Ajouter une intrigue dans votre langueWhen the army insists on building a fort on Indian land, in defiance of a treaty, the warnings of a scout go unheeded.When the army insists on building a fort on Indian land, in defiance of a treaty, the warnings of a scout go unheeded.When the army insists on building a fort on Indian land, in defiance of a treaty, the warnings of a scout go unheeded.
- Réalisation
- Scénario
- Casting principal
Noah Beery Jr.
- Tonio Perez
- (as Noah Beery)
Patrick Sexton
- Lt. Bascomb
- (as Patrick Joseph Sexton)
Avis à la une
As rugged Indian scout Adam Reed (Rory Calhoun) rides in the open country of Utah towards a US Cavalry outpost, he is stopped by his close friend, Cheyenne warrior Fire Knife (Lee Van Cleef). Fire Knife gives Reed a yellow tomahawk to give to the outpost commandant, Major Ives whom he and Chief Red Cloud call a "butcher" and hold mainly responsible for the Massacre at Sand Creek. That site is a real historical event (1864) where the US Cavalry killed over 100 Indians, most of whom were women and children. The yellow tomahawk is a warning – more than the Cavalry gave earlier to the Indian – for the soldiers to clear out of the planned future fort or face the consequences. The soldiers will be allowed to depart peacefully.
On his way to the military encampment, Reed spots blonde and nubile Kate Bolden (Peggy Castle) bathing and swimming in a pond. They briefly exchange words; Kate tells him that she's from Boston. At the post, arrogant commander Ives (Warner Anderson) is adamant: he has no intention of leaving, even though the encampment is in Cheyenne territory. No lover of the Indian, Ives believes that the red men are dangerous to civilization. Ives gives women (and children) a choice whether to leave for Ft. Ellis or remain. Orders are given for the men to fortify the position. When preparations are being made, Reed tells Master Sergeant Bandini (Dan Riss) that advance pickets should be placed on the hills, and that not all of the men should be placed behind the barricades. Bandini agrees but explains to Reed that he is resigned to taking orders, whether he agrees or not. The Indians soon attack, and Ives' faulty tactics manifest themselves. When the violence ends there are only nine survivors: the major, a corporal, a private, a Mexican Indian scout Tonio (Reed's friend, Noah Beery Jr.), Tonio's Indian girlfriend Honey Bear (a lovely Rita Moreno), an army engineer/surveyor, a slimy prospector (Peter Graves) who has murdered his two partners for gold, blonde Kate, and Reed.
Now the survivors must make the dangerous trek to Ft. Ellis and safety. Reed wants to keep the major alive at all costs so that he can stand trial (court martial) for provoking an Indian war. Along the way, their numbers will shrink, as will those of the attacking Indians. When Reed and Fire Knife have a parlay, the latter says he will let the dwindling survivors leave peacefully, except for Ives. Reed cannot accept this condition. So the trek continues until the inevitable conclusion.
Director Lesley Selander has directed a nice, very well-paced western. The actors are well-cast, and are given an above average script. Some sympathy is given to the Indians, who are defending their tribal lands from encroachment. There are two twists at the end that involve Major Ives; they will not be revealed here. The western was shot in Technicolor but released to television in black and white.
On his way to the military encampment, Reed spots blonde and nubile Kate Bolden (Peggy Castle) bathing and swimming in a pond. They briefly exchange words; Kate tells him that she's from Boston. At the post, arrogant commander Ives (Warner Anderson) is adamant: he has no intention of leaving, even though the encampment is in Cheyenne territory. No lover of the Indian, Ives believes that the red men are dangerous to civilization. Ives gives women (and children) a choice whether to leave for Ft. Ellis or remain. Orders are given for the men to fortify the position. When preparations are being made, Reed tells Master Sergeant Bandini (Dan Riss) that advance pickets should be placed on the hills, and that not all of the men should be placed behind the barricades. Bandini agrees but explains to Reed that he is resigned to taking orders, whether he agrees or not. The Indians soon attack, and Ives' faulty tactics manifest themselves. When the violence ends there are only nine survivors: the major, a corporal, a private, a Mexican Indian scout Tonio (Reed's friend, Noah Beery Jr.), Tonio's Indian girlfriend Honey Bear (a lovely Rita Moreno), an army engineer/surveyor, a slimy prospector (Peter Graves) who has murdered his two partners for gold, blonde Kate, and Reed.
Now the survivors must make the dangerous trek to Ft. Ellis and safety. Reed wants to keep the major alive at all costs so that he can stand trial (court martial) for provoking an Indian war. Along the way, their numbers will shrink, as will those of the attacking Indians. When Reed and Fire Knife have a parlay, the latter says he will let the dwindling survivors leave peacefully, except for Ives. Reed cannot accept this condition. So the trek continues until the inevitable conclusion.
Director Lesley Selander has directed a nice, very well-paced western. The actors are well-cast, and are given an above average script. Some sympathy is given to the Indians, who are defending their tribal lands from encroachment. There are two twists at the end that involve Major Ives; they will not be revealed here. The western was shot in Technicolor but released to television in black and white.
Although color would have been nice for this western shot on location in Kanab, Utah, The Yellow Tomahawk is no frills, brutal, and bloody western about some survivors of a massacre trying to make it home to safety. The Cheyennes however are only retaliating for the infamous Sand Creek Massacre in which the commanding officer had a big part. The commander is Major Warner Anderson who has some real issues of his own.
Rory Calhoun and Noah Beery, Jr. play a couple of scouts who see the problem, but are helpless with Anderson's intransigence and stupidity. Anderson even after Sand Creek is now building an army fort on Cheyenne land and the Cheyenne don't take kindly to that. They send the army warning signal of The Yellow Tomahawk which is their way of saying clear out. The scenes of the massacre of the cavalry and some civilians including women is not for the squeamish.
