than 56 movies portraying that character spanning from the 1930s all the way through the ought teens, including the masterful Tombstone (1993) that showed why Kurt Russell was cast in roles as diverse as The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969), Used Cars (1980), Escape from New York (1981), Silkwood (1983), The Best of Times (1986), Big Trouble in Little China (1986), Captain Ron (1992), Stargate (1994), and Miracle (2004). We will get to those movies later. But I digress – I went off on a little bit of a tangent there. To sum up, John Wayne could not pick a better cowboy to learn from.
Wayne attended USC on a football scholarship and later began working in Hollywood. During The Big Trail (1930), wagon train western, Raoul Walsh met a handsome prop boy by the name of Marion Robert Morrison. Walsh renamed him John Wayne after Revolutionary War General Mad Anthony Wayne. The name came because Walsh was reading a book about Mad Anthony Wayne at the time. I guess we can all be glad he wasn’t reading about the Swamp Fox – Francis Marion.
About 84 of Wayne’s movies were westerns of some type. These movies ranged from playing a singing cowboy in Riders of Destiny (1933) to his final film, in which he portrayed an aging gunfighter with cancer in The Shootist (1976). In between, he played every kind of cowboy, from the driver in The Searchers (1956) to a madman in Red River (1948) and comedic in McLintock! (1963).
I believe it would be safe to say he made movies about being in every branch of the service (maybe not the Coast Guard). In movies, he flew planes of every size and description and drove every type of boat and ship.
Wayne was a lifelong Republican and a war hawk, even supporting the Vietnam War. However, during World War II, he chose not to enter service, as it might have negatively impacted his career. Wayne died in 1979 from cancer. That same year, a Congressional Gold Medal was struck in his honor.
Wayne was a controversial figure in life but a hell of an actor. Through his acting, he set the bar for manliness. Gregory Peck had an interesting idea about Wayne quoting – That’s why those fellas were so magnificent playing the same part because they’d played it forty times. That’s why John Wayne finally became a good actor in True Grit (1969) – he’s got 150 of them behind him. Now, he’s developed a saltiness and an earthiness and a humor and a subtlety that comes from mining that same vein over and over again.[4]
Lawrence Murphy’s character was played by Forrest Tucker. Tucker is a well-known actor with almost 150 acting credits, the majority of which were television roles. He is perhaps best known for his role on the television show “F-Troop” from 1965 to 1967. However, I am more impressed by his role in Auntie Mame (1958), where he was cast as Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside, the owner of Peckerwood Plantation, just outside of Savannah.
Christopher George played Dan Nodeen, a snarling hired gun working for the Murphy side. I would not normally mention him except for two things. The first was a line he delivered in this flick. When asked where he was going, he replied he was leaving because there weren’t enough paydays in this outfit. In other words, money ain’t worth getting killed for. Secondly, when working with the beautiful starlet Lynda Day on this film, they fell in love and were married. After that, she was known as Lynda Day George. Lynda Day played Sue McSween, who was married to an honest storekeeper who was caught in the middle of the feud. Day has 80 acting credits and was a successful TV actress.
British actor Patric Knowles was cast as the English cattleman Henry Tunstall. For some reason, the producers cast a much older actor for this part. In reality, Tunstall was 25 when he was murdered. Knowles has 127 credits from 1932 to 1973. Knowles was cast as Frank Andrews in The Wolf Man (1941), who helped track and kill the Wolfman. Knowles played the role of Will Scarlett in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and the unrequited love in Auntie Mame (1958).
Ben Johnson played the role of Chisum’s (John Wayne’s) sidekick. He peppers this movie with authentic frontier gibberish and is continually mumbling to himself. Johnson really stole the spotlight from Wayne in this movie. Johnson had 104 acting roles. He consistently played the role of the wise cowpoke. His most noted part is in The Wild Bunch (1969). However, I like him as the insurgent supporting Grandpa in Red Dawn (1984).
Geoffrey Deuel[5] played Billy ‘The Kid’ Bonney in this movie. Deuel was born in Lockport, New York, in 1943. He attended high school in Penfield, New York, before attending Ithaca College and Syracuse University. He eventually followed in his older brother Peter’s footsteps and went to Hollywood. Deuel began appearing on television in 1966, and his first and best-known film is Chisum (1970). He spent six years in the Army and has been active in education. The last of his 39 television and movie credits was in 2001. He is currently living in Florida with his wife and dog.
