Aufstand der Apachen

I had the pleasure of seeing every one of the Lyles' westerns on original release here in London, dear old Blighty. I was never much interested in the main attractions of the double feature programmes where AC's cracking little cowboy pictures always took second billing. " Apache Uprising " however, broke the mould and played main feature, with " Beach Ball " in support, at the splendid Paramount Plaza at Piccadilly Circus - although only for two weeks, after which it was relegated to the usual spot for general release. I wrote to dear AC and got a couple of letters back from him, where he told me all about how he was moving away from westerns into dramas and was working on " Rogue's Gallery ". A true gentleman. It must have been a joy working with such an array of talent from yesteryear.

but not by a whole lot. The cast is a bit more vigorous than the usual group of senior citizen actors who populate the typical Lyles western, the action is staged a bit more professionally and the script isn't one of the worst of the series (although it's nothing to write home about, either). Rory Calhoun and John Russell, unlike most of the leading men in this series, seem to have matured rather than "aged," and that fact alone lifts this picture up a notch from the usual run-of-the-mill Lyles extravaganza. It's still nothing special, but it's not as embarrassing as some of the other entries in Lyles' string of geezer oaters.

And I would say unusual western from AC Lyles' stuff that usually take place in towns, between outlaws spreading terror and the good sheriff, with some more or less complex story to "spice" the story. Here it is question of Indian renegades, so the usual settings of Lyle's productions expand a bit, in more outdoor scenes...The most interest remains, as usual in Lyle's prod, the cast, mainly old timers from Hollywood with a bunch of villains absolutely exquisite - De Forest Kelley, Gene Evans and above all a convincing John Russel, the leader. Only John Doucette and Robert Wilke were missing in this villain gallery. But that remains a B vintage western, not a milestone in western history. A vert cruel ending, but for the villain. Some kind of taste as the final minutes if JOHNNY COOL.

A rather mean-spirited A.C.Lyles potboiler shot mostly indoors with plenty of sixties-style violence in which nasty people do nasty things to each other (none nastier than a pre-Star Trek DeForest Kelly, who shoots one guy in cold blood).

As the lady with a past, Corinne Calvert is there to incur the disapproval of a bunch of "miserable old biddies" led by Jean Parker and be fought over rather than wooed.

I've a real affection for the A.C. Lyles westerns which gave employment to a lot of old time players who were finding work increasingly hard to get because of the decline of the studio system and in some cases a refusal to work in television. But Apache Uprising took elements from Stagecoach, Rawhide, Broken Arrow, Coroner Creek, with a little bit of English Gothic thrown in the mix and it didn't come out well.

The English Gothic gets into it when the passengers of a stagecoach get held hostage in a relay station by three outlaws, with thunder and lightning flashing outside together with Apaches on the warpath. It comes right out of innumerable old English murder mysteries.

Funny thing that with all the old stars like Rory Calhoun, Corinne Calvet, John Russell, Lon Chaney, Jr., Johnny Mack Brown, the one you will remember from this film is DeForest Kelley. The original Star Trek was debuting this year and I'm willing to bet this was Kelley's final work prior to becoming wise old Dr. Leonard McCoy. Toby Jack Saunders is as far from McCoy as you can get. He's reminiscent of the outlaw that Kelley played in The Law and Jake Wade. He's one hateful punk with some serious self esteem issues.

I've seen every member of this cast do better work, even better work for A.C. Lyles and it's too bad the film was beneath the talents of all of them.