Chisum

John Chisum, a large landowner in New Mexico, watches a businessman arrive in town and buy up the bank, the store and the sheriff one by one. There is nothing to be done legally; the man takes every step within the rules. Chisum tries the courts first, then arms himself. One of the men working for him is Billy the Kid. The subject is not the law but who holds it. The question the film asks is what being right is worth when the rules are entirely on the other side. Chisum considers himself justified in reaching for a gun, and the film agrees with him rather too easily. The form is classical western on a wide canvas. It was shot in Mexico, the cattle sequences use real herds, and the final gunfight in the town square runs long. The historical background is real: the conflict known as the Lincoln County War took place in 1878 and Billy the Kid really was in Chisum's orbit. The film arranges those events largely in Chisum's favour; the actual man was not so clean a figure. John Wayne leads, with Forrest Tucker on the other side and Geoffrey Deuel as Billy the Kid. Andrew V. McLaglen directs. Who it is for: viewers who like classical westerns and follow Wayne's later films. Who it is not for: anyone after historical accuracy; the film noticeably softens what happened.