Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Very best movie i ever watch

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

This exciting film packs action Western , go riding , thrills , emotion , shoot-outs and is quite amusing . It contains a magnificent main cast as John Wayne facing off his contender George Kennedy and a top-notch support cast . it's a sympathetic western , with a beautiful cinematography , glamorous scenery and great soundtrack . It deals with J.D. Cahill (John Wayne) is the toughest U.S. Marshal they've got, just the sound of his name makes bad guys stop in their tracks . Break the law and he's the last man you want to see , and the last you ever will . When his two children (Gary Grimes , Clay O'Brian) want to get his attention they decide to help some cutthroats (George Kennedy) to rob a bank . As five killers robbed a bank , the lucky ones get caught and the events go awry . Nice Western packs thrills , family feeling , shoot'em up and results to be pretty entertaining . Besides , it contains good feeling as friendship , faithfulness , companionship , and enjoyable father-sons relationship . Furthermore , an anti-racism subtext was written into the script in response to ongoing criticism of John Wayne . The screenplay is plain and simple, with a conventional plot , but ultimately gets overcome . Gorgeous outdoors with decent production design by Walter Simonds , though the opening and finale scenes were filmed entirely in the studio . Enjoyable acting by always great John Wayne . Most of the scenes showing John Wayne riding from a distance were filmed with Chuck Roberson substituting for Wayne . His son is well played by Gary Grimes (Summer of 42, Class of 44) , he performed in similar role as a naive cowboy other films (The spikes gang , CulpepperCattle) , though he virtually disappeared without much trace and nowadays is retreated . Neville Brand was surprised to be offered the role of half-Commanche scout Lightfoot, a part he felt he was badly unsuited for, but accepted it just because he liked working . There also appears notorious secondary actors from numerous Westerns such as Denver Pyle , Paul Fix , Harry Carey Jr , Hank Worden , Marie Windsor , Dan Vadis , Walter Barnes , Royal Dano , among others.Rousing musical score by Elmer Bernstein in his ordinary style , including some marvelous songs with lyrics by Don Black . Colorful and spectacular cinematography in Panavision by Joseph Biroc , being filmed on location in Durango , Mexico . Rightly produced by Batjac Production , a company presided by John Wayne and his son Michael A. Wayne . This well-paced film was compellingly directed by Andrew V. McLagen , son of great actor Victor McLagen . The pic contains McLagen's usual themes as familiar feeling , a little bit of charming humor , friendship and and sense of comradeship among people . Andrew does the human touch and full of insight that accompanied him during most of his films and the story develops pleasantly in a large frame with an interesting plot and fully adjusted to the requirements of the action . Andrew McLagen is a known Ford's disciple introducing similar themes in his films . Andrew holds the distinction of directing the most episodes of "Gunsmoke" . Furthermore , he holds the honor of filmmaking the most episodes of ¨Have gun , Will travel" . And is one of the few directors to have directed both Clint Eastwood and John Wayne . He's a Western expert (McLintock , Shenandoah , Bandolero , Chisum , Cahill , Way West) and warlike specialist , such as proved in several films (Return to Kwai, Wild Geese , Dirty dozen: the next mission, Sea wolves, Breakthrough) . Rating ¨Cahill¨ : Agreeable , and above average Western 6'5 . The picture will appeal to John Wayne fans . Worthwhile watching .

As Wayne aged, either he or someone working for him began pairing him with a series of young actors, which was a pretty good idea. In CAHILL, a routine western from the early 1970s, that youthful role was filled by Gary (SUMMER OF '42) Grimes as U.S. Marshal Cahill's rebellious teenage son Danny. The kid has gotten involved with some pretty nasty bank robbers, led by squinty eyed, mustachioed George Kennedy. Cahill doesn't know this, and goes off in search of the robbers while Danny and his little brother decide to defy and deal with the robbers, who killed the town sheriff during the robbery. Several old-time actors are in the cast, including Marie Windsor and Denver Pyle, but most notable is Neville Brand as Cahill's favorite tracker, a wisecracking, self-proclaimed Indian chief who is actually half white. While CAHILL was shot in Mexico, it is painfully apparent that some scenes were shot on soundstages, which hurts the story's believability factor. Also, while director Andrew McLaughlin was well known for his action movies, some of the fights and gun battles here are clumsily staged at best. Wayne was getting on in years and appears tired a lot of the time, but he plays the role this way, so we buy into it. He would do this again in THE SHOOTIST, to similar effect. The highlight of the movie is clearly George Kennedy, playing one of the meanest, low-down, no-good villains to be found in a Wayne western. There is a whole generation that only knows Kennedy as the buffoonish sergeant in the NAKED GUN movies, but an older generation remembers his amazing performance in COOL HAND Luke and several other movies of that period. His piercing stare and sneer here are priceless, and he goes out in high fashion.

