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OK, up front, I'm a huge westerns fan & I've always loved Clint Walker. A lot of these reviews have focused on a comparison with John Wayne's "Hondo". Well, when "Hondo" was made, Wayne had been starring in films for almost 20yrs, so please - guys - cut Clint some slack, OK? He had been plucked from an everyday life only 3yrs before, with no previous acting experience, & this was his first starring role in films, in the lead no less. I think he carried it off pretty well. It's full of good action sequences, the scenes with Clint & child actor Richard Eyer are sweet & the tension between Clint & Brian Keith is pretty cool. The budding "romance" between Clint & Virginia Mayo doesn't come off so well, but I remember reading elsewhere that she wasn't too happy about being cast opposite a TV actor & that there was some resulting tension on the set. All in all, I found this to be a pretty good entry in the western pantheon; well worth watching. As usual, tho, it's too bad Warner skimped & didn't film in color. What a waste of gorgeous scenery, both landscape & their leading man!

From the moment that kids of the 1950s got a look at Clint Walker on the opening episode of Cheyenne (fall, 1955), we knew that he would be the John Wayne of our generation, just as a year earlier Fess Parker as Davy Crockett became our combination of Jimmy Stewart and Gregory Peck. So why didn't filmmakers make use of their potential? At first, Warner Bros. didn't want Walker to do movies at all, perhaps thinking it would take away from the high ratings of his show. That was of course ridiculous. He threatened to walk out and they belatedly gave him the lead in this B+ black and white actioner. He's the strong silent type (what else?) who comes across a gorgeous woman (Virginia Mayo) and her little boy (Richard Eyer) on the prairie - after the success of Shane, every western had to have an adoring little boy! Eyer was a fabulous child actor, and there's a terrific performance by Brian Keith as the sort of friendly-enemy that Dan Duryea played in so many of the Audie Murphy oaters. The cast makes this routine western seem a cut above the average, and I can't remember any other cowboy getting off more shots per second with his Winchester (other than Chuck Connors on the Rifleman series, of course) than Keith does here. One bit you'll get a kick out of - at the end, Walker and company get to the title fort and are attacked by Indians. When they ride up, there is no water in sight. Anywhere! But when the Indians attack, they have to cross a large river. Wha? Here's the reason - the Indian attack footage is lifted from a 1954 big budget western called The Charge at Feather River. (guy 'wild bill hickock' madison was the star). And if Walker fans had a sense of deja vu, even in 1958, there was a good reason for that too: An early Cheyenne episode, titled "West of the River," was a remake of "The Charge at Feather River" with Walker substituted for Madison, and all the large scale action scenes taken from that film.

Fugitive Gar Davis (Walker) flees from posse across hostile Comanche territory with woman and small boy (Mayo & Eyer), and encounters old foe, the gun-running Clett (Keith).

Fine eyeful of parched southwestern scenery—I counted only one interior (the "hospital" scene) for the entire movie. Sure, Big Clint (not Eastwood) has only one "Yes, ma'm, No, ma'm" demeanor for every scene, but that's okay, even if he didn't get to be the next Gary Cooper.

Putting old-pro Gordon Douglas in charge was a shrewd move. Note the stages the awakening Mayo goes through in discovering that, yes, Walker has stripped off her wet clothes. Note too how Douglas gets that infernal glint in Mayo's eyes when she first suspects Clint of murdering her husband—it's almost scary. I also like the way the Indians are credited with some military sense when overturning the wagons to make shooters' barricades. Most important, Douglas knows how to integrate the picturesque terrain into the storyline—catch that great framing of the Walker-Keith shoot-out.

Fortunately, Warners got Burt Kennedy to do the script— and on the eve of his outstanding work with the Boetticher-Scott ,(Ranown), cycle of Westerns. I suspect Bryan Keith's charming villain was Kennedy's inspiration since likable baddies was a standard Ranown feature. Yes indeed, Keith steals the show with his easy-going charm—a real contrast to the uptight Walker. At this early stage, Keith was an interesting actor, best at squinty-eyed cowpokes as Sam Peckinpah knew when casting him as lead in Peckinpah's brilliant but short-lived TV series The Westerner (1960).

