Escorte pour l'Oregon

Escort West finds Victor Mature as a former Confederate escorting his young daughter out to Oregon territory. They meet up with a troop of cavalry at a stagecoach station, some of whom are hostile. Not nearly as hostile as Faith Domergue who lost a fiancé during the Civil War who is accompanying her sister Elaine Stewart out west to marry cavalry captain William Ching.

After Mature and daughter Reba Waters meet some hostile Modocs and find what they did to part of the cavalry troop they go back to the station where all they find alive are the two women and the sutler, Rex Ingram. Ingram's been wounded and left for dead with a broken leg.

At this point the group sets out to find help and safety, whichever comes first.

Escort West bares a similarity to the Richard Widmark western of the previous year, The Last Wagon. If you've seen that you might figure out how it all turns out. Or just if you've watched a whole lot of westerns.

Escort West barely runs 75 minutes, it played at the bottom of double features in the Fifties. It was produced by John Wayne and folks like Ken Curtis, Leo Gordon, and Noah Beery, Jr., all of whom worked with the Duke before are in the cast. Best in the cast is Leo Gordon who also wrote the script and is one nasty deserting cavalry trooper.

It's a nice action western with some adult themes mixed in with enough action for the kids.

An ex-Confederate captain heads west with his young daughter and is caught up in the skirmishes between soldiers and Indians. Victor Mature is the hero of the proceedings as he rescues two women, fights off Indian attacks and saves an army payroll from the hands of renegade soldiers. The two sisters are at odds over the resolution of the Civil War and snipe at each other through the picture. The film has very little pace and spotty action and an awkward romantic plot is thrown in for good measure. Faith Domergue, a B actress who never quite made it to the first rank, is Mature's love interest. Leo Gordon appears as a bad soldier and contributes his talents as a screenwriter for this film.

Escort West is directed by Francis D. Lyon and adapted to screenplay by Leo Gordon and Fred Hartsook from a story by Steven Hayes. It stars Victor Mature, Elaine Stewart, Faith Domergue, Reba Waters, Noah Beery Jr., Leo Gordon, Rex Ingram, John Hubbard, Harry Carey Jr. and Slim Pickens. Music is by Henry Vars and CinemaScope cinematography by William H. Clothier.

Set in Nevada 1865 at the end of The Civil War, Escort West follows ex- Confederate soldier Ben Lassiter (Mature) as he travels West with his young daughter Abbey (Waters). Still meeting hostile reactions from Union cavalry officers and supporters in the area, things take a dramatic turn when Ben and Abbey happen upon the aftermath of a Modoc Indian attack that has left a troop of Union cavalrymen dead. However, there are three survivors, sisters Beth (Stewart) and Martha (Domergue), and injured Nelson Walker (Ingram). The Lassiter's try to escort the survivors to safety, but with the Modocs and rouge Union cavalrymen interested in a payroll in Ben's possession a constant threat out in the terrain, it's going to be tough.

It's pretty predictable in formula, complete with an uninteresting burgeoning romance, but it's a film that's never dull and it's always compelling as a character driven travelogue. The left over attitudes born out by the war add some spice into the narrative, with Domergue portraying a bile strewn bitch from hell and Mature a contemplative father of substance, and there are a good number of action sequences that are thrillingly executed. Cast performances are strong enough for the material, where it's nice to see Mature and Waters' father and daughter relationship play out as tender and believable, and ace cinematographer Clothier's Scope photography is beautiful and keeps the picture consistently airy. 6.5/10

"Escort West" takes place in Nevada, a few years after the Civil War has ended. Victor Mature plays Ben Lassiter, a widowed ex-Confederate soldier travelling West with his 10 year old daughter Abbey (Reba Waters). Deadly Indian warriors named the Modocs are on the prowl, and Ben realizes that they have caused death and destruction in a way station that he had very recently visited. He gathers together the survivors: the bitchy, grudge carrying Martha Drury (Faith Domergue) and her much nicer sister, Beth (Elaine Stewart), and amiable old sutler Nelson Walker (Rex Ingram). He promises to stay with them as they make their dangerous trek through hostile territory.

There's nothing particularly distinguished about "Escort West", but it's still a solid and engaging movie of this type. An uncredited John Wayne was one of the producers. Director Francis D. Lyon creates some scenes of genuine suspense, and the action is likewise decently executed. This is all photographed in atmospheric, black & white widescreen by William H. Clothier. The antagonists are not exactly a faceless bunch, but they're a fairly scary group of men: relentless, unspeaking, unemotional, one-dimensional killers. The lovely music score is courtesy of composer Henry Vars.

The cast is full of familiar faces and excellent right down the line. Mature is just the kind of hero you want in this sort of thing: kind, compassionate, but tough and dependable. Beautiful women Stewart and Domergue are effective, although some might find Domergues' character a bit tough to take. Noah Beery Jr., John Hubbard, Harry Carey Jr., Slim Pickens, William Ching, Ken Curtis, Claire Du Brey, and Syd Saylor co-star. Also in the supporting cast is the great screen heavy Leo Gordon, who co-wrote the screenplay with Fred Hartsook. Child actress Waters is appealing without becoming overly saccharine.

This is a good, diverting story told in fairly trim fashion and running a very reasonable 77 minutes long.

Seven out of 10.

I rarely have seen a film where nearly everything about it is good but one character simply ruins the film. It's that bad with Martha (Faith Domergue)...as her character is tough to believe and is unbelievably annoying and abrasive.

When the story begins, Ben Lassiter (Victor Mature) is taking his daughter out west to live. After all, the Civil War just ended and he wants to raise the child in the wilderness. But when the pair stop to get a bite to eat, a group sitting nearby make it hard for the Lassiters. As they're eating, Martha keeps talking about 'them dirty Rebs' and the like. This is rude...but not too surprising considering the war just ended.

Later, the Lassiters are attacked by renegade Modoc tribesmen*. After escaping, they soon meet up with what's left of a group who was attacked by the Modoc...and only a black soldier (played very well by Rex Ingram) and two sisters.... Beth (Elaine Stewart) and, you guessed it, Martha!

Now you'd think after Ben rescues and helps them that Martha would be a bit nicer. Well, you'd be wrong. Throughout most of the rest of the film, Martha whines, cries, shouts and pretty much behaves like a wolverine with a toothache! After a while, it becomes tiresome....not just because it's hard to believe anyone would be this nasty and ungrateful but also because you just get tired of watching her. Yes, it's THAT bad.

What makes this even more awful is that the film is generally pretty good...and if they'd totally eliminated Martha from the film, it would have worked very well. The acting (aside from Domergue) is excellent and the story interesting (aside from when Martha is in it). Rarely have I ever seen a film that could have been so good simply ruined because a character is so difficult to believe and it so annoying to watch.

*Apparently, Modoc did attack various groups of settlers during this time. Considering their land was being invaded, you could understand why....but according to one source I read, they accounted for about 400 deaths.