Director Richard Sale was known more as a writer (he provided the improbable story and the screenplay for this) than a director, and his directing career (twelve films, of which this was the third) was not particularly notable. A cowboy sets out to try to stop an Indian war and rescue a white woman captured by the Apaches. The cavalrymen get picked off one by one, starting with the sergeant and another. What about Harrington? One of the ways the budget was kept down was to use journeyman directors (like Springsteen) and to use stars with recognizeable names but who were past their primes–like those in this film. If he doesn’t receive it within a week, the chief will go on the warpath. A bit later Cates comes upon a wagon the Apaches have already left; a quivering young woman, Junie Hatchett (Carolyn Craig), huddles under the sagebrush with the rest of her family slaughtered nearby.Logan Cates (Rory Calhoun) and Jennifer Fair (Barbara Bates) hash over past regrets.As the three head for Apache Wells, they encounter two more riders: former Confederate cavalry officer Grant Kimbrough (John Dehner) and his fiancée Jennifer Fair (Barbara Bates), also heading for Yuma. The four are headed to pull off a bank robbery, while Simon and Lolly are going back to his ranch in Shadow Valley through territory infested with Apaches.Simon Bhumer (Walter Brennan) and daughter Lolly (Colleen Miller) head for their ranch; but a heated relationship develops between Lolly and Ray Cully (Rory Calhoun).All six spend the night at Greasy’s general store, while Greasy (Nestor Paiva) reconnoiters in town to verify that the bank currently holds enough money to make robbing it worth while.
When he sees Madden’s apparent death, he gives up the chase, and Madden and the inhabitants of Sanctuary live happily ever after in their remote location. But 157 of these were silent movies produced between 1911 and 1917, when movies were not yet generally at feature length. Not enough good movie roles were coming his way, so he took a producing role in a few westerns, working with journeyman director Ray Nazarro. In color, at 83 minutes. Cully and Sheriff Jim Flannery (Charles Drake, previously seen as Shelly Winters’ ineffective boy friend Steve in Sheriff Jim Flannery (Charles Drake) and Cully (Rory Calhoun) fight out old grievances. Simon and Lolly take Cully to the Shadow Valley ranch, and when the posse arrives at the battle site to chase off the Apaches, only bodies and the scattered proceeds of the robbery are left.At the Bhumer ranch, Cully’s wound is bad enough so Simon has to go for medical help.
(We always knew he was decent somewhere inside, because he was nice to kids.) As he falls, he gets the fifth man. Anna reveals that her son is Santee’s, and that she had to marry Elkins to become respectable while he was out hunting El Pescatore.Santee has a change of heart now. Bolden has transferred her affections to Reed after her lieutenant is killed. It was theoretically shot in color, but the print I saw was black and white and grainy. On the whole it’s watchable, but not really good. On his way home he finds Harrington’s men damming the water his ranch depends on, claiming that the stream is on public land. Peter Graves is a cowardly prospector who kills his partner after they’ve discovered gold. Flannery and two deputies arrive and start to shoot it out with Cully. He accomplishes this not with guns but (not very convincingly for some one with a badly wounded right arm) with his fists.Roan (Rod Lauren) and Madden (Rory Calhoun) ride into Sanctuary. While he was away fighting in the Civil War, a roving band of five outlaws raided the ranch and killed his father. (Obligatory nude-bathing-in- the-wilderness scene.) There are at least two alternate endings that would have worked better: (1) Instead of Madden dying, he and Roan stage the final gunfight, but it is just that—staged, for Corey to witness from his perch above the town. Kimbrough and Zimmerman don’t trust Lugo, but Cates is inclined to, since Apaches hate Pimas.
Meanwhile, Simon Bhumer’s horse goes lame, and he and Lolly are besieged by Apaches. As they are about to torture Juan, Domino shows up and decks him again.
He worked with Ray Nazarro a lot, especially when he developed his own films, which guarantees you a pretty solid 80 … Reed guides the small party of survivors to Fort Ellis, where he hopes to turn Ives over to a court martial. “Maybe you wouldn’t be so loose-footed if I gave you a permanent limp!”[Spoilers follow.] Kimbrough is dead after a fight with Lugo, Cates and Jennifer are back together, and it looks like Lonnie and Junie will ride on to California and make a life together with a little gold given to them by Lugo.
He finds him in a saloon, with Sandlin sounding like he wants to make amends but really planning an ambush. Not a lot of action or much star power, but the cast is good aside from that. But the story works for a while, until it trips over its own feet. Zimmerman wants to take over and is a constant source of tension. Rory starred in over 80 films and 1,000 television episodes. Dutch (John McIntire) has known Simon a long time; they were both quasi-outlaws, until Simon went straight.The gang’s plan for the bank involves Cully creating a diversion while the robbery takes place, and then the gang bolts for the border.