L'or des Cheyennes

More sensitive to the feelings of the Indian people than other films of the time, the watchable B Western "Ride Out for Revenge" has some good performances and a decent story to recommend it, even if it's heavy handed in pushing its message home and ultimately forgettable. It does take the viewer out of the movie to see obviously white people playing Indian characters, but then Hollywood still wasn't ready in 1957 to be truly politically correct.

The stolid Rory Calhoun plays Tate, a marshal from the small town of Sand Creek who's sympathetic towards the local Cheyenne tribe. Of course, helping him to form that opinion is his love for Pretty Willow (Joanne Gilbert), the daughter of the tribes' chief Yellow Wolf (Frank DeKova). When the chief is cold bloodedly murdered by a gunman, it angers the chiefs' son Little Wolf (Vince Edwards) who leads his people in a raid. Even after suffering a personal loss during the raid, Tate finds that taking care of business is still a tough proposition.

Calhoun is fine, Edwards amusing even in light of his miscasting, and Gloria Grahame makes the most of her not terribly important role. But the movie really belongs to a wonderful Lloyd Bridges, who's perfectly slimy as a racist, greedy, cowardly Cavalry officer. It's Bridges who keeps things interesting for the duration; surely a member of the Cavalry had never been portrayed in this negative a light before. Otherwise, nothing about this is anything special - not the direction (by Bernard Girard) nor the script (by producer Norman Retchin, based on a novel by Burt Arthur), although the music (by Leith Stevens) and cinematography (by Floyd Crosby) are nice.

Overall, not a bad way to spend 78 minutes.

Six out of 10.

Ride Out for Revenge is directed by Bernard Girard and written by Norman Retchin. It stars Rory Calhoun, Gloria Grahame, Lloyd Bridges, Joanne Gilbert, Frank DeKova and Vince Edwards. Music is by Leith Stevens and cinematography by Floyd Crosby.

A black and white Civil Rights Oater, Ride Out for Revenge has good intentions and no little amount of dramatic worth. Not everything works, as it's certainly portrayed in simplistic terms, but the anti-racist core of the story is worthy of viewing investment.

We are in the town of Sand Creek and the inhabitants are all bitter victims to the Indian Wars. One man stands alone in Sand Creek, Tate (Calhoun), a one time superlative Indian Fighter who now finds himself in love with a Cheyenne woman and firmly of the liberal mind that war has no favourite side: Misery is equal regardless of race, creed and colour. But can Tate avert an impending massacre that is brewing because of bile strewn hatred? Sand Creek is the base for Capt. George (Bridges), a cowardly drunkard who just wants the Cheyenne out of the Black Hills and down to some army governed reservation. But when cold blooded murder rears its ugly head, and tragedy strikes on both sides of the fence, Sand Creek approaches its day of reckoning.

The Wages of Sin, eh Captain?

There's no great production value on offer but the film still looks splendid thanks to Crosby's (High Noon) photography. Thematically it's a formula that even by 1957 was hardly original, but the under valued Calhoun oozes enough stoic machismo and emotional conflict to really engage those interested in the Civil Rights side of this period in history. Though the fact that he is lusted after by the twin beauties that are Gloria Grahame and Joanne Gilbert marks him out as one lucky dude!

Maybe you's like to know what a savage girl does when her savage father's murdered? She cries. She cries just as hard as you did when John was killed.

Is it preachy? No, it isn't. It's a viable narrative doing the best it can on a "B" budget. It should be noted that it very much beats the drum for both sides, it makes sure we know that all parties are scarred by the horrors of this distasteful war. OK! So it wont give the superior Devil's Doorway a run for its money, or even be fit enough to tie the boots of Broken Arrow, but it shouldn't be readily dismissed as weak "B" movie fodder. Besides, it has enough character interest and an extended knife fight by the river to make it at the very least a time waster for the Western faithful. 6.5/10

The story plays off of the hatred of Native Americans, and although there is a thread of support for equality and fairness, there's enough race-baiting stereotypes here to satisfy all spectrum of viewers. Gloria Grahame delivers a mannered, poor performance as a spurned love interest. The material is weak; her character goes from hating Indians (they killed her husband) to delivering a sanctimonious speech about hatred toward the end. Lloyd Bridges is over the top, easy to loathe. His character is a weasel. We get to see Vince Edwards, the future Dr. Ben Casey, as an indian. The best performance here is from Rory Calhoun, whose character has a strong moral compass; his performance is good leading man material. He's cool, relaxed and steady. Calhoun is the only reason to enjoy the film. Overall, not much new ground covered in this film. Nothing special.

Some westerns portrayed the American Indians as unthinking, one- dimensional idiots--riding around in circles waiting to be picked off by folks in the wagon train or by the cavalry. Others, like this one, are more sympathetic and show these same people as multidimensional and decent.

When the film begins, the local chief is murdered. This is a serious problem, as the chief was a man of peace--and the new, younger chief is more headstrong and ready for revenge. Fortunately, there is a local guy (Rory Calhoun) who understands these Indians and treats them decently--and he can diffuse the situation. But the town is a hellish place that wants no part of peace and the local cavalry commander (Lloyd Bridges) is a cowardly jerk-face. With the Indians on the warpath and Calhoun's character the only person with any common sense, things look pretty awful for this stupid town.

The Indians are generally portrayed well. However, a complaint I often have is that the main Indians are played by white folks--such as Vince Edwards! So, it's like two steps forward and one step back. Overall, however, the film is interesting and presents a more balanced view of the west. The only problem is that, at times, the characters are a bit more like caricatures--a bit too one- dimensional to be believable.

Lloyd Bridges shines as a cowardly calvary captain while actor, Vince Edwards, looks terribly miscast as an Indian in this Bryna Film Production. Bryna Productions was the company that was formed by actor, Kirk Douglas, that produced such films as "Spartacus", "Last Train From Gun Hill", "Paths of Glory", etc. I suspect this film was shot around the time that "Last Train From Gun Hill" was shot as some of the scenery where Rory Calhoun (Tate) has a confrontation with Vince Edwards (Chief Little Wolf) appears to be the same area where Earl Holliman rapes and kills Kirk Douglas wife in "Last Train From Gun Hill". What "Last Train From Gun Hill" has that this film doesn't have is a good script, a solid plot and beautiful Technicolor. "Ride Out For Revenge" is an interesting and entertaining film in so far as it points out the many wrongs that the "white man" has inflicted on the Indians as well as the hatred that has been sowed over the years through the losses of life from both sides. The plot puts Tate (Rory Calhoun) who loves an Indian princess (Joanne Gilbert) in the middle of an Indian vs "white man" confrontation. Now add the fact, that gold is found on the Indians land. Throw in a cowardly captain (Bridges) who hates Indians but would love to have their land and their gold. Sprinkle a widow (Gloria Graham) and a child (Michael Winkleman) that have both lost spouse and father by Indian massacre. Add a touch of vengeful Indian (Vince Edwards) whose father has been murdered by the town's people .... and you have all the ingredients for what is to come. The film, in my opinion, is at best a mediocre western with a very important but "preachy" message. What I found most interesting and important was the morale of the film which can be found is some of the final dialog of the film. Pretty Willow (Joanne Gilbert) says "If everything changes ... what will happen when someone comes to take the land from the "white man" and Tate (Rory Calhoun) responds "I don't know I never gave it much thought."