Insert Title Here: A Title-First Fic Event

McLintock! (1963) dir. Andrew V. McLaglen

It is summer, 1895, and Elizabeth "Betsy" McLintock (Stefanie Powers) is coming home from college in the East to her hometown of McLintock, named after her father George Washington "G.W." McLintock (John Wayne). She has no idea what she's walking in to. G.W. and his wife Katherine "Kate" McLintock (Maureen O'Hara) have been separated for the last two years, and she's been hanging out as a socialite in the territory capital in the eastern part of the territory. Now that Betsy has graduated, the fiery-tempered Katherine has returned to the family ranch to seek a divorce and custody of their daughter.

And there's quite a bit more going on in McLintock. Recently a new crop of homesteaders arrived, lured by the prospect of "free" government land. Land agent Matt Douglas (Gordon Jones) is looking forward to all the transaction fees he'll be pocketing, and tries to preempt G.W.'s warning that the land parcels are unfit for farming by claiming that this is the usual cattlemen vs. settlers conflict. One young man, Devlin "Dev" Warren (Patrick Wayne), has already lost his chance at a parcel due to the death of his father, whose name the parcel was in. He asks G.W. for a ranch hand job, initially being turned down as the rancher doesn't hire "farmers", but persists when old-timer Bunny Dull (Edgar Buchanan) advises him not to be too proud to beg. He breaks down a bit when this works, but G.W. turns out to appreciate that proud streak. When G.W. discovers that Dev's mother Louise Warren (Yvonne De Carlo) is an excellent cook, he hires her as well, not really thinking about her good looks, but not minding them if you catch my drift.

Also on the train is Mr. Douglas' son, Matt Junior (Jerry Van Dyke), who's kind of a goofball and is sweet on Betsy. G.W. is very unimpressed with him, so Betsy allows the boy to court her out of contrariness. This doesn't sit well with Dev, who also takes a liking to Betsy, though the two don't get off on the right foot (Betsy shares quite a bit of her mother's temper.)

More dramatically, four Comanche chiefs have been released from confinement and also arrived on the train, though they had to ride in a cargo car. They include Chief Puma (Michael Pate), G.W's old arch-enemy and blood brother, and are met by members of their tribe including deadpan humorist Running Buffalo (John Stanley). Inept "Indian agent" Mr. Agard (Strother Martin) speaks no Comanche and knows nothing of their culture, but expects them to obey his orders. Including being deported from their current reservation to Fort Sill, Oklahoma so that they can be better controlled. This plan is endorsed by territorial governor Cuthbert H. Humphrey (Robert Lowery).

All these ingredients and a few more set to bubbling, and things come to a boil at the McLintock Fourth of July celebration.

This comedy-Western took its initial inspiration from William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, thus the female lead's name, and the now infamous spanking scenes which espoused that men should take firm physical measures to handle "unruly" women and that this would repair relationships.

Other script elements were introduced to feature John Wayne's personal interests. He'd disliked how racist his character was portrayed in The Searchers, so in this movie, G.W. is depicted as a good friend to the Comanche despite having been at war with them previously, and standing up for them against the inept federal government. Governor Humphrey was a direct shot at Minnesota senator Hubert H. Humphrey, whose politics and personality Wayne didn't like. (Though at this late date only people from Minnesota are likely to catch the reference.) There's even chess scenes reflecting John Wayne's fondness for the game.

Good: Some nice fist fights (the mud pit sequence is particularly good) and stunt work. A lot of the comedy hits. The treatment of Native Americans is very respectful for the time it was made.

Less good: The whole "spanking your woman is good for your relationship" thing. This sort of thing was already frowned upon in America by the time this movie was made, but Mr. Wayne thought modern society had gotten too soft on the subject. Plus, it was very much a callback to Shakespeare. People who are triggered by physical abuse may want to sit this one out.

G.W. is depicted as being basically right about absolutely everything, except when he's trying to be too "nice." This verges on excusing his jerk moments as just being kind of rude.

Content note: In addition to the issues already discussed, a bird dies on camera as part of hunting. While teenagers up should be okay, parents and other responsible adults may want to be ready for conversations about physical violence in a relationship.

Overall: This is a cracking good movie with some attitudes that haven't aged well. Recommended to Western fans with some caution.