Rating: 
Summary: One of the Duke's best
Review: As John Wayne got older it seemed his movies got better and better. The Sons of Katie Elder is no exception. The Duke is his usual heroic, brawling type with Dean Martin, Earl Holliman, and Michael Anderson Jr. as his brothers. The relationship between the four brothers is very believable especially as they do their "house cleaning." Good storyline with great ending with the ambush and confrontation in the Hastings gun store. Excellent supporting cast with Paul Fix, Jeremy Slate, George Kennedy, and Dennis Hopper in an early role. Well worth the money for DVD with widescreen presentation and the theatrical trailer
Rating: 
Summary: Duke his usual self.
Review: Four ne'r-do-well sons return home for their mother's funeral only to discover that a sinister mystery seems to engulf their father's death and the loss of their family ranch. The brothers determine to find out the truth and to make a success of the youngest by earning enough money to send him to college. The brothers are framed for the death of the town's beloved sheriff and almost lynched by confederates of the town's resident powerful businessman. Guns blaze, things blow-up and all is eventually as right with the world as John Wayne can make it. While entertaining, this film is a western of average quality. The Duke is as good as always (depending on your taste) as the gunfighter with the heart of gold and Dean Martin provides some fine support as comic relief. Earl Holliman is simply not in the same league as these two actors, but it is left to Michael Anderson Jr. to deliver the worst performance of the film. The DVD was nice for the wide screen that allowed me to see the scenery in the background. But there really wasn't much in the way of special features. If I had owned the VHS I would not have bothered to upgrade to the DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Duke his usual self.
Review: Four ne'r-do-well sons return home for their mother's funeral only to discover that a sinister mystery seems to engulf their father's death and the loss of their family ranch. The brothers determine to find out the truth and to make a success of the youngest by earning enough money to send him to college. The brothers are framed for the death of the town's beloved sheriff and almost lynched by confederates of the town's resident powerful businessman. Guns blaze, things blow-up and all is eventually as right with the world as John Wayne can make it. While entertaining, this film is a western of average quality. The Duke is as good as always (depending on your taste) as the gunfighter with the heart of gold and Dean Martin provides some fine support as comic relief. Earl Holliman is simply not in the same league as these two actors, but it is left to Michael Anderson Jr. to deliver the worst performance of the film. The DVD was nice for the wide screen that allowed me to see the scenery in the background. But there really wasn't much in the way of special features. If I had owned the VHS I would not have bothered to upgrade to the DVD.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the Duke's best!
Review: Here is a movie that was truely a great one. One sad note. This film started production right after John Wayne was told his cancer had returned..you can almost see the despair in his face. Very sad is the fact that most of the actors of this film are gone now. its a shame we never got to see what Katie elder looked like or even the farther..Too bad part 2 was never made..this had an ending that made you want to see more of what will happen to remaining sons after justice was made.
Rating:
Summary: Wow! You gotta see it!
Review: I am so thrilled that someone thought of putting John Wayne and Dean Martin in a movie together. They fit and so does the other brother. Their brawl in the house is hilarious, and you cheer on as they beat the bad guys when they have such a small number of them. Of course, anything with John Wayne is so great, great, great! and the same with Dean Martin! If you wanta see an amazing movie, watch this.
Rating:
Summary: John Wayne in his typical role
Review: In this movie, John Wayne plays a character most of us who are familiar with his movies have seen before--a tough never-do-well man, too stubborn to stay out of trouble and too tender at heart to avoid ultimately doing the right thing. Wayne plays John Elder, the eldest son of the deceased Katie Elder, for whose funeral John returns home. Also returning are his three younger brothers: Tom (Dean Martin), Matt (Earl Holliman) , and Bud (Michael Anderson Jr.). The brothers are prevented from mourning their mother adequately by a scheming entrepreneur named Hastings, who swindled the Elders' parents out of their ranch. It falls on the shoulders of the Elders to redress their mother's loss of the ranch, and try to earn enough money to force Bud to go back to college (that is what Katie wanted). The plot of this movie is interesting enough--it is distinctly typical of John Wayne and yet innovative enough to not be a cookie-cutter type story. Most of the acting in the movie is poor, especially that of Hastings and his accomplice, Curly. The bad acting (Wayne's is not the best of his career, but not bad, either) is offset, however, by the great performance of Dean Martin, who never fails to impress me in Western roles. All in all, this is probably not a timeless Western classic, but it is good. Anyone who enjoys Westerns should be satisfied with The Sons of Katie Elder.
Rating:
Summary: A film about absolutely nothing
Review: Ive seen this film a half dozen times and still couldnt tell you what it is about. The plot is so thin and weak, like soup made with 50 gallons of water and just one bullion cube.
Rating:
Summary: John Wayne at his very best.
Review: John Wayne always seemed to play the same hard-edged good guy in every Western, but there are enough subtle differences in each character to make each one different and each one enjoyable. The same is the case in this film, THE SONS OF KATIE ELDER. In addition to John Wayne, classic actors such as Dean Martin, George Kennedy, and Dennis Hopper play key roles that make this movie a classic. Sure the action scenes are exactly what are expected, there are also several moments where you'll find yourself belly laughing! All in all, a classic. A final note. If you don't fall out of your chair laughing when John Wayne hits George Kennedy with an axe handle...check your pulse.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific cast in stereotypical John Wayne western
Review: John Wayne fans will once again enjoy The Duke in a role that he patented in the 1960's and 1970's in movies like "Rio Bravo", "Chisum", "El Dorado" and "Big Jake". There's just enough difference in this role, though, to make to it memorable for the viewer. A tremendous cast, consisting of Dean Martin, Earl Holliman, Michael Anderson, Jr. (as the brothers Elder) and George Kennedy, James Gregory, Jermey Slate and Paul Fix as supporting good and bad guys really make this a solid western. Dennis Hopper in an early role shows the promise that would make him a Hollywood fixture over the next 40 years.
The plot revolves around the reunion of the four Elder boys at their mother's funeral. Not a close family, they decide to band together to find out the real answer to the mysterious death of their father and subsequent loss of the family ranch. Along the way there's plenty of fight scenes and gun battles that one would associate with a John Wayne western.
The acting is more than a little stilted at times, but the ending (while not unexpected), is a satisfying conclusion to the plot.
Fans of The Duke will want to add this film to their collection!
Rating:
Summary: A GREAT MORALITY WESTERN!
Review: My dad received this video,this past Christmas along with El Dorado,True Grit,and The Shootist.I finally decided to watch it just the other day.I thought it was one of the Duke's best.Great characters,good writing,the villians were despisable,good brothers-stick-together message,and Dino was great at his usual careless self.I recommend this to any Western buff,if you haven't seen it,yet.
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