Peggie Castle and Rita Moreno play the women paired with Calhoun and Beery. Peter Graves is a shifty gold prospector. But the film belongs to Warner Anderson, this might be his career role. You won't believe why he ordered the Sand Creek massacre, but it's actually curiously relevant to issues coming before the Supreme Court to be rendered as I write this.
Rory Calhoun and Noah Beery, Jr. play a couple of scouts who see the problem, but are helpless with Anderson's intransigence and stupidity. Anderson even after Sand Creek is now building an army fort on Cheyenne land and the Cheyenne don't take kindly to that. They send the army warning signal of The Yellow Tomahawk which is their way of saying clear out. The scenes of the massacre of the cavalry and some civilians including women is not for the squeamish.
Peggie Castle and Rita Moreno play the women paired with Calhoun and Beery. Peter Graves is a shifty gold prospector. But the film belongs to Warner Anderson, this might be his career role. You won't believe why he ordered the Sand Creek massacre, but it's actually curiously relevant to issues coming before the Supreme Court to be rendered as I write this.
An Indian scout warns the settlers around the army post they are in danger from Indians and he is proved right. Twenty-seven year old Castle fills out her tight-fitting shirt and jeans and makes her presence known as she breaks her engagement with an army officer and falls for Calhoun--who, as a scout, rescues her and the commander after the raid. But the rescue is only temporarily as, on their way to the nearest fort, they are attacked again by Indians led by Lee Van Cleef. He and his fellow Indians want the commander for what he did at Sand Creek. It was there, in history, that the Federal army slaughtered Indian women and children without giving them a chance to surrender. Calhoun wants to keep him alive and take him to the fort for court-martial so to help stop future slaughter of Indians.
It's a typical 50's Western but one of the good ones--perhaps because of Rory Calhoun (who was always good) or Peggy Castle who made cowboys glad they were men. Or both!
It's a typical 50's Western but one of the good ones--perhaps because of Rory Calhoun (who was always good) or Peggy Castle who made cowboys glad they were men. Or both!
This western belongs to the second part of career for Lesley Selander, his best part, unlike his cheap one, during the forties. Here, with more budget, he is of course more comfortable, and without being under the lack of freedom, which is usually the bad side of a bigger budget. Producers generally remove any wish for something new, or unusual, when some directors dare something daring. Exectuves only seek the gross, and in that purpose, the key is to propose to audiences what they seek for, what they search for, and certainly not something unexpected. Such a shame. Here, with this film, and others that he made more or less in the same period, Lesley Selander makes me think of a total freedom, concerning camera angles, characters study, and above all the Indian attack over the cavalry base camp, so violent, so brutal, with shocking scenes of women slaughtered with tomahawk. Yes, this is a very effective, excellent western from a specialist. An overall atmosphere and spirit that you can't forget, especially from a grade B movie, and not a Z.
The Yellow Tomahawk is a typical western from the 1950s. Perhaps it was forgotten because of the time it was released. It was 1954 and everyone was running after widescreen and colour films. This film, on the other hand, is in narrowscreen and was shot in black and white. But it has a solid cast. Rory Calhoun is the protagonist, a man who, like the western genre itself, went from film to television and always offered good portraits of those tough men who conquered the west. At his side, we have a treat for the male eye in the beautiful Peggy Castle, who loves to take baths in streams despite the threat of an imminent Indian attack. Joking aside, she is a pretty woman with a strong character who deserved better luck in her professional career. We also have Lee Van Cleef, a classic villain in both Hollywood and spaghetti westerns. Here, with a little makeup, he is the Indian who sends the soldiers the yellow tomahawk, as a warning that they are not welcome because he has to take revenge on the soldier who commands the camp, played perfectly by Warner Anderson, since he was the culprit of one of those indiscriminate massacres where the frenzy of the lowest human instincts does not respect women, children, or the elderly. Perhaps the best thing about this plot is the fatalism of the situation. There is no solution. The conflict cannot be avoided. The Indian only understands the Law of Talion, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. In a supporting role is Peter Graves. In his case he is dominated by gold fever and sells his soul for those nuggets of golden metal, therefore he is not the hero we so admire in Mission Impossible. Also, as an unlikely interracial couple, but one that is consolidated by actions rather than words, were Noah Beery, with a very long acting career in film and TV, and the young Rita Moreno, who years later would burn up the screen in The West Side Story (1962).
In short, an entertaining western, with a tough conflict between soldiers and Indians and with very well-known figures that I like to see again.
In short, an entertaining western, with a tough conflict between soldiers and Indians and with very well-known figures that I like to see again.
Le saviez-vous
- AnecdotesThe familiar "whistling" theme from Lassie (1954) can be heard throughout the film. It was composed by Les Baxter, who also composed the soundtrack for this film, where the theme was first heard, played by an orchestra. In 1958, the theme was first used as the whistling theme from Lassie, with Muzzy Marcellino performing the whistling.
- GaffesWhen an officer fires a warning shot into the air to alarm the army camp that Cheyenne are attacking, the Cheyenne commence firing their own guns, which would alarm the camp, yet the officer continues to fire additional warning shots into the air, instead of firing at the attackers.
- ConnexionsFeatured in Frances Farmer Presents: The Yellow Tomahawk (1958)
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- How long is The Yellow Tomahawk?Alimenté par Alexa
Détails
- Date de sortie
- Pays d’origine
- Langue
- Aussi connu sous le nom de
- El hacha sangrienta
- Lieux de tournage
- Sociétés de production
- Voir plus de crédits d'entreprise sur IMDbPro
- Durée
- 1h 22min(82 min)
- Couleur
- Rapport de forme
- 1.85 : 1
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