John Qualen

Comedy western in which a traveler bets more money than he can afford in a poker game, and unusual events follow. A naive couple and a child arrive to the town on the way to San Antonio, Texas to buy a farm there. There is a poker game between the richest men in the region. The man cannot resist it and though he is a very bad poker player, enters the game betting all the money of his family. In the climax of the game he suffers a heart-attack. His wife then takes his place in the table. That's the only way of recovering their savings. But there is a little problem. Can anybody explain to her how to play poker? —Miguel A. Andrade <andrade@gredos.cnb.uam.es> A couple with a young son arrive in the town of Laredo, just as the five richest men of the area are settling down to play the biggest game of poker of the year. When the wife disappears, the husband, after watching a few hands, joins in the game only to lose most of the families savings. As the wife returns, he finds that he has dealt himself a winning hand, but does not have the cash to continue. In the following argument he collapses, and his wife has no choice but to continue with his hand in order to win back their money, the only problem being she can't play poker. —MIKE.WILSON6@BTINTERNET.COM

An executive, unhappy with his daughter's choice for a future husband, accepts a transfer to his firm's Stockholm branch and takes her along, only to discover that Sweden is far more sexually liberal than the United States. Single father Bob Holcomb, dissatisfied with his daughter JoJo's choice of partner, seizes an unexpected opportunity to bring her on a trip to Sweden in order for her to forget all thoughts on marriage. Confronted with liberal Swedish morals, he finds out that marriage might not be too bad an idea after all.

A mysterious circus comes to a western town bearing wonders and characters that entertain the inhabitants and teach valuable lessons. An old Chinese gentleman rides into the town of Abalone, Arizona and changes it forever, as the citizens see themselves reflected in the mirror of Lao's mysterious circus of mythical beasts. —Edward E. Pringle <pringle@atb.teradyne.com> is prepared to buy them all out. What he doesn't tell anyone is that the railroad will run through the town in less than a year's time. The local newspaperman and the librarian both think he's up to no good. Dr. Lao gets them to look at life differently and not to sell out to the highest bidder. —garykmcd In the early 20th century, Dr. Lao brings his circus to the town of Abalone. The town is under threat due to a break in the water supply system and wealthy businessman is prepared to buy them all out. What he doesn't tell anyone is that the railroad will run through the town in less than a year's time. The local newspaperman and the librarian both think he's up to no good. Dr. Lao gets them to look at life differently and to change. their future and behaviour for the better. —Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The film begins in 1910 when a successful aging U.S. senator Ransom Stoddard (James Stewart) and his wife of twenty-five years Hallie (Vera Miles) return to the small western town Shinbone, where they met, to attend the funeral of Tom Doniphon (John Wayne) a man known in the town as a good man but undistinguished. When a young local reporter presses Stoddard for an interview about why he has come to the funeral of a nobody like Doniphon, Stoddard begins a story that relates the history of the film in flashback. Stoddard tells us how when he came to the town as young newly-graduated attorney at law he was bullied by a local tough outlaw named Liberty Valence (Lee Marvin), a gunman employed by the local cattle cartel directed to keep the town in line so that the barons could monopolize the local resources to insure their beef industry. He first meets Valance when the stagecoach he is travelling in is ambushed by the outlaw and his companions.Stoddard tries to stop him from robbing a woman but he is knocked out.When Valance discovers he is a law graduate,he whips him several times,before he and his friends wander off into the night.Early the next morning,Doniphon and his friend Pompey (Woody Strode) take the unconscious Stoddard into Shinbone to rest up at Hallie's place where she runs a steakhouse.Bumbling and cowardly marshal,Link Appleyard (Andy Devine) arrives and is horrified to find out that they want him to capture Valance.He tries his best to come up with excuses about how the jurisdiction prevents him from doing anything about it,which is what the residents have come to expect from him. On one boisterous night,newspaper publisher Dutton Peabody