The Comancheros is a 1961 western directed by Michael Curtiz. The film stars John Wayne, Stuart Whitman, and Ina Balin. The Comancheros is based on the 1952 novel of the same name by Paul I. Wellman.
Director: Michael Curtiz (with John Wayne)
Production Company: 20th Century Fox
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Cast: John Wayne, Stuart Whitman, Ina Balin, Nehemiah Persoff, Lee Marvin, Michael Ansara, Bruce Cabot, Joan O’Brien, Patrick Wayne
US Box Office: $7,800,000 ($108,200,000 adjusted for inflation)
Film Format: DeLuxe Color (shot in CinemaScope)
Genre: Western
Release Date: November 1, 1961 (premiere)
Plot Summary: In 1843 in the Republic of Texas, Texas Ranger Jake Cutter (John Wayne) captures Paul Regret (Stuart Whitman), a gambler wanted in Louisiana for killing a man in a duel. Although Regret escapes, he is soon recaptured by Cutter. The Rangers assign Cutter to a more urgent task: infiltrating and defeating the “Comancheros,” a secretive group of white criminals who give weapons to the Comanche natives and assist them in raids. Paul Regret agrees to help Cutter with this mission, and proves useful once the two learn that Pilar Graile (Ina Balin), the woman that Regret loves, is a member of the Comancheros.
Production: In 1957 director George Stevens purchased the film rights to Paul I. Wellman’s 1952 western novel The Comancheros. Having recently directed Giant (1956), Stevens was interested in having The Comancheros be his next project. The project ended up being delayed, and while working on The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), Stevens sold the film rights to The Comancheros to 20th Century Fox in exchange for $300,000 and the right to co-produce and direct The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). Fox studio executives initially announced that The Comancheros was to be produced by David Weisbart and the screenplay was to be written by novelist Clair Huffaker. Gary Cooper and Robert Wagner were the studio’s first choices for the lead roles.
In late 1960 David Weisbart left 20th Century Fox after his five year contract with the studio expired and he was replaced with Charles Brackett. Brackett would later be replaced by George Sherman, who produced and directed numerous western films. By March of 1961, television writer and director Douglas Heyes was hired to direct The Comancheros, which would have been his first theatrical film. Heyes quickly left the project and was replaced by veteran director Michael Curtiz in April. Curtiz was known for his long and distinguished career as a reliable contract director for Warner Bros. and had directed numerous classics for the studio including the adventure film Captain Blood (1935), the musical Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), and the romantic drama Casablanca (1942). Curtiz was in bad health when he was hired to direct The Comancheros. Curtiz was dying of terminal cancer, though he was not aware that he had cancer until visiting a hospital after breaking a rib during the filming of The Comancheros.
Iconic Western star Gary Cooper was initially hired by Fox executives to play the role of Texas Ranger Jake Cutter. In early 1961, Cooper learned that he was dying of cancer and left the project. Fellow western star John Wayne was soon chosen to play the part of Cutter. Wayne agreed to take the role as a favor to his friend Cooper. John Wayne had recently directed, produced, and starred in the epic western The Alamo (1960). He also recently starred in the westerns Rio Bravo (1959) for Howard Hawks and The Horse Soldiers (1959) for John Ford. In Wellman’s novel the character Paul Regret was the lead, but the script was rewritten to make Cutter the lead after Wayne was cast. James Edward Grant, a western writer who was Wayne’s friend and frequent collaborator, was hired to rewrite screenplay.
20th Century Fox studio executives initially wanted Robert Wagner to play the part of gambler Paul Regret. Burt Lancaster and James Garner were also viewed as potential candidates for the part. Once John Wayne was hired to play Cutter, Wagner was replaced with Charlton Heston. Heston soon left the project and was replaced with Tom Tryon. By April, Tryon was forced to leave The Comancheros because he had a previous commitment to star in Walt Disney’s Moon Pilot (1962). Tryon was replaced with Stuart Whitman. Whitman recently had a starring role in the biblical epic The Story of Ruth (1960). Actress Ina Balin was cast as Pilar Graile, Regret’s love interest. She had notably received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the drama From the Terrace (1960).
Michael Curtiz and producer George Sherman began shooting The Comancheros in June of 1961 and filming wrapped up in August. The film was shot in color and in the widescreen CinemaScope format. A large portion of The Comancheros was shot on location in Grand and San Juan Counties, Utah; specifically near the city of Moab, Utah. Castle Valley, Fisher Towers, and Professor Valley in Moab were all filming locations for The Comancheros. Dead Horse Point State Park and the La Sal Mountains were two other notable Utah filming locations for the film. The scene used for the opening credits was shot at Red Rock Crossing in Sedona, Arizona. Exterior filming was also done on backlot sets owned by 20th Century Fox in California. Scenes featuring the Comanchero settlement were shot on one of Fox’s western village sets. This set had previously been slated to be destroyed by bulldozers, but was instead intentionally burned down during the shooting of the final battle at the Comanchero settlement.
