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While leading a wagon-train through Indian territory, "Kirby Randolph" (John Payne) attempts to prevent an attack upon his people by negotiating with the Kiowa chief named "Satank" (George Keymas). What he doesn't know is that Satank has already sent his braves to attack the wagon-train and is essentially stringing Kirby along. Not long afterward Kirby is told that all but a very few people on the wagon-train were murdered. To make matters worse Kirby's reputation is completely destroyed and nobody wants to hire him any more. Fortunately, his luck changes for the better when he comes across a wagon-train in desperate need of a scout. What he doesn't know is that this particular wagon-train is carrying rifles to the Mexican Army and that the Kiowas know about it and want them very badly. Complicating matters even further is an attractive woman named "Aurelie St. Clair" (Faith Domergue) in this wagon-train who the wagon master "Jess Griswold" (Rod Cameron) is in love with and begins to get jealous of Kirby the longer the trip to Santa Fe lasts. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that, although there was an obvious "anti-racism message" in this film, it was still enjoyable for the most part. The sad fact is that the 50's had its share of problems and racial injustice was just beginning to become recognized. Be that as it may, I liked this film overall and rate it as slightly above average.

A scout with a questionable reputation guides a wagon train through hostile Indian country in an okay but predictable western. John Payne and Rod Cameron are the top cast names and their main interest here is a half-breed girl as the train makes its way to Santa Fe. Good support is given by Slim Pickens, Anthony Caruso and Leo Gordon, old hands in the western genre, and Faith Domergue does what she can with a one-dimensional role. The action is decent and a wild horse stampede adds excitement to the film but otherwise there's nothing about the movie that separates it from dozens of others of its type. The picture has beautiful camera work and displays pretty Utah landscapes to good advantage. The film was based on a novel by Clay Fisher who had some of his other works made into excellent westerns.

An unfortunate Indian scout called Kirby (John Payne) and his disgraced partner (Slim Pickens) are excluded by colonists or settlemen , that's why some families were slaughtered by the Indians and neither he nor his colleague Sam Beekman can get jobs . Later on , they are hired to escort a wagonload of guns through Indian territory. Aurelie St. Clair (Faith Domergue) , who owns half of an ammunition shipment for sale in Santa Fe to Mexican insurrectionaries, protests when her pal and lover Jess Griswold (Rod Cameron) hires Kirby and Sam as guides . After that , Kirby and Aurelie fall in love, although Kirby does not realize she is half-Indian . Along the way they have to face off the ruthless Kiowa chief Satank (George Keymas) who instigates a spectacular wild horse stampede . The danger trail that only the daring traveled ! Ablaze with Raging Adventure! afire with Romantic Love! aflame with the Fury of Hate-Crazy Savages!

Run-of-the-mill Republic Picture flick with usual elements, such as noisy action, thrills, crossfire, drama, romance and some spectacular action scenes . Along with a love triangle in which implicates Kirby/Payne and Jess/Cameron who is also in love with Aurelie/Domergue . The plot is plain and simple a wagon train results to be chased and ambushed by the Indians , then the survivors trust on an expert scout despite his ostracism status. A blending of functional main actors with great character players of whom John Payne holds the best role as a brave frontiersman . The hothouse plot drives mercilessly forward with action , thrills , attacks , treason and turns . The tale is strong one and the yarn is wonderfully located against a background of Utah . Well directed by Witney who made a lot of low-budget movies , though he followed to work for cinema and was capable of making large-scale movies as ¨Santa Fe Passage¨ revolving around a wagon train against Indians . Stars John Payne, as a valiant scout and wagon-train guide Kirby Randolph , he delivers a peculiar role as a vengeful explorer who hates all Indians, , whose massacre of an entire wagon-train of settlers led by Kirby to hate really the Indians ; Payne being one of the popular actors of the forties and fifties, today a little forgotten. He starred the classy Miracle in 34th street and performed all kinds of genres as Noir: Slighly scarlet, Kansas City confidential, The vanquished, Adventure: Raiders of seven seas, Crosswinds, Tripoli and Western : Santa Fe passage, Rails into Laramie , Silver lode, Tennessee's partner, The Road to Denver. Payne is well accompanied by a good support cast such as : the always sympathetic Slim Pickens here co-starring , Rod Cameron , the habitual baddie Leo Gordon , Irene Tedrow , George Keymas and Anthony Caruso .

It contains colorful and brilliant cinematography in Trucolor by director of photography Bud Thackery . And thrilling and atmospheric musical scrore by Dale Butts .This classic as well as traditional movie was produced by Herbert J Yates from Republic Pictures and professionally directed by William Witney , containing some vigorous scenes . Witney was a good craftsman who directed 140 titles from the 30s . Oklahoma-born William began his long screen career as a studio messenger in silent days joining Republic Pictures shortly after . By 1936 , he was already script supervisor on serials and his own directorial career started the following year . Witney graduated to director at 21, he was Hollywood's youngest , and he teamed with director John English on many of the period's best serials . He realized many of the era's best serials , most of them highlighted by kinetic fight and chase scenes that helped change the face of action movie-making and from 1956 , he transferred these stirring energies to TV Westerns with prolific and enjoyable results . The favorite shooting was the 1939 serial ¨Zorro's fighting legion¨ . As his pictures were mainly serials , after WWII service with US Marines , he moved on to Roy Rogers Westerns , inserting into them a new tough backbone that offended some Rogers purists . In 1954 he made one of the best films ¨The outcast¨ with John Derek , besides his television work which includes some quite exciting episodes of such series as ¨High Chaparral¨, ¨Bonanza¨, ¨Laramie¨, ¨Zorro¨, ¨The Virginian¨ and ¨Wagon train¨ and ¨The Bonnie Parker story¨about the famous gun-moll , and specially his greatest hit : ¨Master of the world¨ . The motion picture will appeal to Western/adventure buffs ; it's an agreeable popcorn story plenty of breathtaking scenes , thrills , colorful exteriors and many other things . It's a wonderful popcorn story for kids , teens and old people . Rating : Decent Western 6/10

John Payne plays Kirby Randolph, a disgraced Indian scout who along with his trusty side-kick Sam Beekman (Slim Pickens) finally gets hired by Aurelie St. Clair (Faith Domergue) & Jess Griswold (Rod Cameron) to escort a wagon load of guns through Indian territory. With the past hanging over him like a bad smell and the Indians on their trail, the last thing Kirby needs is Aurelie catching his eye. Especially since she's Griswold's girl. This is sure to be one perilous and life changing journey.

