Bis zum letzten Atemzug

In the book that Michael Freedland wrote about Gregory Peck, Only the Valiant is described as the worst film Gregory Peck ever made. During those beginning years of his stardom it seems like just about every film became a classic of some kind.

Only the Valiant was shot on the cheap and it shows. The book says that Gregory Peck's cavalry uniform was an old costume worn by Rod Cameron in one of his B westerns. It was an independent production by James Cagney and as part of the deal Peck got Barbara Payton who had a contract with Cagney himself and was used in Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye which he produced and also starred in.

According to Michael Freedland's book, Peck who was still tied to David O. Selznick got $60,000.00 for the part of cavalry captain Richard Lance. Selznick got $150.000.00 and Peck was not a happy camper. Still being the professional he was, Peck did the film.

In truth Only the Valiant is a far better film than MGM's big budget The Great Sinner which Peck also starred in. Mainly because of a very competent crew of players that James Cagney gathered for this film. And an interesting script which contains elements of Beau Geste, The Lost Patrol, The Dirty Dozen and David and Bathsheba which Peck had starred in.

Peck and Gig Young are rivals for Barbara Payton and Peck is ordered to send Young on a patrol to take hostile Apache chief Michael Ansara to a better staffed army fort. Young gets killed and Ansara escapes and the old Uriah the Hittite story starts circulating at Peck's post.

Later he gets an assignment to man an abandoned fort that sits across a narrow mountain pass that the Apaches can't even charge through on horseback. He takes a select group of army misfits, some of whom would like to kill him worse than the Apaches.

Even with Ward Bond as an alcoholic corporal, any resemblance between these soldiers and those John Ford cavalry pictures is coincidental. The ones who he takes with him, Sergeant Neville Brand, Lieutenant Dan Riss, Bond, Troopers Terry Kilburn, Steve Brodie, and Lon Chaney, Jr. are a collection that Lee Marvin would gladly have taken on a mission.

Chaney has the strangest role. He's named Kabushyan and he's Armenian though the men refer to him as A-rab. He's got one big old gay crush on Gig Young though it's not spelled out due to Code restrictions and he hates Peck worse than the others. It's the best performance in the film.

Only the Valiant has an A list cast with B production values, I wish it had been done with a bigger budget.

Only the Valiant isn't a great movie, but it is a good one. It is sluggishly paced however, with some parts that feel drawn out, and there were times when the direction was lacking. That said, Only the Valiant is very well shot, the black and white cinematography looks good, and the scenery is authentic. Also good is the score, which is suitably rousing, the script is decently structured and the story is interesting while taking inspiration from Fort Apache and Red River. The acting ranges from decent to very good; I am not a huge Gregory Peck fan(I sometimes find him dull) but he does a good job as the ruthless and tight-lipped martinet officer, and Barbara Payton is luminous and pretty as Cathy. Ward Bond, Gig Young and Jeff Corey are much more impressive though. Overall, not perfect, but worth the look. 7/10 Bethany Cox

"Only the Valiant" is not a great western; in fact it is obvious that the director, cast and producers knew perfectly it was not going to be one. However the product is entertaining and has an interesting plot.

In order to gain some time, Cpt. Lance (Gregory Peck) is sent to defend a small abandoned fort located right in the opening of a small passage between the mountains through which the Apaches will have to ride in their way to attack the army's main position. He has been accused by his girl of sending his friend Lt. Holloway (Gig Young) in a sure-death mission just to get rid of romantic competition; Peck is innocent of course, but he doesn't feel he has to explain (sort of a character like the one he played some years later in "The Big Country").

Lance chooses his men for the mission among the worst in the regiment and those he knows have personal feelings against him. He occupies the fort and waits for the Apaches to come while watching his back at he same time.

The picture, totally unpretentious, was shot in black and white by director Gordon Douglas and you could say this was a correct decision for it adds to the grey and dark atmosphere that reigns in the fort. It is also interesting when Lance forms the men and tells each one clearly why he has chosen them for the deadly task.

The cast is adequate. Peck is good as the righteous Captain as also is Gig Young in his small part. Among the troopers you'll find such classical tough guys of the 40's and 50' as Lon Chaney, Ward Bond and Neville Brand. Michael Ansara is the Indian chief.

But what really demerits the film are some indoor settings representing the rocky passage and the fort itself that look clearly fake and cheap. Michael Ansara's outfit looks more like one for a costume party than that of the chief of an Indian war party. The point is that producers didn't want to spend much money on this film and it shows.

However it turns out to be a rather enjoyable army against Indians western and its worth one look at least.