The movie itself may have been a hurry-up job—probably that's why there's no Technicolor despite the great scenery, and probably why we get a recycled plot line from Hondo (1953). I guess the hurry-up was to take advantage of Walker's TV popularity. Still, the movie's a very watchable action-filled adventure. What's more, I don't care if the luscious Mayo was pushing 40, she could put her saddle on my horse any day.

Fort Dobbs is directed by Gordon Douglas and written by George W. George and Burt Kennedy. It stars Clint Walker, Virginia Mayo, Brian Keith, Richard Eyer, Russ Conway and Michael Dante. Music is by Max Steiner and cinematography by William H. Clothier.

After his appealing run in the TV series Cheyenne, it was inevitable that Clint Walker would make the transition to big screen fare. Here for his first feature length outing, we get the marker for his career that would follow. Never blessed with great acting talent, Walker was however a mighty presence, and handsome to boot, and he is the prime reason why Fort Dobbs is a better than average experience.

Plot basically has Walker as Gar Davis, a fugitive of justice who hooks up for a travelogue with Celia Grey (Mayo) and her son Chad (Eyer). Along the way there is Comanche peril, shifty companionship in the form of Clett (Keith) and a cunning twist that strains the relationship between Gar and the Greys. The wonderful Henry Repeater Rifle comes into play, very much so, and it provides some kinetic excitement, and it all builds to a rousing finale of explosions and stunts, while of course redemption and the truths will out. Clothier and Steiner further cement their reputations as skilled craftsmen, with the former beautifully realising the Kanab locations in black and white, and Douglas knows his way around a good honest Oater. 7/10

After being accused of shooting a man Gar Davis leaves the town of Largo with a posse in hot pursuit . His problems intensify when he comes across the body of a man which means the Comanche tribe are on the war path and with a return to Largo not an option he has to trek through hostile territory on foot . He spots a homestead and tries to steal a horse

As someone who is not a fan of the Western genre I only watched FORT DOBBS because there was nothing else on but found myself enjoying the movie much more than I could possibly have expected . One reason for this is because it resembles the type of story that would attract a director like Walter Hill who made a career out of reworking Anabasis by the ancient Greek writer Xenophon which involves protagonists trying to reach sanctuary through hostile territory and this film makes the best of the scenario and just when the protagonists think safety is in sight another obstacle appears

Perhaps even stranger as someone who isn't keen on Westerns I did notice the genre conventions which could be interpreted as clichés were are the fore such as a man's got to do what a man's got to do , men in white hats against men in black hats and the Injuns are portrayed as violent savages . We even have a kid in the mix but none of this harms the movie probably because it's an involving and exciting tale . One flaw to it is that it's filmed in black and white and one thinks if you're to set a film in a vast landscape which is to all intents and purposes a co-star then the film would have worked even better if it was shot in colour

This western follows a familiar genre theme of a loner who comes to the aid of a woman and her son and guides them to safety through Indian country. The plot is spare with a twist of mistaken identity thrown in as an innocent man on the run scrambles to escape a hanging posse hot on his trail. Clint Walker is the reformed gunfighter whose reputation places him on the sheriff's wanted poster as fate takes him to a woman's ranch in the midst of an Indian uprising. Virginia Mayo is the widow and reluctant trail companion of Walker along with her son as they make their way to Fort Dobbs. Brian Keith steals the film as an unsavory gun runner whose rifles play a large part in the Indian attack on the fort. The film is not a polished feature but is a straightforward, no-frills drama and is worth watching.

In the late 1950's, Warner Brothers was the studio responsible for more westerns on television than any other production company in town (the town being Hollywood, of course!) They made stars out Clint Walker, Ty Hardin, James Garner, Jack Kelly and a host of others who appeared in their half hour and then one hour western dramas, which later became parodies of themselves, as the long running Maverick will prove.

