The Sons Of Katie Elder is not one of John Wayne's best movies. There is not enough action and the pace could use some caffeine. Still, for Wayne fans, it is a fair afternoon viewing.

This movie is about four brothers, Wayne plays the oldest, a gunslinger. Dean Martin is a gambler wanted for murder. Earl Holliman is an unsuccessful businessman and Michael Anderson Jr. plays the youngest brother attending college. The foursome get together for their mother's funeral and through much bickering agree to herd some cattle she purchased just prior to her death.

The best thing this movie has to offer is the cast. John Wayne has the greatest screen presence ever. Sure it probably helped that he was physically big, but his charm was that he always played a mans man, with tough talk and guns a blazing. He is the epitome of what a movie star is. Not the greatest actor, but he has the greatest screen persona.

Dean Martin always seemed to me to be the second fiddle. He played the straight man to Jerry Lewis. He was the Executive Officer to Frank Sinatra's Captain of the Rat Pack. However, he had the leading man looks that both Lewis and Sinatra lacked. Here he holds his own against The Duke and shows that he actually had greater acting range than Lewis or Sinatra.

The movie moves along slow but steady. The brothers arguing and the occasional fights add some spark to an otherwise unspectacular western. The one surprise in the plot comes at a gunfight when the brothers get shot up pretty bad and one dies. No, I won't tell you which one. You will have to watch the movie.

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