Glenn Corbett played the role of Pat Garrett. Corbett played one of the outlaws who kidnapped John Wayne’s grandson in Big Jake (1971); he was also in Midway (1976) along with everyone else who could walk. I don’t know if you remember that movie, but it was the second movie to have Sensurround. It is described as a “special low-frequency bass speaker setup consisting of four huge speakers loaned out by distributors to select theaters showing the film. This system was only employed during specific sequences of the film. It was so powerful that it actually cracked plaster at some movie theaters.” I saw this movie in 1976, and I think I still have a hearing impairment.
Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez played a Mexican Rancher in Chisum (1970), but he can be seen in 85 movies playing bit parts. A few notable John Wayne films in which he was present include The High and the Mighty (1954), Rio Bravo (1959), and Hellfighters (1968). Of course, we would not want to forget he was also in The Love Bug (1968).
Chisum (1970) is set during the Lincoln County War. I mean the one in New Mexico Territory in 1878, and not anything that happened in Nebraska. In a nutshell, Lawrence Murphy owned a store and some other stuff, and he was pretty happy setting the prices due to the lack of competition. Englishman John Tunstall arrived on the scene, and with backing from a powerful rancher, John Chisum tried to break the monopoly by opening a competing store.
Each side started gathering gunfighters, ranch hands, and lawmen for the coming fight. The Murphy side was supported by the Jesse Evans Gang and local sheriff Brady. On the Tunstall side were a group of armed men known as the Regulators. Among this group were the town constable, Richard Brewer, and a skinny kid who went by the name of William Bonney. No doubt you know him as Billy the Kid. Somewhere in the middle of the two groups was Pat Garrett.
Well, like any good Western, the two sides start knocking each other off. But wait a minute, I’m still talking about real history. I haven’t gotten to the movie yet. First, Murphy’s people killed the Englishmen Tunstall. Then, the Regulators murdered Sheriff Brady. The killings continued for a few months with names such as the Blackwater Massacre, where only 3 people were killed, and the Battle of Blazer’s Mill. These nicely named murders finally resulted in the Battle of Lincoln.
The two sides took up positions around town and started shooting and hollering at each other. A couple of folks got killed, but it was basically a standoff. On the fourth day, the Army arrived. They pointed their cannons at the Regulators, and some of them fled. Later that day, they set the house on fire, driving the remaining Regulators from the house. A few more were killed in the fight, but the Kid and some others got away.
Things settled down after the fight. Two years later, Pat Garrett became the County Sheriff. Garrett and Billy the Kid were good friends. They had often been seen gambling together in the local saloon, earning the nicknames “Big Casino” and “Little Casino.” This did not stop Garrett from killing Bonney in the night under questionable circumstances.
This story has been retold by Hollywood many times. Notables include The Left Handed Gun (1958), Young Guns (1988), and today’s subject Chisum (1970). I just want to take a second to talk about Paul Newman and The Left Handed Gun (1958). Newman did a great job in that movie, and I hope to return to him for Cool Hand Luke (1967) and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). The Sting (1973) review is now live, and a link to it is included in the description. But what I want to talk about is the left hand. It was widely believed that Billy the Kid was left-handed. The only proven photograph of him shows his holster on the left side. When the rifle he was holding in his other hand was examined in the late 1950s, it was found that the breech opening was facing the wrong way. This was confirmed in 2001 when the buckle and buttons in the picture were studied. It seems that the photographer simply flipped the negative before the image was printed.
Story – Chisum (1970)
The movie begins with a rousing theme song that explains how hard Chisum worked to drive his cattle beyond the Red River and drive the Indians from the land. This could be viewed as a continuation of Red River (1948), showing the elder years.
Since Chisum (John Wayne) got there first, of the Anglos anyway, he took the best piece of land. He is shown sitting on his horse, watching over what is now his. Chisum’s top hand, James Pepper (Ben Johnson), collects him from the hill so they can meet the stage.
Sheriff Brady (Bruce Cabot) is out meeting with Mexican bandits so he can pay them to cause trouble for Chisum. Some of Chisum’s men are herding a string of ponies when the Mexican bandits attack. They kill a lot of men and steal the horses.
