Late western with a standard plot, which Howard Hawks uses as a playing sandbox for a variety of themes and genres. A powerful ranch owner trying to coerce a self-made family of cattle wranglers to sell their water rights. Against him stands a sheriff (Robert Mitchum), a young adventurer (a dashing James Caan), and an old no-nonsense gunslinger (who else but John Wayne).
There's action and there's comedic relief (including an old fashioned "yellowface" bit). There's drama and also sexyness. Above all, there's paranoia. Constant paranoia at every moment, with every movement. The Wild West is represented by the rule of the gun. Hollywood is telling contemporary Americans in the 1950s and 1960s that the US is "now" a safe place where upholding the law doesn't require constant shootouts. Scenes are thus full of standing tension, as the adversaries position themselves in space preparing for the inevitable. The sheriff can't wait the official forces of order to reach town, the US Marshall is not coming, men need to fend for themselves. It is truly America.
It is all very matter of fact, both by the practical men and the surprisingly modern (strikingly beautiful) women, that stand alongside, not below, the men they love, hurt and help. There are lots of Spanish-speaking roles, colors are vibrant but appropriately dusted.
An entertaining time at the movies. Recommended.
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0061619/