Here, they rework the "Hondo" plot (lone gunman rescues a woman and her son after finding her husband dead) and spend two thirds of the movie getting themselves to Fort Dobbs. I'll stop there, because actually, under the considered hand of director Gordon Douglas, this is actually an okay film. Walker gives a very quiet performance but it's his character, so you buy it. Virginia Mayo and Richard Eyer give better performances, one scene with the kid especially cool-- and the standard cowboys vs. Indians plot is made a bit more edgy by the presence of Brian Keith as the bad guy. He doesn't show up until the 30 minute mark, but he steals the show and has a great time playing the bad guy.

The final scene is laughable ( not in a good way, sorry to say) but prior to that, the action is okay, inter cut with some out takes from "The Searchers", which don't match the Fort Dobbs footage at all.

Contains all the usual Warner Brothers sound effects, gun shots and bodies hitting the ground you've heard hundreds of times. Also, the music was by Max Steiner, which notched it up to a 7 for me.

If you get a chance, give it a look. VERY LITTLE studio work, a whole lot out OUT DOOR SHOOTING, another high point.

Pretty good saddle-burner with Clint Walker as Gar Davis, a man on the run for the murder of one of the local townsfolk. With a posse on his tail Davis uses some trickery to shake the posse but finds himself on foot in Comanche Country. Desperate for a horse he crosses paths with a mother and her young son (Virginia Mayo, Richard Eyer) when he is caught trying to steal one of their horses. Unable to go back to town because of the murder he agrees to take them to the safety of Fort Dobbs. To get there Davis must avoid a Comanche War Party and deal with a former acquaintance (Brian Keith) a fellow of dubious character.

After three years of the Cheyenne television series Walker got his first shot at a leading role on the big screen. This is the first of three Warner Brothers films that teams Walker with director Gordon Douglas. Walker known more his for screen presence than his thespian skills does a more than an adequate job in the role. The script by Burt Kennedy is a tailor fit for Walker. The dialogue is kept compact and lets the action carry the story. We find Walker alternately eluding a posse, crossing hostile tribal lands and looking back over his shoulder to ward off an old nemesis, all the while trying to help a mother, who is already distrustful of Walker, and her son reach Fort Dobbs. Talk about an exhausting day..

For a modestly produced western programmer the Fort Dobbs story line has quite a bit going on. That can often result in plot holes and sub plots that seem to go nowhere. Fortunately no such problem here as it all ties up quite nicely and even provides a twist or two in the end. Good action western.

A wanted man saves a widow and her son from an Apache attack and leads them to the safety of a cavalry fort, but the mother soon suspects their rescuer may be responsible for her husband's recent death.

Fort Dobbs is a formula western lifted by the excellent direction of the underrated Gordon Douglas, who had directed some really good westerns and was an expert in executing well-staged action sequences, Virginia Mayo, the rugged terrain, the exciting action sequences and, of course, by its lead star, Clint Walker, who in Gary Cooper fashion, is a man of few words- strong and silent, and for me, he is the quintessential western star. Loved Cheyenne Bodie TV series, and he weaved his towering presence in this feature film. Pity he didn't make a slew of consistent run of westerns like Randolph Scott and Audie Murphy did. He fitted the genre like a glove.

Fort Dobbs is a vigorous western with familiar themes and elements that western diehards would be used to, but it's done with an infusion of skill, grit and excellent performances- and the stark black and white photography lends to the action and suspense played out in the rugged terrain. A solid western starring Clint Walker but the best was yet to come in Yellowstone Kelly.

Clint Walker received his initial starring vehicle with this reasonably engaging B Western from Warner Bros. Often compared to "Hondo" with The Duke, its story (by Burt Kennedy and George W. George) is entertaining in its own right, if not exemplary. Basically, a man on the run named Gar Davis (Mr. Walker) rescues a farm woman, Celia Gray (the gorgeous Virginia Mayo), and her young son Chad (Richard Eyer) from a Comanche attack, and accompanies them to the not-too-far-away Fort Dobbs, which they believe will be a safe haven. Along the way, they meet Clett (Brian Keith), an old associate of Gars' who sells repeating rifles to the highest bidder.