In town, Chisum finds that the general store owner is pulling out. He has been bought out by L.G. Murphey (Forrest Tucker). Chisum is told about the attack and heads towards the Tunstall Ranch to head them off.
On the Tunstall Ranch, Englishman Henry Tunstall (Patric Knowles) and his assistant William Bonney, AKA Billy the Kid (Geoffrey Deuel), are sorting cows as to ownership. Tunstall mentors Bonney on fair dealings. Chisum and his men ride up, and the Tunstall group rides after.
The bandits are watering the horses. Chisum and Pepper ride down to confront the bandits. Bonney rides ahead, and he is the best with a gun and doesn’t mind killing. Pepper finds the money that the sheriff paid the bandits.
Chisum invites Bonney to his niece’s reception, but when he finds out he is the Kid, they have an awkward moment. Chisum goes back into town to meet his niece when she arrives on the stage. Chisum goes into the bar and finds out that L.G. Murphey and his flunky James J. Dolan (Edward Faulkner) are cutting off the water from the other ranchers. Chisum allows the others to take his water. He then insults Murphy and Sheriff Brady before leaving the bar.
At the stage, he meets the new store manager, Alex McSween (Andrew Prine), and his wife, Sue McSween (Lynda Day George). His niece, Sallie Chisum (Pamela McMyler), is at the stable buying a horse.
Chisum and Sallie head back to the ranch. Tunstall is acting as a father figure to Bonney. When they come out of the store, Bonney’s old riding gang comes up, led by Jess Evans (Richard Jaeckel). Tunstall is a little shocked that Bonney used to ride with a crowd like that. Evans goes to work for L.G. Murphey.
Former buffalo hunter Pat Garrett (Glenn Corbett) comes into a camp where men are watching Chisum’s cattle. He lets them know that rides led by Evans are approaching the herd. Garrett helps the cattlemen fight the rustler. They capture one of the rustlers named Riker (Gregg Palmer) and take him back to the house. It is the night of the party, and Garrett sees Sallie dancing with Bonney. When they are introduced, Garrett gets a little snide with Bonney. The next day, they drop Riker off at the jail with Sheriff Brady.
L.G. Murphey explains to Alex McSween his plan to get the water rights from Chisum. Sheriff Brady and Evans come in to talk about Riker, but they won’t talk about it in front of Alex. The three men plan to let the prisoner escape and hide in the line camp. They plan to put out a reward poster for the escaped rustler.
James J. Dolan is roughly throwing an old Hispanic man named Juan out of the Murphey’s store. Bonney fires a shot through the window to stop the fight, but Tunstall has him put his gun away. Chisum shows up, and they talk to Murphey about his prices. Tunstall and Chisum decide to open a store and a bank to compete with Murphey.
The herd that was scattered by the rustlers was supposed to be delivered to the Army. At the fort, the commander says he has ordered a herd from someone else. The chief, White Buffalo (Abraham Sofaer), knows Chisum from the old days. When he tries to talk to Chisum, an Army First Sergeant (John Pickard) grabs the chief. Chisum grabs the sergeant, gives him a cigar, and calmly explains that if he touches White Buffalo again, he will kill him.
After Chisum rides out, the commander meets with L.G. Murphey. They have been making shady deals.
Alex has found out what a rat Murphey is, and he goes to see Chisum and Tunstall. They propose that he run their store and bank as a partner.
Bonney is leading the wagon train to get the supplies for the new store. Garrett loses his money gambling and decides to join Bonney. Before Billy leaves, he gives a wooden cross to Sallie cause he thinks she’s purdy.
Scar-faced bounty hunter Dan Nodeen (Christopher George) comes in with Riker’s body to collect the bounty. Murphey’s plans have gone off the rails a bit. Sheriff Brady mentions that Nodeen limps because Bonney shot him a few years back. Murphey offers Nodeen a job, but he refuses.
During the trip to Santa Fe, Booney and Garrett become good friends. Booney wants to know if he can change and get married. Garrett says that it takes time to get over your past. When the wagon train is crossing a river, Evans and his gang of riders attack. The wagon train is prepared, and the raiders take a pretty bad beating. The wagon train loses some men as well. Evans shoots Bonney as he is driving one of the wagons across, but he survives so Sallie can take care of him.
Chisum wants to kill Murphey, but Tunstall and Alex stop him. Tunstall plans to go to Santa Fe to talk to the territorial governor. Chisum has to throw in his contempt for the government, which is higher than the gun.
