La Rivière sanglante

An Audie Murphy western from 1954. A father/son transpo enterprise are hired to bring a shipment of gold to an embattled location where the Ute Indians hold a tenuous truce w/the passersby. Murphy & Western vet Walter Brennan play the business owners & what they don't know is there are outside forces at play hoping that a war will ignite between the white man & the native peoples so that the Ute's land can be properly exploited. Brennan is hurt in an early skirmish so its up to Murphy to smoke the peace pipe, as it were, w/the Indian elder but he carries a deep seated grudge against them since the chief's son caused the death of his mother. Being a film on the cusp of being truly great & memorable, it's a shame some of the individual elements are glossed over (something a more insightful director may've focused on) so that finish line could be crossed at the 90 minute mark. Look for Jay Silverheels (TV's Tonto from the Lone Ranger series of the 50's) in a pivotal role as the chief's son.

Good Nathan Juran's western, one more starring Audie Murphy for Universal Studios, after GUNSMOKE and TUMBLEWEED. Yes, good stuff, not too long, rather action packed, and offering acceptable performances, despite a weak plot, not that surprising story. Full of charm little western from the fifties. And it is always a pleasure to have Lyle Bettger as a villain, as John Doucette or Robert Wilke...I repeat, no surprise but so much effective for a tremendous time spender - not waster. Universal Studios had the secret of cute and original westerns, a special touch that the other companies had not. Not better, but just different.

Crown City is a played-out mining town. Just a few hundred yards away across the river there are vast reserves of gold - but across the river is Indian territory and it takes a brave man - or a stupid one - to risk incurring the wrath of Ouray, Chief of the Ute.

At the start of this fast-paced western, there's a group of guys heading into Ute territory seeking gold, then there's a shootout between the utes and the gold-seekers, a fist fight around the campfire, and a swap goes wrong and there's another shootout - and this is all within around thirty minutes, and the rest of the film is the same, the plot is twisty and fully-charged like a sidewinder, the pace is frenetic, and the action is energetic( Audie gets to show off some Judo moves in some combat scenes), but most important the narrative flows freely.

Audie Murphy is gaining his confidence here, is really good as a guy transitioning from having bitter hate for utes to one who is on their side, Walter Brennan as his father is his usual excellent form, Hugh O'Brien makes an appearance as a gunslinger clad in black and a grin to shame a crocodile's grin, and Lyle Bettger does his usual turn as the slimy villain with a perpetual smirk. Mara Corday is a bad girl hottie and eye candy Lisa Gaye flutters her eyelashes and coos "Gary, Gary" repeatedly throughout the film.

This is one of my favourite Murphy westerns, it's energetic, action-packed, a busy plot and the story is just great. Saw this on BBC2 back in 1989, and I just have fond memories of watching it countless times afterwards.

Among the two dozen or so westerns Audie Murphy made for Universal Pictures from 1950-1966, DRUMS ACROSS THE RIVER (1954) is one of the better ones, featuring a gold miners-vs.-Indians plot with Audie caught firmly in the middle. It's fast-paced, full of action, and features a host of lively character actors, including some great villains.

Audie plays a wagon freighter in a Colorado mining town who is, initially, a witting pawn in a plot by a group of Denver mine bosses to stir up trouble with the local Ute Indians in order to get gold concessions on their land. Audie's dad, Sam (Walter Brennan), is a friend of the Indians and, following a shootout with the Utes in which Sam is wounded, Audie meets with the Ute chief (Morris Ankrum) and his son Taos (Jay Silverheels) and negotiates a temporary peace. Unfortunately, the hired guns working for the mine bosses continue to stir things up and force Audie to aid in a stage robbery by abducting his dad and threatening to kill him. When Audie is charged with murder after the robbery, he has to keep quiet to insure Sam's safety. In the final stretch of the movie, Audie has to break free, save his dad, subdue the bad guys, clear himself and avert a battle between Indians and cavalry. The whole story is told in 78 compact minutes.

Unassuming war hero-turned-western star Murphy was at his best in parts like this, playing an ordinary westerner caught up in a tumultuous situation and having to fight his way out and summon up the moral courage to do the right thing. He always looked best when he faced down truly formidable bad guys and here he faces one of the best western villains of the 1950s. Lyle Bettger, who had one of the most sinister smiles in movie history, specialized in corrupt western capitalists (ranchers, miners, saloon owners, railroad men) who could be utterly smooth and charming one minute and murderously evil the next. Here he's the miners' lead troublemaker and is joined by a great rogues' gallery made up of future TV star Hugh O'Brian as the black-clad Morgan, who also smiles a lot, and a quartet of thugs played by frequent heavies James Anderson, George Wallace, Lane Bradford and former B-western star Bob Steele. In addition, there's Mara Corday as a voluptuous (and very attractive) saloon girl who does some of Bettger's dirty work.

Walter Brennan is very good in a rare turn as an upright authority figure and father. Jay Silverheels plays a sympathetic Indian and leads a band of Utes who appear to be played predominantly by actual Indians rather than the usual painted-up white extras. The Technicolor film was shot partly on the Universal backlot with some fine location work at key California western sites, including one dramatic desert spot representing the Indians' sacred burial ground. This was director Nathan Juran's third film with Murphy.

Drums Across the River concerns freighters Walter Brennan and his son Audie Murphy trying very hard to prevent a full scale Indian war which Lyle Bettger and sidekicks seem bound and determined to start.

There's some rich mineral deposits on Ute land which is separated by a river boundary. Lyle Bettger plays on the greed of the white folks to invade the Ute treaty land so the government will send in troops to move them.

Brennan sees the game for what it is, but it takes Murphy a while to come around. When he does he's the heroic Audie we know in most of his B westerns.

Lots of action and a really nice performance by Jay Silverheels as the young Ute chief. Silverheels was on hiatus from the Lone Ranger and he ought to be remembered for more than just playing Tonto.

There's also a nice performance by Mara Corday who is Bettger's squeeze and does quite a bit more for him than the usual moll.

Despite that the film probably suffered from some poor editing and a script in which the character's motivations in doing certain things are a bit vague.

Nevertheless Drums Across the River has enough action to satisfy any western lover.