"Fort Dobbs" serves up action, suspense, beautiful scenery, and human drama with a fair amount of panache. It helps that the versatile director Gordon Douglas ("Them!") is in the directors' chair; Douglas dabbled in a number of genres during his career, and typically did a solid job no matter what. Most notable is the opening 10 minutes or so, which don't have much in the way of dialogue. Tension mounts between the jut-jawed hero and his leading lady since circumstances (erroneously) lead her to believe that Gar shot her husband in the back. It's really Keith that gives the story a little shot in the arm as soon as he turns up. He has the most colourful role in the picture as a lusty, no-good type who tends to look out for number one.

The hunky Walker is a stoic type with a quiet manner of speaking, but it serves his character. Child actor Eyer does a good job without getting overly "cutesy" as some acting kids tend to do. Mayo is okay as Celia, but supposedly wasn't happy at having to work with an actor like Walker who had started in TV; it can't help but affect her performance. Giving a solid supporting portrayal is Canadian-born character actor Russ Conway as the Sheriff.

One major asset is a majestic soundtrack composed by Max Steiner; it helps this perfectly agreeable Western pass the time quite well.

Seven out of 10.

Gordon Douglas achieved fame thanks - to some extent - to the Oliver and Hardy films that he directed, but he does equally adroitly in a serious-minded B Western like FORT DOBBS.

To that end, he extracts credible performances from Clint Walker, Virginia Mayo and Brian Keith and he is ably assisted by the sharp dialogue and script by George W George, and William Clothier's polished B&W cinematography. Last but by no means least, fitting editing by Clarence Kolster.

Clint Walker, one of Hollywood's tallest actors, adds a steady calm and steely resolve to the character of Gar Davis, sought by Largo Sheriff Russ Conway and his posse for a crime he did not commit, thereby precipitating a turn of events that is riveting to the final scene.

My sole gripe: Davis purportedly leaves massacred Fort Dobbs to get soldiers from the closest garrison, instead he comes across Keith and returns with new repeat Henry rifles, which make all the difference as the Indians are knocked back. Why does sheriff Conway not query the absence of troops he was supposed to have fetched, returning instead with rifles, whose origin should be questioned, too, as Davis could well have been selling them to Indians. Instead... happy ending.

Still, all told this is a very good B Western. 7/10.

A fairly standard western tale is uplifted by the calm, towering presence of Walker. He plays a man on the run from a posse who throws them off his trail and winds up at the ranch of a woman and her son who are waiting for her husband to return. They hardly have time to exchange hellos when a Comanche war party shows up outside. It is now Walker's duty to get the woman (Mayo) and her boy to the title fort despite the fact that she blames him for her husband's failure to return and he risks arrest once he gets there. There are a couple of minor twists and turns in the story to hold interest (along with a lot of now-cliched dialogue....occasionally one can put words in the characters' mouths and like clockwork, out if comes!) Keith shows up in a stock role of friend/foe, but adds a spark of creativity to it through some effective character work. Mayo doesn't get a lot to do besides scowl and get into trouble, but does have one amusing moment when she realizes that Walker has seen her naked. Walker is his usual gorgeous self. His soothing, dulcet voice and his monumental frame add much to the film. He plays a sort of mysterious "yep/nope" character along the lines of something Gary Cooper would have done. He's believed to be a killer, but the audience knows that there's more to the story. His willingness to allow himself to be hunted and disdained is in order to protect the honor, even if undeserved, of others. Walker, a true western star, appears to have done most (if not all) of his own riding and stunts. Also, after one particularly wet scene, he is seen shirtless polishing his rifle....quite a visual treat. Anyone should have felt safe in his care. Indians in the film are nothing but savage, faceless plot devices with no discernible reason given for their behavior. This is pretty typical for the time this film was made. The film is nothing amazing, but is pleasantly brief, has some nice scenery, a Max Steiner score and has its share of action and drama to make it watchable.

Clint Walker and Virginia Mayo star in Fort Dobbs, a Warner Brothers western that bears more than a passing resemblance to John Wayne's classic Hondo. At the time Walker was starring in the Warner Brothers TV western Cheyenne and Mayo was serving out her contract with the studio.