The store and bank hurt Murphey’s business as soon as they opened.
While Bonney is healing, Tunstall leaves for Santa Fe, but first, he makes Bonney promise not to use the gun.
Evans brands some of Murphey’s cattle with the Tunstall brand. The sheriff then sends me out to arrest Tunstall. Tunstall starts arguing and reaches for his watch. One of the deputies, Bradley (Robert Donner), overreacts and shoots him. He then places a gun on the unarmed man.
They have the funeral for Tunstall just as Justice J.B. Wilson (Ray Teal) shows up. Bonney is the last to leave the graveside. He vows revenge. Chisum gets deputized to track down the killers.
Murphey and Evans get their version of the story to the territorial governor.
Chisum and his men catch the wanted men in a little cantina. They beat the men and then take them into custody. Garrett and the men are taking the prisoners to town when Bonney rides up. Cool as a cucumber, he shoots the two men down and flees.
Bonney charges into town and guns Sheriff Brady down in the middle of the main street. Murphey gets the governor to revoke J.B.’s power. The governor appoints Nodeen as the new sheriff.
Chisum says he will handle Murphey if there is any more trouble. Bonney comes to see Sallie, and Garrett catches him. Chisum takes Bonney in and tries to explain things to him. Chisum talks about a girl he walked away from in Texas. Is this Red River (1948) again?
Nodeen goes on a terror spree looking for Bonney. Bonney gets a gang together and plans on robbing the bank and killing Murphey.
Back at the ranch, Garrett is macking on Sallie. Garrett gives the Chisum the “Great White Father” speech.
Bonney and his gang ride into town at night. They break into Chisum’s store to steal dynamite. Alex catches them, and he tries to convince Bonney. Nodeen sees Booney from across the street and gathers his group. Nodeen and his men start firing indiscriminately into the store. The rest of Bonney’s gang makes it into the store. Nodeen won’t let Alex and Sue leave even though they are innocent bystanders.
At Sun up, Nodeen calls Bonney to come out. They start firing again. Alex asks Murphey if Sue can come out. They let her outside, and she crosses the street. Hey, but they’re shooting that way too. Alex decides he wants to come out. Nodeen refuses to let him out. Bonney starts picking the other side off and whittles them down pretty well. Sue rides out to get Chisum. Murphey guards both ends of town and puts a barricade up.
Chisum gets all the men he can and heads into town. Alex asks for a cease-fire and comes out alone. When he does, Nodeen guns him down in the street. Nodeen calls for torches. Chisum and other locals meet by the cattle corral in town. By this time, Nodeen’s men have set the store on fire. Chisum and his men send the herd of cows, you know, not dairy cows, but real Texas Longhorns, streaming down the main street of town and over the barricade.
Chisum rides his horse through a window to get to Murphey. Bonney and his remaining guys break out and continue the fight. Murphy and Chisum fight in every room and break all of the furniture and windows. Bonney tracks down Evans and kills him in a fair fight.
Murphey and Chisum fight upstairs and fall out of the top window. Murphey is impaled on a set of horns. I guess they came off the wall, or one of the cows lost them. Nodeen leaves town, saying it ain’t worth it. Garrett becomes the sheriff. Gen. Lew Wallace takes over as governor and gives a general amnesty. Garett and Sallie are a thing now.
So Garrett becomes sheriff, gets the girl, and rich guy Chisum goes back to lording over his valley. Billy the Kid becomes an outlaw. The end.
Conclusion – Chisum (1970)
I spent years working at Shiloh National Military Park in Tennessee as an archaeologist. Many days on the way to excavate at the mounds, I would pass by a giant stack of black-painted cannonballs. They bore the words, “W.H.L. WALLACE’S HDQRS.” One day, it dawned on me that this was the headquarters of Lew Wallace, the author.
I never really followed up on this, just assuming he wrote the book sometime before the Civil War. I was, in fact, very wrong. Many years after the war, Wallace was appointed governor of New Mexico Territory by President Rutherford B. Hayes.
The story came together for me as I listened to the excellent podcast “Infamous America” by Chris Wimmer when I learned the final part of the story. Governor Wallace secretly met with William H. Bonney, AKA Billy the Kid. Wallace promised a full pardon in exchange for testimony in an upcoming murder case.
