Fort Laramie

And I had the habit not to ever miss a Lesley Selander's feature, though he has made so many of them, mostly grade Z, but I have never cared, on the contrary. So small budgets films have so much charm, precisely this lack of ambition, that I have an inner software that permits me to appreciate, love them for they are: not pretentious. I agree that the bulk of them are lousy, forgettable, but sometimes you may find some true gems, where screenwriters dare to show unusual stuff, ideas, schemes, characters. This is unfortunately not the case for this western. No surprise, but so much charm for western buffs.

A reviewer considered ot a lost opportunity and suggested a remake, as the conflicts amongst the troopers against the background of a common enemy: the ethical conundrum between duty and the emotional call of home loyalties, at a frontier cavalry post, as the US Civil War begins, was fertile ground for a deeper examination.

I agree. A remake could be an allegory of the present deeply and bitterly racially and politically divided US, against the backdrop of circling enemies, China, Russia, Iran, Nth Korea, smelling 'blood in the water' from what they perceive as a declining and wounded power.

In the run-up to Maj Bradner's fateful announcement, we are led to believe that there is a "tension" between Northern and Southern soldiers at this far west outpost. Also, the announcement that we are expecting is not forthcoming. Great movie but left me scratching my head when Maj Bradner said that Fort Sumpter had just been attacked by Confederate forces and that President Lincoln had called for an "intervention." This error is later repeated by Captain Tenslip. What the major and the captain should have said was that Fort Sumner, located in South Carolina, had been attacked. It was this attack that precipitated the Civil War. Fort Sumpter was fired on by the British during the Revolutionary War!

John Dehner gets a rare top billing in this interesting western. He's the commanding officer at the fort, just as Fort Sumter surrenders. The enlisted men, with mixed loyalties are ragging each other on with reprises of "Dixie" and "John Brown's Body", and he faces them down. He tells them they're soldiers of the US Army, and they'll behave that way. Then orders come from Washington to discharge every man of uncertain allegiance, so he resigns, planning to lead he other Southerners to Texas to enlist. He leaves his daughter, Frances helm, with the new, young C.O., Greg Palmer, saying that national loyalties may differ, but love conquers all. Then he heads out into hostile Indian territory.

Lesley Selander directs this one without much fuss. He focuses on the sense of honor and loyalty of the professional soldier instead, and Dehner's aristocratic presence makes this one to watch. Keep an eye out for Harry Dean Stanton, still uncredited in his third movie role.

At the start of the Civil War, the soldiers manning Fort Laramie are split between Yanks and Confederates but the real threat is the warpath Sioux surrounding them all.

Fairly good western with all round performances, especially from John Dehner, who for once isn't a shady character but a conflicted major of a fort. The idea of North and South conflict plus Indians on the warpath is quite fresh, and the action scenes are well done, though I wish the script was sharper, there was a longer running time and a more famous lead hero. Such things would have fulfilled the film's potential.