THE HORSE SOLDIERS is yet another pairing between western star John Wayne and western director John Ford, the pair who made some of the most memorably macho movies in American cinema. The plot, set during the American Civil War, is a little different from the usual for these guys, although fans of the Duke will be pleased to hear that his character is typically brash and full of bravado.
This is a film less about action than it is the intricacies of the plotting. It also has a greater breadth of characterisation than expected for the genre, with William Holden excelling as the conscience-wracked doctor and Constance Towers affected as the southern spy. The cast is rounded out by the usual character actors you see appear in Wayne films. Some parts of the film are action-packed and exciting, with the men-on-a-mission aspect of the story working well, and the emphasis on pain and injury gives it a grittier edge than usual.
This is a film less about action than it is the intricacies of the plotting. It also has a greater breadth of characterisation than expected for the genre, with William Holden excelling as the conscience-wracked doctor and Constance Towers affected as the southern spy. The cast is rounded out by the usual character actors you see appear in Wayne films. Some parts of the film are action-packed and exciting, with the men-on-a-mission aspect of the story working well, and the emphasis on pain and injury gives it a grittier edge than usual.