Billy tells Garrett that he rode with the worst of them, including Jess Evans and Clay Allison. Allison was a notorious gunman who worked in the New Mexico area and knew Billy Bonney. Jess Evans, played by Richard Jaeckel in this movie, led a gang in opposition to Bonney’s. Unlike the depiction here, Bonney didn’t kill Evans, who simply disappeared after his release from prison around 1882.
Bonny provided the grand jury testimony as promised, but a local district attorney revoked the parole. After several weeks in jail, Bonney escaped and returned to a life-fighting members of the opposing side of the Lincoln County War.
Bonny attempted to have the governor reinstate his parole, but the governor was busy with other matters. These matters turned out to be the completion of Wallace’s book “Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ” 1880. Of course, this book has been adapted into three movies. These are Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925), Ben-Hur (1959), an amazing movie with a big secret, and Ben-Hur (2016). I haven’t seen this last one, but I understand it should be avoided at all costs.
In real life, Chisum kind of faded away from the trouble and later declined to add his former co-conspirators. The ages were all whacked up. Geoffrey Deuel, who played William Bonney, was 27 in the film, while the real Billy the Kid was killed at the age of 21. Patric Knowles, who played Henry Tunstall, was supposed to be older than Chisum and was actually 58. This made him 4 years younger than John Wayne, who was playing Chisum. At the time of his murder, Tunstall was 25. Richard Jaeckel, who played Jesse Evans, was 43 when he portrayed the character, who would have been 24 at the time of the events depicted in the film.
This film was made by John Wayne’s Batjac Productions company. John Wayne’s son, Michael, served as the executive producer. Michael said he thought the film represented his father’s political views. Is it that you can kill when you want, regardless of the law, and let the hired helpers fend for themselves?
Like many Wayne films, it was a reunion of sorts. Today’s film was one of five films starring John Wayne and directed by Andrew V. McLaglen. The other four films were McLintock! (1963), Hellfighters (1968), The Undefeated (1969) (There are links in the description), and Cahill U.S. Marshal (1973).
A lot of Director John Ford’s or John Wayne’s stock crew appeared in this film. This is one of eight John Wayne films that co-starred Ben Johnson. Have no doubt Ben Johnson as Pepper is the highlight of the movie. Of course, I have talked before about Bruce Cabot appearing in 11 of Wayne’s films, as the pair were offscreen drinking buddies. John Agar was in 6 films with Wayne. Wayne’s other son, Partick, was in this film and also played Pat Garrett in Young Guns (1988), an actors age-appropriate movie about the Lincoln County War.
The aforementioned Richard Jaeckel also appeared in Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973), another film about the infamous outlaw. That film featured singer/actors Kris Kristofferson, Bob Dylan, and Rita Coolidge. For you, Film Noir fans, Elisha Cook Jr. was also in the 1973 film.
Great Film Noir actor Robert Mitchum’s sons Christopher and John had small roles in Chisum (1970). This was Ray Teal’s last film, having appeared with Wayne in Back to Bataan (1945). When Chisum opens his pocket watch for Sally, the picture of her mother is Actress Lee Meriwether, who appeared with Wayne in the earlier film The Undefeated (1969). The Undefeated (1969) was also directed by McLaglen and filmed in Durango, Mexico.
Other members of the stock group include Hank Worden, Chris George, Glenn Corbett, Robert Donner, Grizzly Palmer, Chuck Hayward, and Chuck Roberson. Another great Film Noir actor and voice talent, William Conrad, did the film’s narration.
The ranch used for this film was recycled for the much better John Wayne film Big Jake (1971).
Is the movie ending of Chisum (1970) better than the real ending? I’m not sure how I feel. In the film, When Billy the Kid breaks into McSween’s store, McSween comes down the stairs in the dark, asking, “Who’s there? Who’s there?” This is a nod to Billy’s last words as he was shot in a dark room by his friend Pat Garrett; Billy called out in Spanish Quien es? Quien es? (Who is it? Who is it?). In real life, Pat Garrett killed his friend Billy Bonney on July 14, 1881.
World-Famous Short Summary – English boy goes to the Wild West and hangs out with Billy the Kid. Things end badly for the English boy. Oh, and for Billy the Kid, too.
Beware the moors.
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/1970/07/30/archives/john-wayne-rides-again-in-chisum.html
[2] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065547
[3] https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chisum/
