A civil war western set in 1863 ,with some battle scenes of nice quality and passable interpretations . During the Civil War (1861-1865) , Confederate prisoners of war agree to join forces with the Union Army in the common fight against Indians . In return,the Confederate POWs are promised their freedom by President Lincoln during his Special Proclamation. A company of Confederate Georgia cavalry POWs ,under the command of Confederate Colonel Clay Tucker (Joseph Cotten) teams up with the Union on the sole condition they wouldn't have to battle against the Confederacy . They're assigned to Fort Thorn, New Mexico, on the Western frontier commanded by stiff-upper-lip and cripple Union major Henry Kenniston (Jeff Chandler) who hates the Confederate . Then , hateful , enmity and treason resurfacing during this difficult alliance . Unfurls the banner to high adventure !
Attractive western with spectacular action battles mixed with appealing storyline and decent perfermances . Dealing with a peculiar , fragile and hard alliance , forced by risked circumstances , between Confederate POWs and Union soldiers , both of them joining forces against Indians , but unfortunately , old animosities rekindle . Filmmaker Robert Wise had just left RKO where he had made his name and started up at 20th Century Fox , where his career would reach its high point 15 years later with West Side Story . Here Wise augmented a stunning main and support cast between cavalry and Indians . Dramatically , however , the movie is much less stirring . Stars a prestigious main cast , such as : Joseph Cotten as Col. Clay Tucker , Linda Darnel las Elena Kenniston , Jeff Chandler as Maj. Henry Kenniston , and Cornel Wilde as Captain Bradford . Being accompanied by a familiar secondary cast , such as : Dale Robertson , Noah Beery Jr. , John Sands , Arthur Hunnicutt , Robert Adler , Stanley Andrews Jay C. Flippen , among others .
The motion picture was professionally directed by Robert Wise . He worked in RKO where he became a skilled editor. He worked with Orson Welles on 'Citizen Kane' and 'The Magnificent Ambersons'. He then became director at R. K. O. And was then presided over by Val Lewton who gave Robert his first directing opportunities on what was expected to be a series of low budget horror films but emerged as striking psychological studies in terror such as 'The Curse of the Cat People', which was held in high critical esteem and which he credits Val as one of the major influences of his career The horror cycle was followed by 'The Set-Up' with Robert Ryan which won the the Critics Prize at the 1949 Cannes Film Festival then at M. G. M. His direction of Paul Newman in 'Somebody Up There Likes Me' resulted in Newman's emergence as a star. He became a freelance director on such films as 'Run Silent Run Deep' and 'I Want to Live!', earning an Oscar nomination for himself and an Oscar for Susan Hayward. And the high point was his awesome films as The Sound of Music , West Side Story and Star Trek the movie . Rating : 6/10 . Acceptable and decent Cavalry/Indian Western.
Attractive western with spectacular action battles mixed with appealing storyline and decent perfermances . Dealing with a peculiar , fragile and hard alliance , forced by risked circumstances , between Confederate POWs and Union soldiers , both of them joining forces against Indians , but unfortunately , old animosities rekindle . Filmmaker Robert Wise had just left RKO where he had made his name and started up at 20th Century Fox , where his career would reach its high point 15 years later with West Side Story . Here Wise augmented a stunning main and support cast between cavalry and Indians . Dramatically , however , the movie is much less stirring . Stars a prestigious main cast , such as : Joseph Cotten as Col. Clay Tucker , Linda Darnel las Elena Kenniston , Jeff Chandler as Maj. Henry Kenniston , and Cornel Wilde as Captain Bradford . Being accompanied by a familiar secondary cast , such as : Dale Robertson , Noah Beery Jr. , John Sands , Arthur Hunnicutt , Robert Adler , Stanley Andrews Jay C. Flippen , among others .
The motion picture was professionally directed by Robert Wise . He worked in RKO where he became a skilled editor. He worked with Orson Welles on 'Citizen Kane' and 'The Magnificent Ambersons'. He then became director at R. K. O. And was then presided over by Val Lewton who gave Robert his first directing opportunities on what was expected to be a series of low budget horror films but emerged as striking psychological studies in terror such as 'The Curse of the Cat People', which was held in high critical esteem and which he credits Val as one of the major influences of his career The horror cycle was followed by 'The Set-Up' with Robert Ryan which won the the Critics Prize at the 1949 Cannes Film Festival then at M. G. M. His direction of Paul Newman in 'Somebody Up There Likes Me' resulted in Newman's emergence as a star. He became a freelance director on such films as 'Run Silent Run Deep' and 'I Want to Live!', earning an Oscar nomination for himself and an Oscar for Susan Hayward. And the high point was his awesome films as The Sound of Music , West Side Story and Star Trek the movie . Rating : 6/10 . Acceptable and decent Cavalry/Indian Western.