On this Day in 1973...

Cahill, U.S. Marshal was released with John Wayne, directed by Andrew V. McLaglen. This is a routine entry from Wayne's later years that never really gets off the ground. Part of the reason, I think, is that Wayne lost interest halfway through the picture when he learned that his old mentor, director John Ford, was dying of cancer. Indeed, Ford died a week after the movie's premiere. But another problem is that it all just seems old: the story, the one-liners, even the actors. By ythe 1970's, the Western was on a visible decline, and movies like this one didn't help turn things around.