The Sons of Katie Elder (Paramount Pictures) (1965)

PUBLICITY SYNOPSIS (Not For Publication) Katie Elder bore four sons. The day she was buried they all return to the Texas town of Clearwater to pay their last respects. John (JOHN WAYNE) is the oldest, the toughest, the gunslinger. Texas, its bigness and its violence echoes in his empty soul. Tom (DEAN MARTIN) is a different breed of hombre. He is good with a deck of cards and good with a gun—when he has to be. Matt (EARL HOLLIMAN) is the quiet one. Nobody ever called him yellow .. . twice. Bud (MICHAEL ANDERSON, JR.) is the youngest. Whatever hopes for respectability the Elder name has lies with him. At the funeral are Sheriff Billy Wilson (PAUL FIX) and his grim young deputy, Ben Latta (JEREMY SLATE). They are both wary of the Elder brothers’ arrival. Also at the burial, in addition to many townspeople, is the young woman Ben is courting, Mary Gordon (MARTHA HYER), who keeps the rooming house. In a little adobe house, John Elder and his brothers behold their mother’s poverty. Mary visits, bringing food. She is sardonic about the brothers’ desertion of Katie. Only Bud, who has been going to college, shows a possibility of becoming a fine, respected man. As the brothers investigate into the past and present circumstances of their mother’s life, they find the ranch is no longer hers and that she was penniless. John discovers that Pa Elder supposedly gambled away the ranch when he was drunk and that on the same night, he was killed. The only witnesses are Morgan Hastings (JAMES GREGORY) and his son, Dave (DENNIS HOPPER). The Sheriff warns the Elders to stay out of trouble. Realizing that the only tribute to Ma Elder would be for Bud to finish college, the brothers’ pledge themselves to that cause. Yet, they feel the loss of the ranch was under peculiar circumstances, and decide to find out the truth. The Hastings, in order to protect themselves and their illegal acquisition, and to cover the murder of Pa Elder, do everything possible to incriminate the brothers. Reputation being against them, the Elder boys quickly become suspect by the law. The sheriff is killed by Hastings and the brothers are blamed. They give themselves up and are taken, with a posse, to Laredo. Unknowingly, Ben has sworn in deputies that are really Hastings’ men. They attempt to ambush the brothers and slaughter them. Matt Elder and Ben Latta are killed. The deputized guards who escaped tell that they were ambushed by ‘‘John Elder’s gang.” The Elders return to town for a doctor for Bud, who has been wounded. The surging, angry crowd is held back by John and Tom. Later, John tells the Judge what really happened and says they will surrender only to the U. S. Marshal. The judge agrees to get the Marshal from Laredo. Under the cover of night, Tom sneaks away and captures Dave Hastings. The brothers try to get the truth. Morgan Hastings goes after the Elders to rescue his son, and shoots his own boy by mistake. Dying, Dave reveals that his father shot Ben, killed Billy and shot Pa Elder. The judge, in the next room, overhears. Dave dies, and Tom, who has been mortally wounded, dies consigning Bud’s future to John. John engages Morgan Hastings in a gun duel and kills him. Then he goes to the rooming house. Mary is on the porch. She tells him Bud will be alright. As they pass inside, Mary’s skirts brush against Katie’s rocker. It rocks contently. Sees EGO S38 ds Pe a ORS Sees Ce JOHN WAYNE Tom ‘Cider o5 fae. Sig Rea Pa AS oe DEAN MARTIN Co-starring Mate GOrden 2 oe Oa es MARTHA HYER | EI aan tet ea meer te mre MICHAEL ANDERSON, JR. I he es te eee EARL HOLLIMAN Deoaty Sheriff Ben Latta .......... 223... 025 JEREMY SLATE Se ee eM ene eo JAMES GREGORY Sree fete Were a os CO a eee PAUL FIX as te nage oe eo one eee GEORGE KENNEDY ee PIR ee 5 oe ee Se ee es DENNIS HOPPER CREDITS Producer, Hal Wallis; Associate Producer, Paul Nathan; Director, Henry Hathaway; Screenplay, William H. Wright, Allan Weiss, Harry Essex; Based on a story by Talbot Jennings; Cinematographer, Lucien Ballard, A.S.C.; Music, Elmer Bernstein; Costumes, Edith Head; Sound, Harold Lewis; Art Directors, Hal Pereira & Walter Tyler; Set Decorators, Sam Comer & Ray Moyer; Assistant Director, D. Michael Moore; Film Editor, Warren Low, A.C.E. 2 John Wayne Says His Typical Role Is Of “A Man Who Lives By A Code™ John Wayne doesn’t play heroes. He