It's a wanted man that Walker is for killing someone who had been trifling with his woman and fleeing his town of Largo he comes upon Mayo and her son Richard Eyer on their ranch. But they all have to flee there as the Comanches are on the warpath.

Fort Dobbs is a clean and unpretentious western. Walker had he been born 10 to 20 years earlier would have been a western star in the tradition of Gary Cooper. He certainly fills the screen in Fort Dobbs like Cooper at 6'6" Walker didn't look up to too many people. Far from the glamor parts she did for Sam Goldwyn, Virginia Mayo does well as the frontier wife caught in a real bad situation.

Brian Keith is here also as a shady gunrunner who's not got any scruples about whom he sells his wares to. No matter what he does as hero or villain Keith is always interesting to watch on the screen.

It's a rather overused plot that Fort Dobbs employs, still it's served up very well with few trimmings.

Clint Walker should be a better reputation on western pictures, a tall man, strong and would be a great star, something alike Clint Eastwood, somehow it didn't happens, why I really don't have the answer, Fort Dobbs he finally got a leading role with the beauty Virginia Mayo and promising child actor Richard Eyer, the movie is about a man called Gar (Walker) who kill a man, running through the desert he meets a Comanche's riot, he found a man killed by the Indians, trade is cloths with the dead man to deceived the Sheriff's Posse, who pursuit him, the chase is ended after they saw his supposed dead body in a deep gulch, meanwhile Gar tries steal a horse in a ranch nearby, the boy shot him, the farm woman (Mayo) and his son take cares him, just wound in the head, the Comanches attacks the ranch, they are pressed runaway, but the woman suspect that Gar killed his husband, ingenious formulaic plot where the hate will slowly becomes in perfect chemistry over the couple, pleasant to watch, with a enjoyable narrative structure, fine picture where Virginia Mayo had unspoiled his enchants!!!

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First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.5

"Fort Dobbs" is a leisurely paced movie - perhaps too leisurely. Long periods of time pass without a lot of dialogue. Instead the film seems to depend on atmosphere and gorgeous black-and-white desert camera-work to keep us entertained. Clint Walker made a few noteworthy and very interesting Westerns, but he seems to be underutilized in this one. His character is very one-dimensional, and very terse, even though he dominates the screen throughout the film. Both Walker's character and "Fort Dobbs" in general feel like a lot of unrealized potential.

Even the Indians are monolithic. This was 1958, but it still feels like Stagecoach and 1941 - the Indians are good for nothing more than rifle fodder. The potential relationship between Virginia Mayo, who plays the strong-willed widow very well, and Walker, also remains just that - potential. Speaking of Virginia Mayo, she has one particular moment that allows her to go outside the box: after being rescued from drowning by Walker, she wakens to find herself naked under a blanket. The camera allows her a good portion of a minute to register the fact of her nakedness, to see Clint Walker with his bare chest cleaning his rifle near by, to see her clothes on a clothesline not of her own making, and finally, putting 2 and 2 and 2 together, recognizing that Walker, after rescuing her, must have stripped her, and - well, the horror and embarrassment are clearly distressing, and quite funny. A nice moment for Ms. Mayo.

Perhaps the most interesting character is "Clett", played by Brian Keith. Clett is a drifter, like Walker's character, and they have clearly crossed paths a number of times in the past. Keith's character is curiously not completely unsympathetic. He wants to put the past disagreements between him and Walker behind them, and work together, but Walker will have none of it. He even appears at the last moment at one point to save Walker from a Comanche attack. You know right from the beginning, however, that Walker will prevail if the seams between them come apart. There is enough ambiguity in Keith's genial character, though, to make him worth thinking about.

Russ Conway has a larger role than you would expect, playing the very grim sheriff of the town of Largo. He is an appealing character. The same cannot be said of the child actor, Richard Eyer, playing Mayo's young son. Not the worst child actor ever, but I could have done without him. Interestingly, the child is the only character to bring out the taciturn Clint Walker's gentle side. The film would have been better if Clint had been allowed to show more emotion.

