The Train Robbers has been sitting in my Netflix queue for ages, hoping every Tuesday night that I’ll finally pick it for a Western Wednesday. It may have stayed there forever had not Justin Gray suggested it. Gray, as you should know by now, is coauthor of the DC series Jonah Hex. If he says “You should watch The Train Robbers!”, you call up the Netflix queue, and then you apologize to John Wayne that you required someone to intercede on his behalf.
However about halfway through, I began wondering if I had picked the right movie. Nothing was happening. The villains were a dustcloud shrouded bunch who just thundered around, Ann-Margaret was getting on my nerves, the sidekicks were blurring together, and Wayne was just being Wayne. I checked the clock and was relieved to see there was only about 15 minutes left.
And in that 15 minutes, The Train Robbers becomes an epic, edge-of-your-seat Western that just beg the question “Why the heck did they save up all the good stuff until now?” There’s explosions, a dynamite-loaded mule, guns, a creepy town, a train used as an entire weapon, and a big twist. It’s really one of the best action pieces I’ve seen in a Wayne Western.
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