McQ, the 1974 neo-noir crime film directed by The Magnificent Seven and Bad Day at Black Rock’s John Sturges, is a tense, slow-burning action film carried on the gigantic shoulders of John Wayne. With Elmer Bernstein’s score and two-time Oscar-nominated cinematographer Harry Stradling Jr. behind the lens, McQ is a gloomy departure for the icon of westerns, as Wayne jumps in the raincoat of a Seattle policeman far away from the prairies and saloons that built his legend. As Detective Lon “McQ” McHugh, he bravely investigates the assassination of his partner and several other colleagues, unhesitant to cross the lines if necessary in his relentless pursuit of justice and revenge.
The gritty streets and looming shadows provide the perfect setting for a highly enjoyable crime film enriched with the classic western element of an underestimated and outnumbered loner pitted against a swarm of enemies. Perhaps motivated by the rumors he wasn’t offered to play Dirty Harry because of his age, Wayne makes this Bullit-inspired movie work, as he speeds around downtown in a Brewster Green 1973 Pontiac with his MAC-10 submachine gun. A welcome change of scenery for the king of westerns, and a joy to watch the only Sturges-Wayne collaboration ever.
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