Michael Curtiz was in very poor health during the filming of The Comancheros. Curtiz was frequently confused and had difficulty managing a large scale production. Producer George Sherman and John Wayne frequently served as on-set supervisors for the production. On the days that Curtiz was too ill to be on the set, John Wayne took over as director. Wayne refused to take a co-director credit for his work on The Comancheros out of respect for Curtiz. One day while directing, the conservative Wayne told young liberal production assistant Tom Mankiewicz to remove his John F. Kennedy button. Wayne was a Republican and he blamed Kennedy for the recent failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Most of the Comanche Indians in The Comancheros were played by Navajo actors who spoke their lines in the Navajo language rather than Comanche.
Fun Facts and Trivia: The Comancheros was the first of three films to feature John Wayne and Lee Marvin (Tully Crow) together. Wayne and Marvin later costarred in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and Donovan’s Reef (1963), both of which were directed by John Ford. Two of John Wayne’s children had acting roles in The Comancheros. Wayne’s twenty-two year old son Patrick played Tobe, one of the Texas Rangers. Wayne’s five year old daughter Aissa had a bit part as Bessy, the daughter of Melinda Marshall (Joan O’Brien).
The Comancheros was the last film to feature Guinn “Big Boy” Williams (Ed McBain). Williams appeared in many western films in his long career including Dodge City (1939) with Errol Flynn and he recently had a supporting role in The Alamo (1960), which starred and was directed by John Wayne. Williams died on June 6, 1962, less than a year after The Comancheros was released. The John B. Dickey, the steamboat the appears near the start of The Comancheros, was portrayed by the Enterprise, a prop boat that Universal Pictures loaned to 20th Century Fox. The Enterprise also appeared in The Mississippi Gambler (1953), The Far Country (1954), and 4 for Texas (1963).
Reception: The Comancheros premiered in New York City on November 1, 1961. The film went into wide release a few weeks later. 20th Century Fox was pleased with the box office results for The Comancheros, and the film outperformed many other Fox films released in the latter half of 1961. The Comancheros was notably a box office success in Japan, due to John Wayne’s popularity in that country. Dell Comics published a comic book adaptation of The Comancheros in issue 1300 of their anthology comic series Four Colors (February 1962). The Comancheros was the last film directed by Michael Curtiz, who died of cancer on April 10, 1962, less than a year after the film was released.
The Comancheros received mixed reviews from critics when it was first released. In a positive review, Variety described The Comancheros as, “a big, brash, uninhibited action-western of the old school about as subtle as a right to the jaw.” Variety liked John Wayne’s performance and had strong praise for Lee Marvin’s supporting role as Crow. The magazine also praised the stunning on-location cinematography. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times criticized the film’s screenplay and characters for lacking seriousness and realism, though he noted that The Comancheros was still “good fun.” Jay Carmody of The Evening Star gave The Comancheros a negative review. Carmody criticized the film for being too predictable and lacking realism. He had some praise for the location shooting and Lee Marvin’s performance, but noted that Marvin’s short screen time was a missed opportunity.
Although The Comancheros wasn’t nominated for any Oscars, the film did receive several other awards. The Comancheros received the “Bronze Wrangler” award from the Western Heritage Awards in 1962 for best theatrical motion picture. This was only the second year the Western Heritage Awards were held. The Comancheros received four nominations from the Laurel Awards: Top Action Drama, Top Action Performance (John Wayne), Top Action Performance (Stuart Whitman), and Top Male Supporting Performance (Lee Marvin). Wayne won the Top Action Performance award.
The Comancheros continues to receive mostly positive reviews from modern film critics. Dennis Schwartz described The Comancheros as “lively and cheerful.” He noted that Curtiz and Wayne both had better films, but The Comancheros was still entertaining. Steve Crum gave the film a 4/5 star review. He praised the acting performances and the location shooting.
Why You Should See It: The Comancheros is a fun and exciting western. John Wayne has some witty dialogue, and the film in general has plenty of funny moments. Composer Elmer Bernstein’s score is exciting and upbeat and this fits The Comancheros quite well. The film’s on-location cinematography looks fantastic and is frequently impressive, even if its not accurate for eastern Texas. The battle scenes are exciting and well-choreographed.