leaves his office and runs into Appleyard who is petrified because he knows Valance is in town.Peabody goes to the restaurant for dinner,where Stoddard is helping out in the kitchen as a way of earning his keep.While he's washing the dishes,he's reading up on a law book about the marshal's jurisdiction and how he can get Valance.He finds some useful information and asks Hallie to read the good news,but she feels embarrassed as she can't read.Appleyard sneaks into the kitchen through the back door,nervously trying to keep out of Valance's way.He asks for a steak and sits down with Stoppard who tells him that he has he power to arrest Valance when he sees him,much to his dismay.Hallie asks Stoppard if he would be willing to teach her to read and he's happy to. Doniphon arrives all dressed up, with a cactus rose to see Hallie and isn't too happy to see her getting friendly with Stoddard.Pompy plants the rose for her,while Doniphon goes to sit with Peabody while he waits for his steak order.Valance and his men enter and as soon as Appleyard hears him,he rushes out of the back door.The outlaws remove three men from their table and sit down for dinner.Stoddard comes out from the kitchen with Doniphon's meal and sees them.Valance laughs at him.As Stoddard tries to ignore him and walk passed him,Valance trips him up.Doniphon tells Valance to pick his steak up.To avoid a showdown,Stoddard angrily picks it up and Valance and his men leave.Stoddard realises that Doniphon was right.A gun is the only way to deal with people like Valance.But he's disgusted that Doniphon was going to kill him over a steak and hates the idea that he fought his fight for him.Doniphon tells him Valance will be back for him at some point.He either better get a gun or get out of town.Stoddard says he's staying and he's not going to get a gun.Doniphon tells Hallie he's leaving town for a while to do some horse trading. Stoddard teaches the people in the town how to read,and about history.He explains to them about the upcoming election and how important it is.Doniphon arrives with news about Valance.He's been recruiting gunmen for the big ranchers and has killed some people.They tried to bushwhack Doniphon but he killed one of them and got away.Doniphon reckons they'll arrive in town by the day of the election.He tells Hallie to go home and be safe but she tells him that he doesn't own her.He leaves and Stoddard tells her that Doniphon is only trying to protect her.He goes off on a wagon and Peabody tells her that Stoddard has a gun that he's given him and he's been practicing with it to try and prepare for a showdown with Valance.Hallie tells Doniphon about this and he goes after him.After catching up with him,he takes him to his ranch and tells him that Hallie's his girl,and shows him the extension that he is having done on his home ready to settle down with her.Stoddard says there's nothing going on between them but Doniphon can tell she's starting to develop feelings for him.He also reckons Stoddard's bluffing about going up against Valance but Stoddard's adamant that he fully intends to.However he proves that despite practicing,he still cannot use a gun at all.Doniphon tries to teach him.He tells him to put some paint cans up on a fence and shoots them,the final one covering Stoddard in paint.Stoddard is angry at him humiliating him as Doniphon laughs.But he explains that's the kind of behaviour to expect from Valance.Stoddard punches him in the jaw and goes off. On the day of the elections,Stoddard nominates Doniphon for the first delegate but he refuses.He already has his future planned with Hallie.Doniphon nominates Stoddard.Valance arrives and threatens the townsfolk to nominate him.If they don't,he'll get hold of them when they're alone.But they still refuse to vote for him.The only people that nominate him are his two sidekicks.Stoddard gets a lot of votes but Peabody gets the most.Valance confronts Stoddard.Doniphon tries to intervene but Valance tells him he's been hiding behind his gun long enough.He orders Stoddard to either get out of town or face him in the street.If he stays and hides,he'll go and get him.As he leaves,Doniphon tells Stoddard it would be best to leave. Later that night,Peabody gets drunk in his office whilst writing the newspaper headlines.He goes off to the saloon to get some more alchohol.When he returns to his office and lights up the room,he finds Valance and his men waiting for him.They wreck his office and beat him to near death.As they go off to the saloon after firing gunshots in the street,Stoddard goes over to see Peabody.He tells Appleyard to go and tell Valance he'll be waiting for him in the street,while he goes