Joe Dakota

A mysterious stranger (Mahoney) comes to town asking after the whereabouts of former resident Joe Dakota. Townsfolk are not very obliging, which seems to have something to do with a recently drilled oil well and who owns it.

The movie year 1957 was saturated with westerns. This one tries to be different, and largely succeeds. Notice that no one—not even arch-movie villains Van Cleef or Akins—sports a six- gun. And, unless I missed something, not even a single shot is fired. Add to that an oil well, of all things, plus a woebegone little prairie town that's definitely not a studio set, and you've got a different looking western.

Then too, the first part manages some pretty good low-key humor; at the same time, Mahoney gets an oil bath, courtesy the townsfolk, that leaves him looking like a human inkblot. For a western, however, there's not much action and none of the usual suspense of good-guy vs. bad-guy showdown. And truth be told, the basic plot is borrowed from 1955's mega-hit Bad Day at Black Rock. But the writers have added enough clever twists and turns to keep the viewer entertained. All in all, it's an interesting, if not very intense, little western.

(In passing—I checked to see if the oil well was an anachronism for this time period. It's not. The first well was drilled in Pennsylvania in 1859. Also, note that William Tallman who played the DA on the old Perry Mason series is one of the two screenwriters here.)

I stumbled upon this movie one day on Encore Westerns, our favorite channel and it is very well done! Joe Dakota was well written and played out very nicely. It was sweet and charming along with great character development and extremely witty. Unlike some other classic westerns that are "to cute" and wrap up quickly to a very predictable end, this movie was fluid and swept you right along a smooth ride! A must see for any true classic western lover! Jock Mahoney was great! I will truly look out for more of his work in the future! His role was thought out and kept you thinking and wondering up until that "uh huh!" moment. I can only say I'm disappointed it took me this long to see it!

I saw this Western movie on afternoon TV when I was a child. I remember it as suspenseful, yet sweet and touching. There's the mystery: who is this Stranger who rides into town, what does he want, and what has happened to the old Indian scout named "Joe Dakota"? What are the townspeople hiding? The sweet and touching ending: the Stranger exposes the injustice that has been done, which leads the townspeople into repentance.

Shame Mahony was not a bigger star. He made most of his movies by being a uncredited stunt man which is a waste. The whistle in this is catching but could not find who the Whistler was. Enjoyable movie without a lot of violence or suspense. Turns out the whole town is keeping a secret about the location of the old Indian. Apparently one man was able to fool and fleece the others.

A decent , action-packed Western set in California in which the events crackle with intrigue , fights , and suspense . In the sparsely populated town of Arborville, that seems to be hiding a guilty secret , rides a lone stranger who arrives in the little location . His name is Joe Dakota (Jock Mahoney) and he's looking for an old friend whom he calls The Old Indian and is also called Dakota Joe (Francis McDonald). His attempts to do so will confront him against the entire little town including Cal Moore (Charles McGraw) who claims to have purchased the land , Myrna Weaver (Barbara Lawrence) , Aaron Grant (Claude Akins) , his brother Adam Grant (Lee Van Cleef) , Marcus Vizzin (Anthony Caruso) , Frank Weaver (Paul Birch) , among others .The townsfolk claim the Old Indian had packed up and left town but Joe doubts it . He suffers a strong hostility and hatred by the inhabitants and neighbours. When Joe starts asking questions about his old friend, the men either clam up or state that the old Indian has sold his land and left town. Heading for the old man's farm Joe notices a bunch of men working on a new oil rig dug right on The Old Indian's property . Then Dakota uncovering up a terrible secret and being threatened ; dangerous attempts will be made by the hostile villagers ; as he will be mercilessly chased . Joe decides to stick around and investigate further, despite protests from the townsfolk who want to see him far from town . Joe makes one new friend, Miss Jody Weaver (Luana Patten) , who falls for him , who is willing to shed some light on The Old Indian's fate .WHY did This Town Without a Conscience...Fear This Man Without a Name? What evil did they try to hide from him?The West's most startling story ! In this town without a conscience ... Revenge walked the streets with a stranger !

This interesting movie contains enjoyable performances from all concerned , suspense , tension , thrills , exciting situations and some action . Moving and attractive Western with a simple , standard story with a certain intrigue that engages the viewer until the last scene when there takes place the denouement by a final fighting into an oil well . However , too much conversation and too little action , at times , bogs down this Western , although fights , shootouts and suspense are nice . And at the ending the crude truth everyone has been hiding comes out including the stranger's true identity. This is a suspenseful as well as intriguing film in which Jock Mahoney plays decently a stranger rides into town looking for a local Indian and he suffers threats , intimidation , violence by the nasty neighbours . Not very-known actor Jock Mahoney was an acceptable player who had a passable career . When World War II broke out, he enlisted as a Marine fighter pilot and instructor. In Hollywood, he was a noted stunt man, doubling for Errol Flynn, John Wayne, and Gregory Peck. Gene Autry signed him for the lead in his 78-episode The Range Rider (1951) TV series. He tested to replace Johnny Weissmuller, as Tarzan but lost out to Lex Barker. In 1960, he played the heavy in Gordon Scott's Tarzan the magnificent (1960), and his part there led Sy Weintraub to hire him as Scott's replacement. In his two Tarzan movies, he did all his own stunts. As he played Tarzan goes to India and Tarzan's three challenges Tarzan (1963), he continued working in spite of dysentery, dengue fever and pneumonia. By this time, Weintraub was looking for a younger Tarzan, envisioning a future TV series. By mutual agreement, his contract with Mahoney was dissolved. After a couple of years regaining his strength and weight, Jock returned to making action films .There are excellent acting from some Hollywood's best support players , including prestigious secondaries such as : Charles McGraw , Barbara Lawrence , Claude Akins , Lee Van Cleef , Anthony Caruso , Gregg Barton , Paul Birch and uncredited Francis McDonald as Joe Dakota

It contains colorful cinematography in Universal International Picture style by cameraman George Robinson . And functional and thrilling musical score by uncredited and Universal regular composers : Henry Mancini , Hans J. Salter , Herman Stein . The motion picture was made in low budget and professionally directed by Richard Barlett . He was a good craftsman and Western expertise , directing films as Two-Gun Lady , The Lonesome Trail , The Silver Star , Money, Women and Guns , some of them starred by Jock Mahoney .From late 50s and 60s he went on directing episodes of famous TV series as Laredo , Riverboat , Calibre 44 , Shotgun Slade , Bonanza , Markham , The Tall Man , Cimarron City and Wagon Train . Rating : 6/10 . Well worth watching .