McQ (1974)

Dirty Duke

When John Wayne read the reviews of Dirty Harry that branded it a right-wing fascist diatribe, he must have said "Wow, what a great idea for a movie!", hence McQ -- his first attempt at a gritty, urban cop thriller and it's a classic guilty pleasure.

After John Sturges sets the table with a terrific opening sequence, settle back for Duke's Nixonian war on crime. He routinely beats suspects (or just smart mouthed "radicals") then flagrantly lies about it to his superiors -- something Harry Callahan would never have done. There's a cringe inducing scene where he strikes a genteel tableau with his women's libber ex-wife and her new husband and asks to borrow money. Perhaps best of all, he beats and robs a drug dealer for some coke to ply a drug-addicted stoolie with, then promptly takes her to bed. This scene is played with Colleen Dewhurst and her incisive acting contrasted with Duke's oblivious courtliness, make it almost painful to watch. (We see how Duke would behave after such a sleazy one-night-stand and we get the impression he may not have removed his clothes.)

Finally, he takes to the streets with some illegal firepower and there's a great beach chase. Classic stuff. (Although you may worry as you watch Wayne's huge, aged and bewigged frame as he struggles to get in and out of his bitchin' Trans-Am.)

Elmer Bernstein brings da funk in his jazzy score. June 26, 2008

"John Wayne at his best"

I enjoyed this immensely! I loved the fact that John Wayne drove a powerful trans am that was black, low to the ground and had an engine that roared. At first it didn't seem like John Wayne, but he captured the role, and made it believable. His character was a maverick of sorts bucking heads with his superiors, (sort of a Dirty Harry type), and had to deal with, not only the punks on the street, but crooked cops, so the story was interesting. You'll get plenty of action, and good drama.

I recommend this film.


John July 12, 2007

1 Year before I was in Seattle

1974 McQ was shot in Seattle...mabe late 1973....but I just had to see all the locations where it was shot locally after the movie came out. I forced my parents to find that exellent freeway street run-off scene, and I have a picture from 30 years ago standing at the very scene location.

I really only liked it for it's music originally before I discovered it was filmed in my new town. I became even a bigger fan of the movie after I got my drivers license...drining along the docs looking for a visual scene from the movie. But my best scene was the beach scene where the run along the beach at high speeds.

Damn if 5 years later I re-created my own high spped chase at 70 miles an hour up the same beach!! It was so cool!! But '65 Impalas not equipped for runs in the sea are quick to choke....belive me...I had a whole lotta explaining to do! But I'm damn glad I did it.

Maybe next time someone could help me film it?...lol.

I'm an amature videographer now. But at least i have film now!!.

It's an excellent movie and John Wayne cannot compare to Bullitt McQueen, or any other film at that time. John Wayne is John Wayne, no one will ever fit his shoes again. Oh, you can compare the styles of movies at the time...sure. They were all alike. Revengefull cops forced out of the police department seeking vendgance.

But theirs only one John Wayne and one Clint Eastwood battleing for good vengenge cops during this time frame.

Each have exculded very excellent performances (from excellent directors).

But I go for McQ more for the soundtrack quality and editing for storyline. I absolutly think that if I only had to see any movie once in my lifetime...it would be McQ. It's not vengence so much as it is about justice.

I'm in favor of getting the bad guy. Columbo comes in a close 2nd. Oh...and Yes...CSI LV is my best current TV show. October 7, 2006

Really fun to watch John Wayne plays 'Dirty Harry'!

I recently watched the reruns of two action movies, McQ & Brannigan, both starring John Wayne, on cable TV. I had watched both of them in the theatres during the mid 70's or so.

As a young boy, I have always enjoyed watching John Wayne in so many westerns (Stage-coach, Rio Bravo, True Grit...) & in so many war movies (Green Berets, Sands of Iwo Jima, The Longest Day...).

I believe that John Wayne was almost in his late 60's/early 70's when he starred in the above two movies. I also believe that these were the only two movies in which he had played a street-wise no-nonsense cop. That's 'Dirty Harry' style!

In the first movie, McQ, he was Police Detective-Lieutenant Lon McQ in Seattle. He investigated the death of his partner & along the way uncovered some corrupt elements in his police department with shady connections to the mob. The signature mobster in the movie, Manny Santiago, was played by Al Lettieri.

In the second movie, Brannigan, he was Police Detective-Lieutenant Jim Brannigan in Chicago. He was sent to London to bring back an American mobster on the run, Ben Larkin, (played by John Vernon) & along the way he got entangled with the conservative work-style of Scotland Yard.

Despite his age, John Wayne was really remarkable in both roles. Having seen him in so many westerns & war movies, it was refreshing to see him acting in contemporary settings. The hot-pursuit action sequences (car chases & shoot-outs) were really good, considering that era. In McQ, the car chase along the beach, with sea gulls fluttering away for cover, was magnificantly choreographed. In Brannigan, the car chase segment ending at the Tower Bridge was great, too. There was even a large-scale brawl at a London pub...reminiscent of John Wayne's innumerable westerns. The storyline in both movies was quite intriguing. In McQ, he even got to show off his physical prowess with an unlicensed sub-machine gun. That was cool! The dialogue in both movies was witty, too.

In Brannigan, one could see how big & tall John Wayne was, when he was in London among the crowd. He really stood out like a sore thumb. His opposite was Commander Sir Charles Swann of Scotland Yard, played by a very fine British actor, Richard Attenborough. John Wayne even got a beautiful side-kick in the movie, Detective Sergeant Jennifer Thatcher, played by Judy Geeson.

In McQ, I was very surprised to see John Wayne in a relatively intimate scene involving a junkie informer played by a fine actress (Colleen Dewhurst) in an understated role. This was something which had never happened in any of his other movies, as far as I know!

On the whole, both movies had a good mix of action, drama & comedy, coupled with witty dialogue throughout. I have enjoyed very much watching both of them again after so many years. August 2, 2006

Look for Tom Valentine's old buddy Eddie Albert and future Magnum, p.i. star Roger E. Mosely in here, too

John Wayne was so busy pumping out
Westerns with his crew/family in
'71 that he had to turn Dirty Harry,
which ended up being done superbly
by a (then) novice named Clinton
Eastwood, Jr. (age 30). By '74, w/
Westerns going the way of the Buffalo,
Wayne was talked into this fine film
role by a very underrated Director
named John Sturgis. Moves a bit slow-
er than we would like, and 'The Duke'
was a bit slow by then as well. But
this film and his next (see my review
of Branigan) were two of his best made
movies in his remarkable 50 yrs. in
film. Wayne was born in 1907 in Iowa
and his birth house is still there
for visitors to see. May 10, 2006

More reviews at Amazon.com ...