Well, a Western with a twist ending - you don't see that very often. Usually the white hat hero rides off into the sunset with the pretty lady by his side, but this one served up what could have been a set up for a sequel. I think once was enough though.

Once this got under way it reminded me a lot of the Burt Reynolds flick "Sam Whiskey". Both pictures have the same plot, a 'widow' hires on an aggressive gunman to retrieve the gold her husband stole and return it to the authorities to clear the family name. The Reynolds picture was a little more complicated since it required Mission Impossible-like coordination, so it kept you on your toes a bit more as the viewer. This one runs a bit slower, in fact there seems to be a fair amount of down time after Lane (John Wayne) and his group whittle down the twenty man posse in the desert.

As far as leading ladies go, it's a toss-up between "Sam Whiskey" and "The Train Robbers". Angie Dickinson did the honors in the earlier film (1969), while Ann-Margret cuts a pretty mean profile in this pic. I've never mentioned it before, but the lack of that second 'a' in Margret's name always seems to bother me, it's like an itch that can't be scratched. You have to admit though, she looked darn good in her boiled shirt; heck, she even looked good in that wet blanket.