off to get his gun from Hallie's. He fires and Valance dies. A wounded Stoddard returns to Hallie who confides that she did not want him to leave. Doniphon comes in and sees Hallie and Stoddard together and apologizes to Hallie that he did not arrive in time to help. Doniphon returns drunken to his place where he torches it and would be content to die if Pompy did not rescue him from the burning house. When Stoddard is unanimously elected to a political career so he may clear the land of other outlaws, he defers, but then Doniphon comes forth to tell him that on that fateful night Valence fell due to a shot Doniphon fired from him across the street. When Stoddards ethical issues rise and he moves to tell the world the truth, Doniphon convinces him to keep the truth a secret and take a leading role to change the ways of the old West. Doniphon tells Stoddard that Hallie is Stoddard's girl now and since he taught her how to read and write, he needs to give her something to read and write about. Stoddard goes on to a stellar career making sweeping changes in the way the land is governed and Doniphon fades away. As Stoddard finishes his story, the reporter destroys his notes and insists that the myth of the West is more important to sustain than the sterilized truth, although the truth has freed the demons Stoddard and Hallie have carried with them since their time with Doniphon. Stoddard returns to Doniphon's casket to leave with Hallie and notices a cactus rose on top of the casket. On the train ride back to the east, Stoddard asks Hallie if she would mind returning back to Shinbone to settle down and retire. Hallie says she would love to as her heart has always been there. Stoddard asks Hallie who placed the cactus rose on Doniphon's casket. Hallie says she did.

Three years after the end of the Civil War, Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) rides onto the Texas farm owned by his brother, Aaron (Walter Coy). Aaron is a little wary of Ethan, who has not been seen since the surrender of the Confederate Army, but his children -- Lucy, Ben and Debbie -- are all overjoyed to see him. So is Martha (Dorothy Jordan), Aaron's wife; she and Ethan clearly are in love though they cannot act on it. Aaron and Martha's adopted quarter Cherokee son Martin arrives for dinner. He greets Ethan but Ethan is very unhappy in his presence despite the fact that he is the one who found him abandoned as an infant. Martin and everybody else can see Ethan's dislike for him. As the night draws in,Martin sits outside on the porch feeling distant from the family in Ethan's presence. He goes to off to bed as do the other kids, and Aaron and Martha soon discover that Ethan is in possession of newly minted Northern money. Aaron agrees to hide the money for Ethan and tells him he is free to stay as long as he likes. Ethan knows his welcome is tenuous, however, and after everyone else goes to bed, sits alone on the porch. The next morning, the Reverend Captain Samuel Clayton (Ward Bond), the area's minister and captain of the Texas Rangers, comes with a posse to the farm. Someone has run off Lars Jorgensen's (John Qualen) cattle. Clayton deputizes Aaron and Martin to join the Rangers' posse. Ethan tells Aaron he is not to go but instead to stay close to home in case the cattle rustling was in fact a diversionary ploy by aggressive Native Americans. Clayton is glad to see his former compatriot in the Confederate Army but also mentions that Ethan matches the description of a lot of wanted criminals. Ethan agrees to go with the Rangers to search for the cattle but refuses to swear an oath to the state of Texas, believing that his oath to the Confederacy is sufficient. They ride off and follow the trail and it isn't long before Marty tries to share his concerns about what they are following with Ethan, but Ethan is dismissive because of Marty's biracial heritage. After several hours of riding, the posse finds Jorgensen's cattle slaughtered in the desert. They realize that a band of Comanche Indians have lured them away from their farms. Because Jorgensen's farm is closest, most of the posse rides there. Ethan, Marty and the slightly demented Mose Harper (Hank Worden) decide to ride for Aaron's farm. But Marty wants to ride off straight away and Ethan knows that the horses won't make it. They need resting for a while. Martin doesn't care and angrily rides off anyway. As dusk sets in,Aaron becomes suspicious at his farm as he hears noises in the distance.Fully aware of what Mose was saying about the Comanches, he and Martha try to stay calm in front of the kids while Aaron picks up a shotgun to pretend he's going to do some hens.Martha starts to