# The Comancheros
**The Comancheros** is a 1961 American Western directed by [Michael Curtiz](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-curtiz) and starring [John Wayne](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-wayne) as Texas Ranger Jake Cutter, who captures a fugitive gambler and then joins forces with him against a band of white outlaws selling guns and liquor to the Comanches. It was produced by George Sherman for Twentieth Century-Fox, released on 1 November 1961, and runs 107 minutes in [CinemaScope](https://www.edgepedia.org/cinemascope) and De Luxe color.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23776-THE-COMANCHEROS) The film is Curtiz's final theatrical picture; he died on 10 April 1962, six months after its release.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23776-THE-COMANCHEROS)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 1 November 1961 (New York); Los Angeles opening 15 November 1961; 107 minutes, CinemaScope, De Luxe color[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23776-THE-COMANCHEROS) |
| Source | Based on the 1952 novel *The Comancheros* by Paul I. Wellman[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/23776) |
| Director | Michael Curtiz, his last theatrical film; John Wayne directed substantial portions uncredited[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23776-THE-COMANCHEROS) • [3](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1567100/the-comancheros) |
| Lead cast | John Wayne (Jake Cutter), Stuart Whitman (Paul Regret), Ina Balin (Pilar), Nehemiah Persoff (Graile), Lee Marvin (Tully Crow)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23776-THE-COMANCHEROS) |
| Filming | 19 June to 9 August 1961, in Moab, Utah and on the Fox lot in Los Angeles[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23776-THE-COMANCHEROS) |
| Music | Elmer Bernstein, his first score for John Wayne[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23776-THE-COMANCHEROS) • [4](https://www.screenarchives.com/fsm/images/sample/v6n2.pdf) |
| Recognition | Western Heritage Award for Outstanding Western Motion Picture of 1961; Motion Picture Sound Editors nomination for Best Sound Editing[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23776-THE-COMANCHEROS) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Set in Texas in 1843, the story follows Texas Ranger Jake Cutter, who arrests the gambler Paul Regret in Galveston and sets out to return him to Louisiana, where Regret is wanted for killing a man in a pistol duel.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/23776) Regret escapes en route, and Cutter is ordered to impersonate a gun smuggler to find the secret stronghold of the Comancheros, a band of white renegades selling liquor and guns to the Comanches.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/23776) The two men are thrown together again, reach the Comanchero hideout, and there Regret meets Pilar, an adventuress he had known in Galveston and the daughter of Graile, the Comanchero leader.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/23776) Pilar joins them against her father; the three set fire to the gunpowder magazines, and the Rangers arrive to repel a Comanche attack in the final battle.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/23776)
## Development and casting
Filmmaker [George Stevens](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-stevens) optioned Paul Wellman's 1952 novel sometime before late September 1957, and at one point forbade [Marlon Brando](https://www.edgepedia.org/marlon-brando) from using the title "Comanchero" on another project.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23776-THE-COMANCHEROS) Stevens was set to produce and direct, but in January 1959 he stepped down when Twentieth Century-Fox offered him a co-production and directing deal on *The Greatest Story Ever Told* (1965) in exchange for the rights; the studio also paid him $300,000 for the property.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23776-THE-COMANCHEROS)
At Fox, producer David Weisbart hired the novelist Clair Huffaker to write the screenplay, and a December 1960 report announced [Gary Cooper](https://www.edgepedia.org/gary-cooper) as the star under a new three-picture deal, with [Robert Wagner](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-wagner) considered as co-star.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23776-THE-COMANCHEROS) After Weisbart left the studio in late 1960, the picture passed through further changes: John Wayne and [Charlton Heston](https://www.edgepedia.org/charlton-heston) were named as co-stars in April 1961, but Heston was replaced by Tom Tryon, who in turn was forced off by a commitment to Disney's *Moon Pilot* (1962).[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23776-THE-COMANCHEROS) Stuart Whitman, who had been promised the role by Curtiz, persuaded Wayne to press Fox to recast it one final time, and he took the part of Paul Regret.[3](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1567100/the-comancheros)
Wayne's new three-picture deal with Fox gave him the leverage to shape the production. He had the producing reins handed to his old friend George Sherman and the directing reins to the veteran Michael Curtiz, who was becoming frail and needed the work; Wayne also brought in his favorite screenwriter James Edward Grant to rewrite Huffaker's script.[3](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1567100/the-comancheros) Douglas Heyes had briefly been attached to direct before Curtiz replaced him by 25 April 1961.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23776-THE-COMANCHEROS)
