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We review Stephen B. Armstrong's biography of director Andrew V. McLaglen
Andrew V. McLaglen (center) directed Rock Hudson and Edward Faulkner in "The Undefeated."
What names come to mind when the topic is great western movie directors? John Ford? Sure, that’s where the conversation usually starts — but after that? Perhaps Sergio Leone, Anthony Mann, Budd Boetticher, or Howard Hawks.
It may take a while for even film buffs to get to Andrew V. McLaglen, but that does not belittle his contributions to the genre, which include Chisum and McLintock! as well as numerous episodes of Gunsmoke and Have Gun – Will Travel.
In Andrew V. McLaglen: The Life and Hollywood Career, author Stephen B. Armstrong provides a biography and detailed career retrospective of the Hollywood lifer known to friends as “Big A.”
He may not be a giant in reputation but, at 6 feet 7 inches tall, McLaglen may be the only director who could ride taller in the saddle than John Wayne. The son of Oscar-winning actor Victor McLaglen, Andrew grew up on the sets of his father’s classic movies, such as Gunga Din. As second assistant to the director, Andrew worked on Sands of Iwo Jima (1950) and The Quiet Man (1952), before taking the helm on his first feature, Man in the Vault, in 1955.
McLaglen’s ability to shoot quickly and efficiently — Man in the Vault was completed in just 10 days — was essential for TV, where he found no shortage of assignments over a career that spanned nearly four decades. McLaglen’s final western was a television adaptation of Louis L’Amour’s The Shadow Riders (1982), starring Tom Selleck and Sam Elliott.
Armstrong’s book provides an excellent overview of a career that is too often overlooked by western fans.