close the windows and put out the lights.Lucy realises what is going on and starts to scream in terror.Martha slaps her and tries to calm her and comfort her. They get Debbie out of the window so that she can go off to safety while they prepare for the inevitable.Debbie runs off and sits by an headstone. A shadow looms over her. it is the chief of the tribe, Scar. He blows his horn to call his tribe. Early in the morning,Ethan and Mose ride along and see Martin stood wanting a ride from them. His horse has failed to make the journey but Ethan rides along passed him and Mose follows. Ethan sees that the ranch is burned down and rides down to try to find any survivors from the attack.Aaron, Martha and Ben have been slaughtered, and Lucy and Debbie are missing. As the funeral takes place and the people sing an hymn, Ethan becomes frustrated and just what's to get on with taking revenge. He tells Clayton to cut the prayer short so that they can go searching for Debbie and Lucy. They find a partially buried Indian corpse,who has died apparently from from been wounded during the attack. Ethan shoots the warrior's eyes out to further mutilate the corpse and prevent it from reaching the afterlife. Soon Ethan finds the Comanches setting up camp near a river 20 miles away from where the rest of the posse are.He returns to them and tells them they'll wait until nightfall and attack them. Clayton doesn't think it's a good idea because it could result in Lucy and Debbie been killed. Instead they slowly sneak in but find that they are gone.As they travel along the desert,the Comanches try to get the posse into a trap. They manage to make it to the other side of the river and fend them off in a gun battle,which results in one of them been wounded. As the Comnahces try to collect their dead and injured members,Ethan tries to shoot more of them but Clayton stops him. Full of rage, Ethan angrily tells them that he's going on alone to pursue them.Marty and Lucy's boyfriend Brad Jorgensen (Harry Carey, Jr.) want to join him.Ethan agrees on the condition that he's in charge.The three of them separate from the rest of them,who return home with the wounded member of the group. Soon Brad the Indians encampment one night, he believes he sees Lucy's distinctive dress. Ethan tells him that he found Lucy's defiled corpse in a canyon when the three men had split up to follow different trails. Insane with rage, Brad rides wildly into the Indian camp on his own.Marty tries to stop him but Ethan grabs him to prevent him following.Gunshots are heard in the distance and Brad is soon killed. Ethan and Marty continue on their search but as winter sets in, they lose their trail. They return to the Jorgensens' ranch. Marty has a tenuous romantic relationship with the Jorgensens' daughter, Laurie (Vera Miles). Mrs. Jorgensen gives Ethan a letter from a trader named Futterman who says he might have information about Debbie. Ethan arranges for Marty to stay with the Jorgensens but Marty wants to go with him. However in the morning, he discovers that Ethan has taken off on his own. Fearing that Ethan will kill Debbie if he finds her, he still takes off after him much to Laurie's displeasure. At Futterman's trading post he tells them that he purchased a swatch of calico print dress from an Indian band led by a war chief named Scar. Marty recognises it as Debbie's. Futterman tells them that she was taken by Scar,the chief of the Nawyecka tribe.Ethan pays Futterman part of the reward. He tells him he'll get the rest when and if they find Debbie.Futterman asks them if they want to stay the night but Ethan refuses. He knows Futterman is after his money.Later that night, Futterman and two accomplices follow Ethan and Marty for the rest of the money. But Ethan knows what they are up to. He leaves Marty by the camp fire to sleep while he goes to hide with a rifle,ready to take the men out. He shoots all three men in the back and retrieves his money from the dead body.Marty is angry that Ethan just left him for bait but Ethan just calmly tells him to get ready to move on. By now, the search for Debbie has continued for a year or more. Marty writes a letter to Laurie detailing his and Ethan's attempts to find Debbie.Charlie McCory delivers the letter and she reads it out loud to the family and narrates the next part of their journey. Ethan and Marty have traveled out of Texas into Colorado and parts north. Laurie is outraged to learn that Marty accidentally acquired an Indian bride, Look (Beulah Archuletta) while trying to trade for blankets with a different band of Comanche. Marty tried to drive her away but Ethan finds the situation amusing. When Look learned they were