wants that understood. Or villains either. The big guy starring with Dean Martin and Martha Hyer in Hal Wallis’ ‘“The Sons of Katie Elder,” a Paramount release, which opens .......... SiO iseriate shee Theatre, personally defines the typical John Wayne role as that of “‘a man who lives by a code.” A sympathetic character, he concedes, but whether good or bad depends on the point of view. Wayne, who reserves the right to accept or reject any role offered to him, and who measures what’s acceptable by his own yardstick, says, “He’s usually outside the law as it’s written in the books, but that’s not always his own fault, and anyway it’s not easy for him to cross back over the line, but meanwhile he’s doing the best he can. “He’s a man of his place and time, and maybe a victim of circumstances or past mistakes. But he’s living by a moral code of his own, a code just as rigid in its fashion as the one on the books. “Like in ‘Katie Elder,’ I kill a few guys, but I’ve already notified ’em I’m going to do it just as soon as I can get the goods on ’em. Besides, they’re crooks and murderers and they’re out to get me as well as some other folks, and what I’m doing is serving justice the only way a man in my position can do it. “Then I turn in my guns, ready to stand trial for what I’ve done, and about that time I think everybody’s satisfied that justice has been done about the only way it could have been, because in that part of Texas the hands of the duly constituted authorities were pretty well tied till I came along. “Nobody says the end justifies the means or anything like that,” he hastened to point out, “because it never does. And that’s why I say I don’t play heroes—good guys. I’m not what you’d call a villain, either. But one thing I make sure of—the guys I play are believable human beings. “And if they don’t exactly personify virtue, there’s usually a pretty solid moral comment in the story.” In “The Sons of Katie Elder,” filmed principally in the picturesque country around Durango, Mexico, in Technicolor and _ wide-screen Panavision, Wayne plays a gunfighter called home by the death of his mother, with Dean Martin and Earl Holliman as her two other prodigals: Michael Anderson, Jr., as her coddled youngest, and Martha Hyer opposite Wayne in the feminine lead, under the direction of Henry Hathaway. Based on a story by Talbot Jennings, the screenplay for “The Sons of Katie Elder’ was written by William H. Wright, Allan Weiss and Harry Essex. Music is by Elmer Bernstein and costumes are by Edith Head. * * * Frank Beetson, wardrobe man on Hal Wallis’ “The Sons of Katie Elder,” a Paramount release openINS yaretysvens Bibiat Melua sietors Theatre, finally let out the secret of the much-copied shirt worn by John Wayne in all his Westerns—that blue flannel job with doublebreasted “plaster-on” front. “It’s just,”’ Beetson came clean, “an oldfashioned fireman’s shirt.” Filmed in Technicolor and Panavision, “The Sons of Katie Elder” was directed by Henry Hathaway. Based on a story by Talbot Jennings, the screenplay was written by William H. Wright, Allan Weiss and Harry Essex. Music is by Elmer Bernstein and costumes are by famed designer, Edith Head. Still #10231/2 Mat 2A “THE SONS OF KATIE ELDER,” a Hal Wallis production for Paramount release, stars John Wayne, Dean Martin, Earl Holliman and Michael Anderson, Jr. Filmed in Technicolor and Panavision, it opens ........ Gt Ue era see oe Theatre. Based on a story by Talbot Jennings and directed by Henry Hathaway, “Katie Elder” is a dramatic tale of how four brothers attempt to redeem the blackened legacy and reputation of their family name. Martha Hyer has the feminine lead as the only woman in the cast. The screenplay was written by William H. Wright, Allan Weiss and Harry Essex. Mat 2B Still #10231/9 THE TOUGH AND THE TENDER—John Wayne and Dean Martin star with Martha Hyer in Hal Wallis’ “The Sons of Katie Elder,” a Paramount release in Technicolor and Panavision openUNG: “oss ies ess BENE. occ aoavs Theatre. The film deals with the staunch attempt by four brothers to eradicate the blackened reputation and legacy of their family name. Based on a story by Talbot Jennings and directed by Henry Hathaway, “Katie Elder” was filmed principally in the wild Pancho Villa country surrounding Durango, Mexico. The screenplay was written by William H. Wright, Allan Weiss and Harry Essex.