There's a lot of common words been used in reviews for this William Witney directed film. Routine, different, exciting, boring & unusual, all of which proves just how divisive cinema can be. Adapted by Lillie Hayward from an Esquire Magazine story written by Heck Allen, Santa Fe Passage is out of Republic Pictures and is shot in the Trucolor process on location at St. George, Utah {Bud Thackery photographs}. Personally speaking I found the film something of a chore to get thru, which in a Western that has a high action quota is some what surprising to me. A lot of it can be put down to the wooden acting from the principals and the rather bland screenplay.

Payne never convinced in Western's, and here he is showed up by the reliable Pickens. In fact ex-convict Leo Gordon who is also in the piece would probably have been a better choice for the lead role of Kirby! Domergue is a picture of doe eyed sexuality, her engaging features benefiting from one of Republic's better color prints, but she struggles with the meandering script and looks bored in love scenes with old stiff Payne. Worst of the bunch tho is Irene Tedrow as squaw Ptewaquin, if you manage not to laugh then you deserve a medal.

The failings in the cast are a shame because Witney manfully does a good job with the action. A horse stampede and two Indian attacks are real entertaining highlights fit to be in some other higher budgeted Western. But then the focus has to revert back to uninteresting characters being given uninteresting portrayals. It's clear what the makers were trying to do. The old Anti-Western/Anti-Racist core to be mixed with action and a potential complex love triangle, looks good on paper. But when you come out of the film only remembering Domergue's green eyes and an unintentional comedy squaw character, well you got problems. A creaky 4/10 from me.

Some rather questionable character motivations make this particular Republic western something of a mixed bag for me. John Payne's dislike of Indians and his distrust of mixed blood people make it a rough road in courting Faith Domergue who is half Indian.

Santa Fe Passage casts John Payne as a frontier scout who lost his last wagon train going to Santa Fe because of some bad judgment he made about the Kiowas and their chief. Now he and sidekick Slim Pickens can't get a job in their profession and have a lot of people ready to shoot them on sight.

That is until Domergue and her partner Rod Cameron hire them over the objections of Leo Gordon their trail boss. They're taking a shipment of rifles to Mexico for sale and of course that perks up interest among the Kiowas.

There was a little too much doublecrossing and all the males of the cast Payne, Cameron, and Gordon are thinking with their male members and truly beyond reason. Even Slim Pickens gives Domergue more than a second glance. The plot made little sense to me, but the action was pretty good.

Once again, Republic Studio brings together a great cast in a superior Western tale. Payne is the discredited scout, Pickens his side-kick, hired to guide a wagon full of guns through hostile Indian territory. As the action unfolds, Payne must overcome the hostiles, gun-runners and his own prejudice to win out. There is a lot of suspense here, and never a dull moment. An excellent watch!

Disgraced Indian scout and his sidekick lead a wagon train carrying freight through Kiowa country to Mexico. John Payne is the scout, Slim Pickens is his sidekick and Rod Cameron and Faith Domergue are the wagon train "bosses". Director William Witney was an expert at making tight, fast-moving westerns, but he had a bad day here. Except for a well-handled wild-horse stampede and a couple of slightly less well-handled Indian attacks, this picture moves like molasses, with performances ranging from enjoyable (Pickens) to stiff (Cameron) to indifferent (Domergue) to awful (Irene Tedrow as a Kiowa "squaw" accompanying Domergue on the train). Payne looks like he'd rather be somewhere else and doesn't connect at all with Domergue, his ostensible love interest. Only Pickens and Leo Gordon as a villainous (what else?) trail boss manage to breathe any life into their characters, and the script holds no surprises for anyone (especially the "twist" ending). An OK time-waster, that's about all.

Why Payne is in any western is the question. Rod Cameron is clearly suited to perform both roles at the same time. The guy that played the indian chief Satang was also totally unbelieveable. I like my westerns with less wimps. This reminds me of several other that were miscast because the producer wanted to star in a western. Willie Nelson comes to mind.

A strikingly photographed but also strikingly ordinary western. Payne leads a cattle drive through 'Injun' territory. Do you reckon they're going to let him through peacefully? It's admittedly never short on action, but such trifle now seems more than a bit outré considering the contemporarily modish spate of 'be nice to Indians' Westerns. Fair to say though, that even though 'Broken Arrow' had set such a trend 5 year back, traditional Western audiences regarded the concept with less-than macromolecular significance. With Faith Domergue being typically insipid (This Island Earth was still one year off), but looking as if she thinks she deserves to be paid like Barbara Stanwyck.

Along with Silver Lode and Rails into Laramie, this is another enjoyable western that keeps one engaged all throughout. A good wagon train story with plenty of good action - such as the horse stampede - and great location. John Payne plays scout who hates Indians due to a previous incident. Things get complicated when he falls for the ravishing Faith Domergue who, unknown to him, is half-injun.