McQ

(1974)

111 minutes

Action / Drama / Crime

Directed by John Sturges

Cast:

John Wayne as McQ

Eddie Albert as Kosterman

Diana Muldaur as Lois

Colleen Dewhurst as Myra

Clu Gulager as Toms

David Huddleston as Pinky

Jim Watkins as J C

Al Lettieri as Santiago

Julie Adams as Elaine Forrester

Roger E. Mosley as Rosey

Joe Tornatore as Lasalle

Lon McQ is investigating the murder of his partner and best friend Stan Boyle.  McQ doesn’t buy the police department’s official line; that Boyle was shot by counterculture radicals.  McQ suspects that Boyle was assassinated by crime boss Manny Santiago.  As McQ’s investigation continues, he uncovers some leads that point to drug smuggling.  McQ’s superior, Captain Ed Kosterman, is continuing to pressure McQ to quit investigating the case, so much so that McQ turns in his badge so he can go about his investigation privately.  Free of interference from the police force, he begins to see why they were pushing him so hard to quit investigating.  The trail leads to an array of crooked cops , including his old partner.  Chases abound after a failed hit on McQ, and once McQ discovers who is really behind the drug trade, concluding in a dramatic chase on the beach and a final shootout.
 
Notes:  John Wayne passed on the opportunity to play Dirty Harry before it was offered to Clint Eastwood, cementing Eastwood as a star.  Many feel that Wayne’s decision to make two hard-boiled police dramas were a sign of regret that Wayne had passed over the role.
 
Wayne was fighting cancer while filming McQ.
 
Coleen Dewhurst also appeared in The Cowboys with Wayne in 1972.
 
John Sturges also directed the Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape .

McQ trailer