In sum, then, not a bad Western, though not Walker's best. And a curious thought - did the name of the town, "Largo", inspire the other Clint (Eastwood, of course) to name his town "Lago", in High Plains Drifter?

I do not enjoy rating anything with a number.It somehow,cheapens what one has to say about something so close to the heart as a film that moves a grown man to actually stop and write about his feelings.

Fort Dobbs is "an experience."The film must be seen in quiet surroundings,meaning no distractions.

You can read a summation anywhere,but like anything of quality, this movie,owned by TBS,is impossible to find.

Clint Walker Is the story and Brian Keith/Virginia Mayo are along for the ride.Moab,Utah provides the backdrop and only THE TALL T comes close.

I do not know why Clint Walker was not a megastar,but perhaps politics was the reason.

Ken Curtis,a fine Western Actor married John Ford's daughter,I believe?

I think Clint Walker (or his agent) had thoughts of being the next John Wayne. This movie is very similar to "Hondo" 1953 which starred John Wayne. Stranger with a past shows up at a farmhouse occupied by a woman and her son, but the husband is missing. Stranger is attracted to woman and becomes a surrogate dad for the son.

The writing in this movie is not as good as in "Hondo", which had moments of pure poetry.

There's no romance between Walker and Mayo; Walker doesn't even try. Why, I don't know. Virginia Mayo is a beautiful woman though older than Walker. Walker does take his shirt off, which was probably required in his contract for every movie he ever made. Maybe she should have made a play for him. Other reviewers have said that it might have been unseemly for Walker & Mayo to have a romance, but Wayne got right down to business in "Hondo". He told that woman how she smelled and how he could find her in the dark. And that was before her husband died. Wayne didn't even have to take his shirt off.

Ironically, the charismatic bad guy played by Brian Keith, makes a very frank play for Mayo.

Finally, the Indians here are not given the depth of characterization they had in "Hondo". They're more like very bad weather.

The boy, is well played by Richard Eyer. Unlike most child actors, he's not annoying.

This could have been a much better movie. I've seen all the actors do better in other movies, and the director Gordon Douglas, though not a great director, has done better movies. Perhaps if Walker's part had been written with less politeness and more menace, it would have been a more interesting movie.

"Fort Dobbs" is not an entirely original film, but, frankly, there really aren't that many stories you'll see in most westerns. The story here is very similar to John Wayne's film, "Hondo"....and that's good because it's one of Wayne's best.

When the story begins, Gar Davis (Clint Walker) comes to town. When the sheriff confronts him, Gar's comment is short and to the point...he's there to kill a man! Well, you assume he must have because in the next scene a posse is chasing him across the desert. Along the way, Gar finds a man who was recently killed by Comanche Indians. He trades jackets with the dead man and tosses the body off a small cliff. Later, the posse sees the body and assumes Gar was killed and they head back to town.

Soon after this, Gar comes upon a homestead...with a woman (Virginia Mayo) and her little boy (played by the excellent child actor, Richard Eyer). Soon, the Comanche attack them...and they just manage to escape. Now they could head into town...or go to Fort Dobbs. Not suprisingly, Gar tells them they are going to Dobbs...as he could get hung if he heads back to town. So did Gar kill a man? Did the guy deserve it? And what about the 'friend' (Brian Keith) they meet up with along the way?

There is little about this film to dislike apart from the fact that American Indian tribes only rarely attacked settlers (though the Comanche were more likely to do so than most other tribes). Solid acting, action and a nice script all work together to make it a dandy film.

This isn't a "terrible movie", but it's a very mundane Western. The hugest problem is the contrivance of characters. Clint Walker is the essential hero, but not just that, he's pretty much Superman. Of course his physique does give this impression to begin with, but it loses the male audience with the "demi god" nature. Brian Keith plays a bit better role as a more convincing bad guy. He's got a few more dimensions than the hero, but not much. He's still more a "one dimension and a half bad guy", though not as corny as modern movie bad guys. There just isn't much going for this movie. It's simply mundane. We don't hate the characters, but we really don't care one way or the other. Kind of a waste.