Vorposten in Wildwest

Two Flags West begins with Confederate colonel Joseph Cotten given an offer to have his men get paroled from prison if they'll serve in the union army out west where the troops are stretched pretty thin. Over some objections he takes the offer from Captain Cornel Wilde.

Wilde takes Cotten and his men to Fort Thorn in the Southwest which is commanded by rebel hating and Indian hating Jeff Chandler. There's a good reason why this guy is in a backwater command as you'll see as the film unfolds. In addition there's Linda Darnell, wife of Chandler's late brother who was killed in the Civil War and who all three guys have their eyes on. But Chandler scares Darnell as well he should.

It was interesting to see Chandler whose career role was Cochise playing an Indian hater. But he does successfully put over the character. His Indian hating causes a lot of tragedy before the film is over.

Two Flags West is a brooding kind of western that's not for the squeamish. It's an exceptionally violent film that I'm not sure how it got through the Code. It's one of Jeff Chandler's best early roles, too bad Universal didn't cast him in more films like Two Flags West.

"Two Flags West" is a real surprise, entertaining and powerful. It contains its share of Hollywood clichés: Yankees and Rebels teaming up to fight Indians; an unhinged officer commanding a lonely outpost; a beautiful women creating tension among comrades in arms. But it's original in the way it handles them.

Jeff Chandler plays Maj. Henry Kenniston, a Union officer put in charge of a desert fort after being partially disabled by a war wound. Distrustful of Indians and bitter about his assignment, he dreams of returning to the war and taking revenge on the Confederates who hurt him and killed his brother.

Worst of all, Kenniston is obsessed with his brother's widow (played by Linda Darnell). He's an honorable man in his own way, and he feels a genuine sense of responsibility toward her. He tells himself he's keeping her at the fort for her own protection. But in his heart, he lusts after her, and he hates himself for doing so.

When reinforcements arrive at this troubled outpost, Kenniston is shocked to find that most are former Confederate POWs. They have pledged to serve the Union as Indian fighters as long as they don't have to make war on fellow Southerners.

To the already unstable major, being put in command of such troops is a crushing insult. And it doesn't help his state of mind when the Southerners' leader (played by Joseph Cotten) and an idealistic Union officer (played by Cornel Wilde) begin to show interest in the beautiful widow themselves. Kenniston soon embarks on a course of action guaranteed to alienate both the Indians and the Southerners -- and endanger the peace.

"Two Flags West" is a well plotted western, with events that flow from the characters' motivations instead of from a predictable plot. It's full of action, and its violence is grimly realistic for the time it was made.

Chandler is excellent as a complex, disastrous leader who inspires anger, pity and even some admiration in the viewer. Darnell, in one of her better roles, makes a convincing object of desire. Cotten and Wilde are fine, although they could have switched roles and still been just as effective.

Any fan of westerns ought to enjoy this a lot, and non-fans should give it a look.

JEFF CHANDLER does a creditable job as tough Army Major Kenniston at Fort Thorn with a hatred of Confederate rebels. His sister-in-law LINDA DARNELL wants to go back to California from the New Mexico fort, but Chandler is smitten with her and tries to prevent the strong-willed lady from having her own way.

Meantime, two other men have their eyes on Linda--Confederate Col. Clay Tucker (JOSEPH COTTEN) and dashing Capt. Mark Bradford (CORNEL WILDE), both of whom fall for Major Kenniston's sister-in-law.

Seems the Yankees are willing to free Confederate prisoners if they're willing to help them fight off the Indians surrounding the fort. While this is the major plot driven device, the romantic sub-plots involving Chandler, Darnell, Wilde and Cotten get a fair share of time too.

It all comes together as an above average cavalry western under the crisp direction of Robert Wise, who makes the most of some excellent camera work in the rugged western settings. The story has some interesting components but takes time in setting up the various conflicts. Nevertheless, enough action and a little romance to satisfy most viewers of the genre.

This gritty western is a post-Civil War affair set in New Mexico where soldiers of the Blue and the Gray are obliged to let bygones be bygones and tame the wild frontier for westward expansion. The usual antagonisms are present in abundance, with Union officers reluctant to trust the Confederate troops and question their allegiance to the United States. A top cast is headed by Joseph Cotten and Jeff Chandler, who constantly spar with each other about men, munitions and how to meet the Indian threat. Linda Darnell is the lone femme in the cast and her presence sparks romantic interest and jealousy in equal measure at the army post. The Yank-Rebel forces manage to put their bickering aside to defend against an Indian attack that remains one of the best ever filmed. The black and white lensing is good and enhances director Robert Wise's fine film.

This is an action packed cavalry film set during the Civil War.

It begins with our protagonist, Joseph Cotton's character, a Confederate officer rotting in a Union prison with 43 of his men. They are offered a chance to fight Indians in the West, an act guaranteed not to hurt the Southern cause. When Cotton's character puts it to a vote to his men, it is deadlocked 21-21, with the tying vote a dying man who passes away before he can voice an opinion.

Cotton grabs the chance, and becomes a cavalry man, befriended by Cornel Wilde, a Union officer. Jeff Chandler plays the commander of the fort he is taken to. The star studded cast includes some great character actors, and their talents aren't wasted.

At the fort, Chandler quickly becomes the antagonist. His character resembles Henry Fonda's commander in FORT APACHE, obviously on purpose. In ways, this is almost a remake as far as characters go, but with a different story line.

A damsel in distress, the widow of Chandler's brother, killed in a battle in which Cotton took part, makes for high tension and high drama.

Later on, Chandler captures the head honcho Apache's son, and when the Apache chief demands his son's release, Chandler kills the son.

The other parts of the plot, I won't spoil. What we get are very identifiable three dimensional characters in great Western action. The fifties were the golden age for good reason. Great characters. This is a prime example. The two main antagonists both climax with acts of honor, one in supreme sacrifice, and one in relenting against a massacre for the sake of justice.

Compare these characters to the one dimensional clichés of Leone debacles, cardboard cutouts who do nothing but hate and kill, of the caricatures of "Tombstone" and other garbage, and there's no comparison. This film is so superior, it boggles the mind.

It took Hollywood four decades to realize their mistake, and now we at least see some Westerns that deal with credible characters, such as the ones you'll see Robert Duvall in. The difference is that this golden age dealt in splendor, scenery, and cinema, while the modern Western aims for total realism. While the modern Western has value, I still prefer the spectacle of cinematic glory and color to the modern dullness and dust. Both are good, but this type is more uplifting, and gives you the energy to get more done, so I give these films an edge.

Excellent acting, great scenery, directing, everything you could want, but my two chief criteria, writing and characters, are both of high quality here, too. This film is an example of "great characters make great films".