They called the ¨wanderer¨ because a horse was his home . They called him ¨Injun-lover¨ but never to his face but they called on him when everyone else had run away . All the special beauty and drama of Oregon's Modoc lava-lands in Cinemascope . President Grant orders Indian fighter MacKay (Alan Ladd) to deal with the Modocs of northern California and southern Oregon . McKay sets out to negotiate a peace treaty with the renegade Indian leader nicknamed Captain Jack (Charles Bronson , he had just changed his name from his real one , Buchinski) , a believable rebel chief .
Good Indian-cavalry Western based on real incidents . This first-rate Western draws its riveting tale and power from the interaction of finely drawn roles as well as adventure and formidable action . Two-fisted Bronson enjoyed one of his first big roles in this spectacular story , overshadowing Alan Ladd who was film producer along with Delmer Daves . Tough-guy Ladd plays as a scout and expert Indian fighter , this is his best performance since ¨Shane¨ . Delmer Daves does a good work , an energetic and exciting movie , pitting two antagonist characters against the rugged toughness forced a vast natural environment throughout the trail . Highlight the exemplary value of the landscape as essential dramatic figure, and the narrative takes a brisk pace but not fast, a dash dense but not cumbersome . Colorful cinematography broke away from the traditional images to drape the Western backdrop convincingly in glimmer Warnercolor . Evocative and appropriate musical score by the classic Victor Young . The motion picture is well directed by Delmer Daves - including his characteristic use of landscape that helps the most spectacular scenes- , a Western expert as proved in the notorious ¨Broken arrow¨ , his first big Western ; furthermore , he made ¨The hanging tree¨ , ¨3:10 to Yuma¨, ¨The last wagon¨, Jubal , ¨Cowboy¨, ¨Return of the Texan¨ . And of course ¨Drum beat¨ that turns out to be stylish, fast paced , solid, meticulous and with enjoyable look . This well acted movie is gripping every step of the way . An unjustly forgotten film results to be a nice western and remains consistently agreeable . Rating : Above average , worthwhile watching .
The story is based on historical facts , these are the following : The Modocs , a small tribe of northern California , they were fishers , hunters , slave traders and warriors . In 1864 the Modocs reluctantly ceded their tribal lands to the United States and were moved to the Klamath Indian Reservation in Oregon . The Modocs could not live peacefully with the more powerful Klamath tribe and a band of Modocs under the leadership of Kintpuash , better known as Captain Jack , left the reservation and returned to their former lands . They refused to go back the reservation and the army was sent to forcibly remove them ; the result was so-called Modoc War of 1872-3 . Captain Jack and his followers took up an almost impregnable position in the Lava Beds on the California-Oregon border ; the Lava Beds provided a natural stronghold of contorted masses of solidified volcanic lava , a broken region of natural rock trenches and caves . Here , Captain Jack held off superior forces for months . Finally he and his followers surrounded . Captain Jack and four other Modocs were tried by court martial and hanged at Fort Klamath on 3 October 1873 . The survivors of his band were sent to a reservation in the Indian territory of Oklahoma.
Good Indian-cavalry Western based on real incidents . This first-rate Western draws its riveting tale and power from the interaction of finely drawn roles as well as adventure and formidable action . Two-fisted Bronson enjoyed one of his first big roles in this spectacular story , overshadowing Alan Ladd who was film producer along with Delmer Daves . Tough-guy Ladd plays as a scout and expert Indian fighter , this is his best performance since ¨Shane¨ . Delmer Daves does a good work , an energetic and exciting movie , pitting two antagonist characters against the rugged toughness forced a vast natural environment throughout the trail . Highlight the exemplary value of the landscape as essential dramatic figure, and the narrative takes a brisk pace but not fast, a dash dense but not cumbersome . Colorful cinematography broke away from the traditional images to drape the Western backdrop convincingly in glimmer Warnercolor . Evocative and appropriate musical score by the classic Victor Young . The motion picture is well directed by Delmer Daves - including his characteristic use of landscape that helps the most spectacular scenes- , a Western expert as proved in the notorious ¨Broken arrow¨ , his first big Western ; furthermore , he made ¨The hanging tree¨ , ¨3:10 to Yuma¨, ¨The last wagon¨, Jubal , ¨Cowboy¨, ¨Return of the Texan¨ . And of course ¨Drum beat¨ that turns out to be stylish, fast paced , solid, meticulous and with enjoyable look . This well acted movie is gripping every step of the way . An unjustly forgotten film results to be a nice western and remains consistently agreeable . Rating : Above average , worthwhile watching .
The story is based on historical facts , these are the following : The Modocs , a small tribe of northern California , they were fishers , hunters , slave traders and warriors . In 1864 the Modocs reluctantly ceded their tribal lands to the United States and were moved to the Klamath Indian Reservation in Oregon . The Modocs could not live peacefully with the more powerful Klamath tribe and a band of Modocs under the leadership of Kintpuash , better known as Captain Jack , left the reservation and returned to their former lands . They refused to go back the reservation and the army was sent to forcibly remove them ; the result was so-called Modoc War of 1872-3 . Captain Jack and his followers took up an almost impregnable position in the Lava Beds on the California-Oregon border ; the Lava Beds provided a natural stronghold of contorted masses of solidified volcanic lava , a broken region of natural rock trenches and caves . Here , Captain Jack held off superior forces for months . Finally he and his followers surrounded . Captain Jack and four other Modocs were tried by court martial and hanged at Fort Klamath on 3 October 1873 . The survivors of his band were sent to a reservation in the Indian territory of Oklahoma.