The Sons of Katie Elder

John Wayne and Dean Martin star in “The Sons of Katie Elder.”

Katie Elder had four sons.  After she dies, they all return home to Clearwater, Texas for her funeral. Tthe youngest son, Bud (Michael Anderson Jr.) was living at home with her.  The other three sons return home from their various locations.

The eldest son, John (John Wayne) is a tough, well-known gunslinger.  The second son, Tom, (Dean Martin) is a gambler.  And the third son, Matt, (Earl Holliman) is quiet, but tough..

It is a small family reunion, although for a sad occasion.

After coming home for the funeral, the sons are shocked to learn that the mother didn’t have any land or money because the father lost it gambling. 

As they further look into the matter further, they realize that something crooked happened and now they are determined to get justice.

•  This was the first movie that John Wayne made after being diagnosed with lung cancer and having the lung removed.  In fact, the shooting of the film was delayed because Wayne was diagnosed with cancer four months before shooting was originally scheduled to begin. Even though he would have had a good reason not to, John Wayne did all of his own stunts in “The Sons of Katie Elder.”

•  “The Sons of Katie Elder” was the second western movie that John Wayne and Dean Martin made together.  They also starred together in the famous Howard Hawks directed movie “Rio Bravo.”

• The director of this movie, Henry Hathaway, also directed some other notable western films.  His western movie credits include:
            ∙ True Grit (1969)
            ∙ Nevada Smith (1966)
            ∙ How the West Was Won (1962) (segments "The Rivers", "The Plains" and "The Outlaws")
            ∙ Rawhide (1951)

Awards Content

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vestibulum et consequat est. Praesent pellentesque libero at eros commodo hendrerit. Donec elementum, lacus aliquam volutpat malesuada, odio enim fringilla metus, in facilisis leo est in elit. In sed turpis nulla. Duis tempus justo nec leo fringilla molestie. Nullam nec enim lectus, nec interdum mauris. Sed a risus vitae dolor imperdiet convallis. Sed ut tristique diam. Vestibulum sit amet elit quis velit consectetur feugiat a nec mauris. Nullam ut ligula mi. Morbi sit amet mauris in felis sodales ultrices. Duis ullamcorper est in lectus volutpat sagittis. Nunc odio lorem, volutpat eu pellentesque a, accumsan vel nisl. Vestibulum luctus magna quis urna ultrices hendrerit. Suspendisse hendrerit, nisi et facilisis vehicula, sem sapien pulvinar velit, vitae congue leo felis sit amet nulla. Fusce sit amet molestie quam.