## Production
[Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) began on 19 June 1961 in [Moab, Utah](https://www.edgepedia.org/moab-utah), and continued on the Twentieth Century-Fox lot in Los Angeles, ending on 9 August 1961.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23776-THE-COMANCHEROS) Producer George Sherman arranged to transport what trade papers called "an entire tribe of Navajos" from [Monument Valley](https://www.edgepedia.org/monument-valley) to Moab to portray the Comanches; they spoke their lines in Navajo rather than Comanche.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23776-THE-COMANCHEROS) On the Fox backlot, a western village previously slated for demolition by bulldozers was instead set to be burned during filming.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23776-THE-COMANCHEROS)
**Wayne's takeover of the direction.** Curtiz's health declined noticeably during the shoot. [Stuart Whitman](https://www.edgepedia.org/stuart-whitman) and Tom Mankiewicz, then a third assistant director on his first film job, later reported that Curtiz usually fell asleep after lunch each day and made questionable decisions on the set.[3](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1567100/the-comancheros) When Curtiz injured himself in a fall and was hospitalized, Wayne, who had directed *The Alamo* (1960), took over completely. According to [Dean Smith](https://www.edgepedia.org/dean-smith), who worked as a stunt man on the film, the whole climactic battle was staged by Wayne, while Whitman calculated that Wayne was behind roughly half of the completed film, though Wayne declined an on-screen directing credit.[3](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1567100/the-comancheros) • [5](https://as.com/meristation/cine/john-wayne-amenazo-a-un-celebre-director-por-comunista-o-te-quitas-eso-o-no-trabajas-en-esta-pelicula-f202601-n/) Curtiz learned during filming that he had cancer, after suffering a broken rib on location in Utah; he had been diagnosed years earlier but his family and doctor had not told him.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23776-THE-COMANCHEROS) • [3](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1567100/the-comancheros)
Composer [Elmer Bernstein](https://www.edgepedia.org/elmer-bernstein) finished scoring the picture on 6 October 1961, two months after filming ended.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23776-THE-COMANCHEROS) The score was Bernstein's first for John Wayne and began a series of Western scores for the actor.[4](https://www.screenarchives.com/fsm/images/sample/v6n2.pdf)
## Release and reception
The film opened in New York on 1 November 1961 and was a sizable hit with solid reviews.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23776-THE-COMANCHEROS) • [3](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1567100/the-comancheros) A December 1961 *Variety* article said it was "doing better than many Fox [pictures] in many months" and listed it as the eighth-highest grossing picture in the key cities covered by the magazine.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23776-THE-COMANCHEROS) In Tokyo, partly because of Wayne's popularity there, it set a house box-office record at the Hibiya Theatre, grossing $225,000 in sixty-three days of release.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23776-THE-COMANCHEROS)
At the second annual Western Heritage Awards, the picture took the prize for Outstanding Western Motion Picture of 1961, and the [Motion Picture Sound Editors](https://www.edgepedia.org/motion-picture-sound-editors) organization put it forward for Best Sound Edited Picture of 1961.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23776-THE-COMANCHEROS) On Rotten Tomatoes it holds a 100% Tomatometer from six critics and a 74% audience score from more than 5,000 ratings.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/comancheros) Critics have generally treated it as an entertaining but minor entry in both Curtiz's and Wayne's filmographies; Dennis Schwartz called it "lively and cheerful, but too banal to be a top-rate Curtiz or Wayne film," while Emanuel Levy judged it compromised by the ailing director's weak grasp of the Western genre.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/comancheros)
## Cast and crew notes
The supporting cast includes Lee Marvin as Tully Crow, Nehemiah Persoff as Graile, Michael Ansara as Amelung, Patrick Wayne as Tobe, Bruce Cabot as Major Henry, Joan O'Brien as Melinda, Edgar Buchanan as Judge Bean, and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams as Ed McBain in his final role; Williams had first been credited in 1919 and had worked with Wayne since the 1920s.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23776-THE-COMANCHEROS) • [3](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1567100/the-comancheros) William H. Clothier was the cinematographer, Louis R. Loeffler the editor, and Jack Martin Smith and Alfred Ybarra the art directors.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23776-THE-COMANCHEROS) Although the story is set in Texas in 1843, the production used Winchester lever-action rifles and Colt Peacemakers that were not in production for another three decades.[7](https://themagnificent60s.com/2023/06/19/behind-the-scenes-the-commancheros-1961/)
## References
1. [The Comancheros (1961), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/23776-THE-COMANCHEROS)
2. [The Comancheros (1961), synopsis and details, AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/23776)
3. [Jeremy Arnold, "The Comancheros," Turner Classic Movies](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1567100/the-comancheros)
4. [FSM Marketplace, Film Score Monthly vol. 6 no. 2](https://www.screenarchives.com/fsm/images/sample/v6n2.pdf)
5. ["John Wayne amenazó a un célebre director por 'comunista'," MeriStation/AS](https://as.com/meristation/cine/john-wayne-amenazo-a-un-celebre-director-por-comunista-o-te-quitas-eso-o-no-trabajas-en-esta-pelicula-f202601-n/)
6. [The Comancheros, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/comancheros)
7. ["Behind the Scenes: 'The Comancheros' (1961)," The Magnificent 60s](https://themagnificent60s.com/2023/06/19/behind-the-scenes-the-commancheros-1961/)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Action and adventure films (individual works) › Westerns before 1980 › Released 1961 to 1979*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license