tracking Scar, she abandoned them in the night. They later found her in a Comanche camp that had been slaughtered by the American calvary. Marty and Ethan visited a local fort where white women who had been with the Comanche are, having been rescued by the cavalry. Ethan and Martin tell them that they are looking for a girl who was taken and will be around the age of 14 now. They are taken to three girls of that age,who appear to be deranged from their experiences but none of them are Debbie. One of the girls snatches Debbie's doll from Marty's hands and as she rocks with it back and forth, Ethan looks her horrified,thinking of what Debbie will be like if they find her.Laurie finshes reading the letter by telling everyone that Ethan and Marty are heading for the new territory. Laurie swears she will give up on Marty, which delights Charlie, who begins to serenade her. Five years later, Ethan and Marty are in New Mexico territory, where they find Mose in a cantina. He has met Figueroa, a merchant who trades with Scar's tribe. Figueroa takes them to meet Scar (Henry Brandon). Scar and Ethan are both annoyed to learn each speaks the other's language. In Scar's tent, Ethan and Marty see Debbie (Natalie Wood), now a teenager. They return to their own camp by a creek. Marty asks Ethan if Scar wants to kill them.Ethan reckons so and explains that the only reason he has let them escape with their lives for now is because of the Comanche code of honour. In the distance Debbie comes running down the sand dune to Marty. He begs her to try and remember him. She says she does but the Comanche are her people now and they must leave her. Ethan pulls out his gun and orders Marty to move away from her so that he can kill her but Marty blocks him. Just then, Scar's warriors attack and Ethan is wounded by a poisoned arrow. He and Marty ride off with the Indians in pursuit.They take cover in a cave and fend them off with their pistols.Ethan rests up,while Marty tends to him. Later,Ethan gives him a letter to read. He wants Marty to take all his possessions should he die but Marty isn't happy about it,as Debbie's his next of kin. But Ethan just considers her an indian now and not a relation.Marty refuses to accept it and tells him he hopes he dies. A while later, they return to the Jorgensens just as Laurie and Charlie are about to be married. They are just about to enter the house when Lars tries to stop them and tells them they are wanted for Futterson's death.He tells them to hide but Ethan walks in anyway to greet everyone.His return is met with silence. Marty is upset to find out that Laurie was going to marry someone else and shocked when he finds out it's Charlie.They end up having a fight and although neither man wins, the wedding is called off. Just as Clayton is about to arrest Ethan and Marty, a young calvary officer called Lt.Greenhill (Patrick Wayne) arrives with Mose who had been captured by Scar's tribe but managed to escape once they came close to the Jorgensens' farm. Clayton organizes his Rangers again and, with Ethan and Marty, they ride out to confront Scar. Ethan wants to charge into Scar's camp, hoping that Scar will kill Debbie so he doesn't have to. Marty persuades Clayton (who is in charge) to let him sneak into camp and rescue Debbie before the charge. When he does so, he has to keep her from screaming for help. Scar enters the tent but Marty beats him to the draw, killing him. Clayton, Ethan and the Rangers charge into the camp, killing or scattering the Comanche. Ethan finds Scar's body and scalps it.As he rides out of the tent holding the scalp, he sees Debbie in the distance.Fearing for her life she runs away and Ethan rides after her.Knocking Marty aside, he pursues near a cave. As she cowers, he reaches down and picks her up. Cradling her in his arms, he says, "Let's go home, Debbie." Ethan and Marty take Debbie back to the Jorgensens' ranch, where Lars, Mrs. Jorgensen, and Mose (sitting on the porch on a rocking chair) are waiting. They take her inside, followed by Marty and Laurie. Ethan stands outside, then turns and walks away as the door closes on him.

Charles Chinnough, aka Captain China, washed ashore off his ship during a storm, is later rescued, but is relieved of duty after his former first mate, Brendensen (who thought he was dead), and two aides testify falsely against him in a hearing concerning the loss of his ship. Seeking to clear his name, he books passage on a ship commanded by Brendensen.He and Brendensen both fall for a passenger, Kim Mitchell. Later, a raging storm at sea has the cowardly Brendensen turning the command of the ship over to Chinnough. This serves to help Chinnough clear his name.