The Train Robbers (1973)

“Don’t ever get old; you’ll live to regret it.”  24 September 2019

Lane (John Wayne) and his crew are hired by a widow, Mrs Lowe (Ann-Margret), to find the gold her husband stole.  She says she intends to return the gold to clear his name. Mrs Lowe knows where the gold is hidden, so finding it won’t be difficult.  The hard part will be eluding the two-dozen or so gunmen hot on their trail.

I’d call The Train Robbers a fairly average movie that is elevated by some magnificent cinematography (the Mexican landscape looks amazing) and a twist ending that caught me completely off guard.  Otherwise, there’s really not much here to make this one special. I’ll give John Wayne some credit, though – despite the obvious physical discomfort, he gives it his all. Ann-Margret is mostly wasted in a role that could have been played by just about anyone.  It’s the most un-Ann-Margret role I’ve ever seen her in. Wonder what made her want to spend a few weeks in the Mexican desert? The rest of the cast is okay, but not terribly memorable. The music is a bit over-ambitious. Listening to it, you’d think you were watching one of the most epic films ever made.  The Train Robbers also suffers from some sluggish pacing. There are far too many scenes of people endlessly riding horses or sitting around campfires. But, when the action does come, it’s intense and quite well done. The shootout in and around the train wreckage being a good example. Finally, I don’t know if it was purposeful or just a coincidence, but the movie had a very Leone/Morricone sort of start that reminded of Once Upon a Time in the West.  Lots of scenes with not much happening other than the occasional natural sound.   

6/10