McLintock!

1963 WesternComedy 127 minutes Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen

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About McLintock!

In 1895 cattleman G. W. McLintock holds the Mesa Verde ranch. His wife Katherine, gone two years, comes back for a divorce and moves in when he refuses. Homesteaders arrive, among them Dev Warren, whom McLintock hires, and Dev's mother Louise, whom he hires as cook. Their daughter Becky comes home from school. At a hearing on moving the Comanche to Fort Sill, McLintock's plea is ignored and the chiefs are jailed. On the Fourth of July they get away. Dev and Becky get engaged. Katherine admits she left because she thought he had an affair. He spanks her in public, tells her she can still have the divorce, and they stay together.

Cast & crew

More about McLintock!

Andrew V. McLaglen directed. James Edward Grant wrote it. John Wayne's Batjac Productions produced it. William H. Clothier photographed it in Technicolor and Panavision. Frank De Vol composed the score. United Artists released it on 13 November 1963. The script is loosely taken from The Taming of the Shrew. Running time 127 minutes.

Themes

  • A wife who comes back for a divorce
  • Homesteaders on bad land
  • A public spanking that ends the quarrel
  • John Wayne
  • Maureen O'Hara
  • ranch
  • Comanche
  • Batjac
  • Taming of the Shrew

Background

Set in 1895, with homesteaders on dry land and a federal plan to move Comanche chiefs to Fort Sill. The comedy is the marriage, not the hearing.

Making

Wayne produced it at Batjac and cast his son as the young man who ends up with Becky.

Look

William H. Clothier shot it in Technicolor and Panavision.

Technique

Photographed in Panavision anamorphic widescreen and Technicolor.

Music

Frank De Vol composed the score.

Preservation

Entered the U.S. public domain in 1991 after the copyright was not renewed.

Notes

  • John Wayne plays McLintock. Maureen O'Hara plays Katherine. Patrick Wayne, his son, plays Dev. Stefanie Powers plays Becky. Yvonne De Carlo plays Louise Warren.
  • Chill Wills, Jack Kruschen, and others fill the town. De Carlo is billed as a special guest star.
  • The copyright was not renewed in the 28th year, so the film entered the U.S. public domain in 1991.
  • Running Buffalo and Chief Puma are the Comanche figures in the relocation fight. McLintock calls Puma his blood brother.
  • Dev spanks Becky with a coal shovel after she demands that her father shoot him.

Scenes

  • McLintock tells the homesteaders the land will not farm.
  • The Fourth of July breakout of the jailed Comanche.
  • He spanks Katherine in front of the town and then refuses the divorce.

Influenced by

  • The Taming of the Shrew (William Shakespeare)

Also available

  • Internet Archive (Mclintock.avi)