McLintock!

For other uses, see McClintock.
McLintock!

Theatrical film poster
Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen
Produced by Michael Wayne
Written by James Edward Grant
Starring
Music by Frank De Vol
Cinematography William H. Clothier
Edited by Otho Lovering
Bill Lewis
Production
company
Distributed by United Artists
Paramount Pictures (Current)
Release dates
  • November 13, 1963
Running time
 127 minutes[1]
Language English
Budget $2 million[2]
Box office $14,500,000[3]

McLintock! is a 1963 comedy Western directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and starring John Wayne, with co-stars including Maureen O'Hara, Yvonne De Carlo, and Wayne's son Patrick Wayne. The film, produced by Wayne's company Batjac Productions, was loosely based on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew.

Synopsis

Cattle baron George Washington "G.W." McLintock (John Wayne) is living the single life on his ranch. He is estranged from wife Katherine (Maureen O'Hara), who left him two years before, suspecting him of adultery.

When he isn't playing chess or breaking his own record for throwing a hat up onto the longhorn-shaped weather vane at the top of his house every time he comes home drunk, McLintock keeps busy with the ranch. He hires attractive widow Louise Warren (Yvonne De Carlo) as his cook and welcomes both her and her two children into his home, including grown son Dev (Patrick Wayne), who is handy with his fists.

McLintock butts heads with a local gadfly, Matt Douglas, and Territorial Governor Cuthbert Humphrey, a sleazy bureaucrat who is looking to discredit McLintock, settle the territory, and remove the local Comanche Indians. Sparks begin to fly as an unexpected turn of events results in brawls, gunfire, an Indian attack ... and the return of Mrs. McLintock, who wants custody over their daughter Becky (Stefanie Powers) (returning from college) and a divorce from G.W.

Becky comes home from school with her banjo-playing love interest, "Junior" Douglas (Jerry Van Dyke), but soon falls for Dev after he takes her across his knee and spanks her with a coal shovel. McLintock approves of their engagement as does Mrs. Warren, then pursues Katherine through the streets and shops of town until he spanks her bottom with a coal shovel and she submits.

Cast

Yvonne De Carlo
Jack Kruschen, John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara and Chill Wills

Production

The film was shot at Old Tucson Studios, west of Tucson, Arizona and also at San Rafael Ranch House - San Rafael State Natural Area South of Patagonia, Arizona.[5]

Music

The score was composed by Frank De Vol, using the name De Vol, as he often did. The title song was performed by folk singing group The Limeliters.

Reception

The film was a box-office success, and a timely one, since The Alamo had cost Wayne in both financial and "box-office capital" terms.[6] McLintock! grossed $14,500,000 in North America,[3] earning $7.25 million in US theatrical rentals.[7] It was the 11th highest grossing film of 1963.

According to Bosley Crowther, "the broadly comic Western ... sounded like a promising idea"; "the scenery is opulent and the action out-of-doors, the color lush and the cast made up almost entirely of recruits from John Ford's long cinematic cycle commemorating the tradition of the American frontier."[1] since "the direction was entrusted to a relative newcomer, Victor McLaglen's television-trained son, Andrew V. McLaglen ... good intentions, when the task at hand is as difficult as lusty farce, are not enough."[1] Emanuel Levy, in a review years after the film's release, said the film is "significant because it marks the beginning of Wayne's attempt to impose his general views, not just political ones, on his pictures. Most of Wayne's screen work after McLintock! would express his opinions about education, family, economics, and even friendship."[4]

Novelization

Richard Wormser wrote a novelization of the screenplay.[8]

Public domain status

Produced by John Wayne's Batjac Productions for United Artists, John Wayne's estate retained the rights to the film. In 1994, a legal case determined the film was in the public domain in the United States, but the music score remained under copyright.[9][10][11][12]

Video releases

Patrick and John Wayne in a scene from the film with Stefanie Powers across Patrick's knees.

Despite being available in public domain distributors for the past decade, the first official home video issue of the film was released in the mid-1990s by MPI Home Video. Years later, in 2005, Paramount struck a distribution deal with Batjac and thus is now the home video rights holder for this film. Despite this, numerous versions of the film are still being released on home video, both sanctioned and unsanctioned by Batjac.

The official DVD presentation includes restored and remastered video and audio with extensive documentary, commentary, and bonus features. The High and the Mighty, Hondo, and Island in the Sky—three other John Wayne features—were issued around the same time.

There are also several Blu-ray releases of this film sanctioned by Batjac—one from Paramount with bonus features, and a no-frills issue from Olive Films.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Crowther, Bosley (November 14, 1963). "McLintock! (1963)". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-05-20.
  2. ↑ "Box Office Information for McLintock!". IMDb. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Box Office Information for McLintock! The Numbers. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Levy, Emanuel. "McLintock!". EmanuelLevy.com. Retrieved 2012-05-20.
  5. ↑ "Locations for McLintock!". IMDb. Retrieved February 25, 2015.
  6. ↑ Steinberg, Jay S. "McLintock! Article". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2012-05-20.
  7. ↑ "Top Rental Films of 1963", Variety, 8 January 1964 p 37. Please note this figure is film rentals accruing to distributors, not gross takings.
  8. ↑ Wormser, Richard (1963). McLintock. Gold Metal. Greenwich, Connecticut: Fawcett. OCLC 28658671.
  9. ↑ "Court Rules for 'Goodtimes' in McLintock! Case", in Billboard, May 14, 1994, pg. 73 & 82
  10. ↑ Fishman, Stephen (2010), pp.337
  11. ↑ Batjac Productions, Inc. vs. GoodTimes Home Video Corp.—1998 Copr.L.Dec. P 27,825, 48 U.S.P.Q.2d 1647, 98 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 8208, 98 Daily Journal D.A.R. 11,443. BATJAC PRODUCTIONS INC., a California Corp., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. GOODTIMES HOME VIDEO CORP., a Delaware Corp.; Marybeth Peters, Register of Copyrights, Defendants-Appellees. No. 97-55947. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and submitted Aug. 5, 1998. Decided Nov. 5, 1998.
  12. ↑ Maljack Productions vs. UAV Corp.—May 21, 1997. MALJACK PRODUCTIONS, INC., an Illinois corporation, and BATJAC PRODUCTIONS, INC., a California corporation, Plaintiffs, v. UAV CORPORATION, a North Carolina corporation, and MARY BETH PETERS, Register of Copyrights, Defendants. CONSOLIDATED WITH BATJAC PRODUCTIONS, INC., a California Corporation, Plaintiff, v. GOODTIMES HOME VIDEO CORP., a Delaware corporation, and MARY BETH PETERS, Register of Copyrights,Defendants.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to McLintock! (film).
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