Review: McLintock! (1963)

Okay, I know. You wouldn't have expected me to review Westerns, but they are technically period dramas. My dad has been a fan of John Wayne for years and he would occasionally show me scenes from different John Wayne movies. I finally watched a John Wayne movie all the way through, and that was McLintock!

Box Art

Synopsis
George Washington McLintock (also known as G.W.) is the richest man in the town of McLintock. After being away for two years, his estranged wife, Katherine/Kate, returns after living in the capital.


Characters
There are some famous actors/actresses in this movie. Most notably is John Wayne, who plays G.W. Maureen O'hara, who has been in a couple of John Wayne's movies, plays his wife Katherine. Hired hand Devlin Warren is played by John Wayne's real life son, Patrick Wayne. G.W.'s newly hired cook, Mrs. Warren, is played by Yvonne De Carlo, who was also in The Ten Commandments and the TV show The Munsters. There also may have been a number of the cast that were character actors from other Westerns, but I can't say for sure.

One of the slapstick scenes ended in a mud fight in which
Katherine gets involved.

There are two levels to this movie. There is a comedic side to it and there's the serious side to it. A good deal of the comedy is slapstick, but there are some funny quotes too. The acting was hilarious where it was supposed to be. Maureen O'hara was hilarious as the feisty Katherine who tried to control everything and would not let anyone outdo her. There were also a variety of town characters that were in the movie for comic relief.

The more serious scenes were about moving the Comanche to a reservation: G.W. translated the Comanche chief's wishes in a moving speech. G.W. also had a good deal of quotes that were moving and "life lesson" quotes (but he also had some funny quotes).


Scenery

G.W. at his ranch.

The scenery looked nice, but the whole movie was probably a set in a movie studio as a lot of movies at the time were (but I can't say for sure); even if it was filmed on a set, the scenery did look nice. The entire movie took place in the town of McLintock, which in the movie was a working town filled with people who worked with cattle or farmland (picture a Western movie set).

Becky McLintock

Costuming
I would estimate the year based on the costuming to be sometime in either the late 1890s or the early 1900s. This guess would be based off of Kate's wardrobe since she lived in the capital for a while and would have more access to the current fashions. I probably shouldn't take the costume accuracy too literally since westerns don't necessarily have accurate costuming, but you all know me! The costuming was still very nice. Kate's clothes, since she has been in the city, are more current and fashionable than the rest of the cast members. Becky, her daughter, in contrast to Kate who wore bolder colors for her clothes, had lighter colors, probably since she was young. Most of the men in the movie had work clothes on, though a couple of male characters had fashionable menswear.


Overall: 4/5
I really enjoyed this movie! There's some slapstick and there are some memorable quotes. I honestly don't know why sites have rated this movie TV-14: comparing it to what is rated TV-14 today, there really isn't anything so objectionable that it earns that rating. Honestly, I would rate it TV-PG. There are a couple of fights, but nothing is graphic. Some one in one scene is in public wearing Victorian/Edwardian undergarments (which to today's standards isn't that horrible), and there is some light swearing. Overall, McLintock is an enjoyable film and I would watch it again.

McLintock is available on DVD. It runs for 127 minutes.