Sometimes it's funny how things change over time.

I saw this movie when it first came out. I was either in my late teens or early twenties and I loved it back then. I liked all John Wayne movies. The early 70's was not a good time to be a John Wayne fan. College girls would get to ranting about him being a warmongering racist Indian killer who supported the Viet Nam war. If you were someone who just liked getting along with people you pretty much kept your mouth shut. Yet at the same time you kept firmly committed to your John Wayne films and what he stood for.


Years pass. Then you come here and see that there are a lot of people who seem to literally hate this film. By now you've seen enough of his older films that you SLIGHTLY agree with them on SOME of their points. I've seen this movie several times now. I wish I hadn't because the more I see it I find more that I dislike. I'd rather remember the way I remembered it as a young man.

Still... This movie has quotes in it that I'll not forget easily. Like when they tell Jack Elam's character to go take care of a guard at the gate. Later they ask him;" Did you take care of the guard at the gate?" Elam replies " He's at another gate now.....lookin' fer Saint Peter!" My quirky sense of humor combined with how Elam said it, has made it a funny and memorable quote. Believe it or not I've met people who have had no idea of what he was talking about. You actually have to tell them that Elam killed the guard, loved doing it, and now the guard's soul is at the gates of heaven not very enthusiastically looking for St.Peter who's gonna tell him he's at the wrong gate.

My second favorite quote was when they first meet up with Elam. He's blazing away at them with his guns while they are telling him thay just want to talk. One of the women runs in and tells him to stop shooting which he does but soon says " I'd a shot her too but she's too purdy." Again it's not what he says it how he says it that makes it both funny and memorable. I became a Jack Elam fan after seeing him in this film.

Time changes your taste in films. Even though I may not exactly love his latter works I'm still a John Wayne fan.