New Mexico

Cavalry-Indian skirmishes highlight this film that somehow has been forgotten and seems to have passed from western movie memory. President Abraham Lincoln's death sets in motion the corrupt practices of a territory commissioner whose abusive policies destroy peace initiatives and the Indians go on the warpath. Lew Ayres, an army captain, leads a cavalry troop to track down his erstwhile friend, a chief who becomes an implacable enemy. The soldiers are plagued by thirst and dissension but find water and a large cache of rifles and ammunition. The fighting between the soldiers and the Indians is intense and quite violent for its time. The cast is good and the color captures the dry, dusty mesas and deserts of New Mexico.

Good concept and execution overall - my DVD (Alpha Home Video) ran 77 minutes in B & W. Color would've made a big difference. Still, the characterizations of the lead characters were good for most, and the general plot execution held together well.

The filming locations around Gallup and Acoma NM echo Monument Valley. The focus on the legendary Acoma Pueblo (aka Sky City) in western New Mexico seemed to be accurate; the mesa-top village (in miniature long shots) was pretty well done as were the cliffside scenes of attack and desperate defense. Unclear how much fighting was actually filmed at Acoma proper, as it is a sacred site.

Normally it was the Acomas defending the mesa and village, rather than trying to assault troops on the mesa from below. *The Spanish had laid siege to Acoma Pueblo as far back as the 16th Century.

A note on the mysterious "Lincoln Canes." These were indeed provided to a number of tribes and pueblos, engraved "1863" and "A. Lincoln." They were a respectful recognition of tribal identity and sovereignty - just do a search for Lincoln Canes. Clearly the film is correctly alluding to an act of great significance to the Native tribes, while taking some license with the actual event. That's Hollywood...

Too many broken promises to the Indians, and prisoners gunned down at the orders of cavalry colonel Walter Greaza. Indian chief Ted de Corsia tells Captain Lew Ayres their friendship ended. After his men kill Greaves, it's up to Ayres to make peace or die trying.

United Artists had done its share of B westerns, of course, but the times were changing, and they were upgrading into the Shaky A western, with a fine cast including Marilyn Maxwell, Andy Devine and Jeff Corey. More, they were handling a real theme here, the theme of revenge and its futility, and doing so rather brutally and cinematically. Unhappily, the print was rather muddy, but director Irving Reis was clearly a man who was scheduled to go places. He had started out directing RKO B movies, but had had a hit with THE BACHELOR AND THE BOBBY-SOXER; the movie after this would be the well regarded THE FOUR-POSTER. Alas, he would die in 1953 at the age of 47.

"New Mexico" is a definite western of the 1950s. Up until the 1950s, most westerns either never mentioned the natives or they were shown as mindless savages. However, in the 50s, filmmakers began showing them more sympathetically...no longer killers, but people.

The film begins with a prologue with President Lincoln visiting the west in 1860 (I am pretty sure this never occurred) and affirming his commitment to the natives. Then the film skips ahead a few years.... Lincoln is dead* and it's back to the same place out west. However, instead of honoring the President's commitments, the new cavalry leader deliberately stirs up the Indians by his insensitive actions. Soon, the natives attack...killing him and leaving Captain Hunt (Lew Ayers) in charge. Hunt is determined to find the Indian leader and come up with some compromise....but as the story progresses it's obvious this is not gonna happen.

This is a decent film but I am sure some will hate the ending, which is very dark and unusual. I didn't mind it, as I must have seen 302,003 other westerns over the years....and at least this made "New Mexico" different. Not a brilliant film....but worth your time....as well as being unusual since you'd never expect Lew Ayers in a western.

*To show that Lincoln was killed, you see a closeup of a firing revolver. While mistakes with guns are common, I was surprised with this one because John Wilkes Booth's weapon was a tiny Derringer....which looks absolutely nothing like a revolver. A bit sloppy...but no major deal.

"New Mexico" is a fair cavalry-versus-Indians movie that could have been better. It has a good cast and provides a couple good moments, but a routine script and a rather stereotyped set of characters keep it from realizing its potential.

Lew Ayres, a fine actor, has the lead role of the cavalry's Captain Hunt, and the rest of a good cast is highlighted by Andy Devine, Raymond Burr, Marilyn Maxwell, and Ted De Corsia. Unfortunately, most of their characters are not given much depth, and they do not have much dialogue to work with either.

The lack of depth of Captain Hunt is the most important, as the other characters are primarily defined in terms of their relationship with him. At the beginning, he seems to be developing as an interesting character. He is present at a meeting between President Lincoln and Chief Acoma (De Corsia), and seems to be sympathetic with the problems that Acoma's people face after Lincoln's untimely death, even defying for a while his insensitive and boorish military superiors. But when the inevitable conflict breaks out, Ayres is just given some stereotyped lines about how the Indians ought not to resort to violence. Likewise, Acoma, as the leader of the uprising, is a thoroughly conventional character, although at least portrayed with some degree of sympathy.

There are some decent action sequences, and a couple of creative touches in the battle scenes, but it is likely that "New Mexico" will be of interest mainly to those who enjoy any and all Westerns.