Dragoon Wells Massacre

Dragoon Wells Massacre(1957) is an engaging effort about two disparate groups of travelers who must band together to fight off savage Indians . As a cavalry officer, Capt. Matt Riordan (Dennis O'Keefe) , the sole survivor of an Indian assault , along with stagecoach passengers (Mona Freeman , Katy Jurado , Max Showalter) and a wagon load of prisoners (Barry Sullivan) travel through hostile Indian country. The column remains under the command of the officer , along with a wagon owned by traitor gunrunner Jonah (Sebastian Cabot) that contains hidden repeating rifles , Winchester rifles , ammunition , supplies and whiskey for the rebellious Indians . As the expedition heading for an Union Fort and along the way suffering rampaging native American attacks commanded by Yellow Claw (John War Eagle) , Jeronimo's follower .

Standard Western set during the Arizona Indian Wars with the rebel upheaval of brave chief Yellow Claw , when fear and violence spread throughout the land . This one shows a campy , amusing and entertaining glimpse in the Wild West . This sharp, well-paced film packs thrills , noisy action , horse pursuits , crossfire , high body-count , and it is fast-moving and quite entertaining . It's a medium/low budget film with passable actors , technicians , functional production values and pleasing results . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some shoot'em up or stunts every few minutes . Bursting with appealing characters, interesting themes as the peculiar relationships among the prisoners and soldiers, romance , sub-plots , and with very decent filmmaking and interpretation . There is an odd implementation of shots in the camera work during some particular scenes as the film approaches its climax , as the battles between the besieged people and Indians . Nice production design creating an adequate scenario with luminous outdoors , plains , montains and rocky landscapes under a glimmer sun and atmospheric sets but in B-series style . Here stands out its top-notch main and support cast with plenty of famous actors such as Barry Sullivan , Dennis O'Keefe , Mona Freeman, Katy Jurado , Sebastian Cabot , Max Showalter , Jack Elam , Trevor Bardette and Hank Worden , John Ford's regular . Schuster's western Dragoon Wells Massacre (1957) , despite its potboiler title, has nice writing, a rousing score by Paul Dunlap and Schuster's tight direction raise this several notches above the product normally churned out by its studio, the usually low-grade Allied Artists. As well colorful cinematography by expert cameraman William H. Clothier , though a perfect remastering being really necessary, due to the film copy is faded.

This well-crafted B western was decently directed by veteran programmer man, Harold D. Schuster . A highly regarded editor, in fact he cut the classic Murnau's Sunrise (1927) , Harold D. Schuster started out in films as an actor. It didn't take him long to abandon that career, and he turned to the production side of the business, working his way up to editor and eventually taking the reins as a director. While much of his directorial output is run-of-the-mill , there are some real gems scattered throughout such as My Friend Flicka (1943) . Although typed as an "outdoors" director, Schuster could turn out tough, gritty little thrillers when he wanted to, such as Loophole (1954), about a bank teller who gets framed for an embezzlement; it ranks right up there with the edgy crime dramas of Don Siegel and Phil Karlson. Schuster made all kinds of genres in films as Wings of the morning , South of Karanga , Breakfast in Hollywood , Security Risk , Loophole , Jack Slade , Girl Trouble , The Postman Didn't Ring , Small Town Deb , On the Sunny Side , A Very Young Lady , Zanzibar , Frame , Bomber's Moon , My Friend Flicka . Schuster eventually turned to series television, and finished out his career there , directing episodes of notorious series such as Twilight zone , Legend of Jesse James, U. S. Marshall , Wire Service, Detective McGraw , Zane Grey , Lassie , Tombstone Territory , among others .

The most striking thing about this movie is just how splendid it looks ,thanks to the wonderful Technicolor photography by William Clothier .His credits also include Cheyenne Autumn and The Alamo(John Wayne version).He makes superb use of the rugged outdoors locations and does not neglect close-ups which also look very fine indeed .

The plot is pretty standard fare in the Western -a trek by wagon train across hostile Indian country .The train is being escorted by Captain Riordan (Dennis O'Keefe).Among its passengers is a US Marshall (Trevor Bardette) ,his prisoner ,a killer (Barry Sullivan) a lady of the night (Katy Jurado)a "nice girl"(Mona Freeman)and sundry others.They are forced to put aside their differences in the face of repeated attacks by hostiles and form a bond wrought by adversity .

The script gives each of the figures on the train a turn in the spotlight and the cast responds well with a string of strong performances well in evidence .Especially noteworthy is Jack Elam in a rare sympathetic role. Veteran action director Harold Schuster keeps things moving and the overall result is a strong ,well made Western that will please most genre lovers

Thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Many twists and turns. Wonderfully acted, written and filmed.

I kept saying "Gol this is a good movie".

Such a nice surprise when some reviews are not favorable.

Great character developments on many actors.

Beautiful scenery too.

Great mixture of recognizable actors. All of them do their best to put forth their stories.

I always enjoy Jack Elam in any movie. He did not disappoint in this movie.

Well worth sitting down with a bowl of popcorn and enjoying the ride.

Nice to hear a line about American Indians not being treated fairly.

Great direction and filming which captures the intriguing surroundings of the southwest.

Dragoon Wells Massacre is a rare gem. I can say rare, because there are only 11 people commenting on it. The good news is it can now be found on YouTube. There are two characters that stand out. Mona Freeman ( Ann) and Sebastian Cabot ( Jonah). I simply hated these characters ( but for different reasons). Ann because she is a miserable woman always complaining, and Jonah because he is a nasty, evil murdering coward who sells guns and whiskey to the Indians. What makes the movie is the scenery, music and suspense. It is really a 10 Little Indians type story where various people are thrown together and it is a question who survives and who gets killed. The most interesting characters are two who are paired off together. Captain Matt Riordan ( Dennis O'Keefe), the only soldier who survived an Indian massacre and Maria Fay ( Katy Jurado) a Mexican woman who you strongly suspect is a prostitute. These two prove the old adage correct. "Opposites Attract." The question remains: Who survives and who dies ( besides Jonah obviously)? That is why you watch: To find out. I would like to rate this movie higher: Very good instead of just good, but I can't because of Mona Freeman she ruins things. 7/10 stars.

As Westerns go, this one is a little different. The plot is nothing new, Captain Matt Riordan has to guide a group of travellers across the plains to Dragoon Wells Camp after they have been attacked by Indians. Not all the members of the party is what they appear to be.

This movie is different in the sense that we appear to have a very standards stereotypical group of traditional Western movie characters. However the script is very different, in a sense trying to break the mould, filling out many of the characters. A lot of them feel very fleshed out giving a richness to the movie that you would not expect. The movie takes chances and personally, I like that, something that has the guts to be different. However, the downside of this means that there are several moments where a couple of the key players are acting extremely out of character. Not enough though, to damage the movie as a whole.

The film does have one major flaw. The Ann Bradley character is simply the most irritating woman ever seen in a film. The audience is meant to care about this character, yet for the first 3/4 of the movie all I wanted was to see an arrow put through her head.

Overall, this is pretty good fare, I would recommend this to anyone with even a passing interest in the genre. - 6/10