"CAHILL - UNITED STATES MARSHAL" is one of those movies that is somewhat frustrating. It succeeds on a few levels, but fails on so many others that makes it nowhere near one of the best films of John Wayne. The script is a horror to behold (such a pity too, because the writer for this was also the writer for "BIG JAKE", one of the Duke's better outings), the action is near perfect, the performances are great. The main plot is of U.S. Marshal J.D. Cahill (John Wayne) trying to get his sons out of a gang of outlaws alive. His oldest son Daniel (Gary Grimes) being in an outlaw gang is believable, because he is very rebellious. But not his youngest son Billy Joe (Clay O'Brien). Billy Joe is basically a good kid who loves his pa. The audience assumes that Billy Joe threw in with the outlaws because he followed his brother, but the film never shows or says that. Not to mention that the sight of little O'Brien holding that shotgun that is bigger than he is not at all convincing. However, films that have the "unbelievability factor" are usually appealing to me. But those films know they are unbelievable and just move along with an amazing pace - that's why they are so enjoyable. Not this movie. It is unbelievable, but it never decides if it knows that or not. It just seems to stay in the same gear the whole time and as a result, is bogged down in mediocrity the entire film. There is no bad acting, just bad acting choices. The film casts several veterans of movies and television, such as Jackie Coogan, Harry Carey Jr., Marie Windsor, Royal Dano, Denver Pyle, and Paul Fix, but the script unfortunately only gives them unimportant roles. Their acting is not at all bad, but the characters are unnecessary. It looks like the director cast these roles based on their talent, not on their significance to the script. On the positive side, the other actors are great in their roles, like George Kennedy as Fraser. Also, the action scenes are almost perfect, and the script seems to pick up the slightest bit in the last half hour. Overall, a fair movie, but if it was not for The Duke, it would have been a complete disaster.Also Recommmended: "STAGECOACH" (1939), "RIO GRANDE" (1950), "TRUE GRIT" (1969), "CHISUM" (1970), "THE SHOOTIST" (1976)THIS REVIEW IS DEDICATED TO ANYONE, LIVING OR DEAD, INVOLVED IN THE MAKING OF "CAHILL - UNITED STATES MARSHAL".

There are few actors who define national attitudes. Wayne is one of them. He matured in a simpler time, when white hat vs. black hat was expected, not just acceptable. He didn't need to be anything more than an archetype, his presence was cartoonish...the hapless bad guys were equally cartoonish. His triumphs affirmed who we were as Americans.He was displaced by flinty Clint, the iconoclast. But Clint, for the most part, also faced cartoon bad guys.The current postmodern hero archetype is Willis in the "Die Hard" narrative -- the ironic hero now has to face off with fully dimensional villains. Most studios now invest in getting the perceived 'best villain', and all other considerations form a line behind that.So it's shocking to see this today...the mind has to jump back not one, but two generations and adjust.This is a failure on many levels. The visual storytelling is distinctly uncinematic -- it would pass for a "Little House on the Prairie" TV show. The acting and props are horrible. Wayne tries to stay aloof, brushing aside everyone in his path with smoking barrels and one-liners. He tries to validate for us that "a man can't ignore his duty".By 1973, this no longer worked. Whatever Wayne had built up for us in "True Grit" or even the "Green Berets" was lost forever...like sand against a tsunami caused by Vietnam and all of its flotsam and jetsam that rushed at us(My Lai, Kent State, the bombing of Cambodia, etc.) We were rapidly becoming a nation of quiche-eaters.