The more desperate his fight on the desert's scorching sands , the more adored he was in her arms ¡ . Gregory Peck as captain Lance who gave Fort Invincible his name ¡ . Richard Lance (Peck) is a honorable cavalry officer to roust renegade troopers and a tribe of Indians Apaches . Cavalry captain is saddled not only problems with Native American but irritability among his own undisciplined troops . Lance is wrongfully framed by his girlfriend (Barbara Payton) and underlings of killing lieutenant Holloway (Gig Young) massacred along with a patrol by Indians . Richard Lance eventually puts the bridle on tight and struggles to win his soldiers respect while warding off violent Indians. Richard along with a group of soldiers have to defend a left fort surrounded by Indians until arrival reinforcements who are using a Gatling machine gun . The angry Apaches (led by Michael Ansara, usual in Indian roles) are out on a rampage of killing , seeking vengeance against the white intruders, and with the aim for eliminate them.

This is an acceptable , conventional tale with action galore about a hard-bitten officer who goes to hell and back while assembling a detail of misfit cavalrymen to hold-off rampaging Indians and later on regaining the respect of his soldiers and his sweetheart . Gregory Peck and a top-notch all-secondary-star-cast as Ward Bond, Steve Brodie , Warner Anderson , Neville Brand , Jeff Corey and Lon Chaney Jr as the Arab ; all of them shine in this gripping story about a surrounded garrison . Furthermore as protagonist girl appears Barbara Payton ( who acted in important films as Dallas, Drums in the deep South , Kiss Tomorrow) , she turned to be one of the saddest stories from dark chronicle Hollywood . Attractive blonde sexpot and her life eventually disintegrated,mostly by her own doings . She was the subject of a spread in Confidential Magazine in the early 1950s when then fiancé Franchot Tone allegedly caught in bed with Guy Madison . Tone later married her , despite the indiscretion, besides she had a tempestuous relationship with Tom Neal. But happened the downfall , her once enticing countenance now blotchy and once sensational figure now bloated,Barbara sank deeper into the bottle and had several brushes with law , among them public boozy , bad checks and ultimate prostitution . The 39 years former star was found on the bathroom floor.

Director takes a fine penned screenplay creating a cavalry-Indians tale that is far from ordinary , exploring the anguish of soldiers and including jarring burst of violence , however it packs a predictable ending . It's the habitual theme about an unit stranded by enemies and their grueling efforts to break the siege, issue imitated many other times . Gritty and passable written Western from Edmund H. North and Harry Brown , based on the novel by Charles Marquis Warren ,also Western filmmaker .The picture contains nice moments though partially unsatisfying and disappointing for the reason of the deeply claustrophobic environment . Well produced by William Cagney , James Cagney's brother , this Western is predictable and conventional but entertaining. Thrilling and stirring musical score by the classic Franz Waxman . Cinematography by Lionel Lindon enhances the dark tones especially on the besieged fort .

The motion picture is professionally directed by Gordon Douglas . He's an expert on adventures genre as ¨Black arrow¨ and ¨Fortunes of Captain Blood¨ , both starred by Louis Hayward ; but he's mainly specialist filmmaking Western , his first was ¨ Girl rush (1944)¨ and in the 40s directed ¨Doolins of Oklahoma¨ and ¨The Nevadan¨ for duo Harry Joe Brown-Randolph Scott . He went on directing Alan Ladd's (as Jim Bowie) vehicles as ¨Iron Mistress¨ and ¨The fiend who walked west¨ which resulted to be a Western rendition to ¨Kiss of death¨. In the 50s he proved his specialty on Western in the films starred by Clint Walker as ¨Fort Dobbs¨ ,¨Yellowstone Kelly¨, ¨Gold of seven Saints¨ and about legendary bandits as ¨Doolins of Oklahoma¨ and ¨Great Missouri raid¨ . After that , he filmed ¨Chuka(1967)¨ that bears remarkable resemblance to ¨Only the valiant¨ , the remake ¨Stagecoach (1966)¨ , ¨Rio Conchos¨ with Richard Boone and considered the best Western and finally ¨Barquero(1970)¨with Lee Van Cleef and realized in Spaghetti style.

...I saw this movie when it first came out in France, in my hometown, 54 years ago, I was nine, and today I still remember each black and white frame, especially the black ones, because it was so tense, scary, those sneaking attacks through that dark pass in the mountain, the two soldiers, prisoners forced to fight each other by their captors, the last battle with the uncovering of the wagon with the Gatling in it firing away, the last fight between Peck and the chief, and the Happy End which let me take back my breath. I haven't seen it since then, and I don't know if it would be a good idea to see it again today, it was such a fabulous moment for the kid I was.