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.
