Fort Utah

FORT UTAH (1967) is another A.C. Lyles western with faded Hollywood stars who were put through their paces for a week of shooting, supplemented by a ton of stock footage. This one's about a wagon train of settlers heading for California, an Indian attack, a band of army deserters committing murder and mayhem, and a gunslinger and an Indian agent trying to protect the settlers. That's pretty much all you need to know. Every shot containing more than one wagon came from another, more expensive western. Every shot containing more than ten Indians came from another western. A location shot featuring smoke signals came from another western. At one point, a cavalry troop joins the wagon train but we only see one cavalry officer in this film's actual footage and no troopers at all, until stock footage of an Indian battle from another movie is inserted to give us a quick glimpse of other troopers. I kept thinking I'd rather be watching that other, bigger-budgeted western. Every time the hero, Tom Horn, gets into a fist fight, the actor who plays him, then-53-year-old John Ireland, is doubled by a stuntman with little resemblance to Ireland. And he has fights with at least four of his co-stars, some of whom have stuntmen with at least a mild resemblance to the actor they're doubling.

For the record, this one has fewer name actors in it than most other Lyles westerns. (TOWN TAMER, for instance, is packed with former stars.) John Ireland seems a bit slower and less proactive here than his character ought to be. After this and his next Lyles production, ARIZONA BUSHWHACKERS, he went off to Italy for a lucrative career in spaghetti westerns and war thrillers, usually in supporting roles. Virginia Mayo plays a wagon train passenger who claims to be an opera singer headed for a performing gig in San Francisco. The truth turns out to be much more sordid, which doesn't bother Ireland at all. Her backstory takes up way too much screen time, although I can't imagine that Mayo would have taken the part with any fewer scenes. I'm a huge fan of Mayo, but she's much more subdued here than the shameless brassy blonde she was during her Warner Bros. heyday in the 1940s and '50s (WHITE HEAT, THE IRON MISTRESS). Some of her contemporaries were a much better fit for the Lyles westerns, e.g. Jane Russell, who made two, and Yvonne De Carlo, who made four. Robert Strauss, who made a career out of playing comical gangsters, is quite good here as the grizzled Indian scout, Ben Stokes, who is out to find the army deserter, Dajin (Scott Brady), who caused all the trouble. I wonder why Strauss didn't make more westerns. Brady is billed third but doesn't appear until the last 25 minutes. His henchmen include Jim Davis, Harry Lauter and Donald "Red" Barry, all old hands at this kind of thing. John Russell, James Craig and Richard Arlen are also on hand lending dependable support. The character of Horn is no doubt based on the actual gunslinger of that name and he is treated here as someone whose fame precedes him. (The real Horn was hanged in 1903 for a murder committed during a range war.)

Having said all this, I must add that the action at the title fort, which takes up the second half of the movie, is quite suspenseful. Once the heroes arrive and find it mysteriously abandoned, except for a trio of Dajin's deserters who are quickly dispatched or driven off, they welcome the wagon train survivors and decide that their only chance against either Dajin's band or the rampaging Indians (angered by a massacre committed by the deserters) is to hole up in the fort with the repeating rifles stocked up by the wagon master (John Russell) and defend it when the attackers appear. There's a far-fetched but very clever resolution. Despite its seams showing, I found this film quite enjoyable and better than average for a Lyles western. I saw it on the Encore Western Channel in a pan-and-scan print. Which is how some of the other Lyles westerns are shown on Amazon Prime. I wish Paramount would spring for some widescreen prints.

AC Lyles productions, also known as Second Chance westerns - because the casts were composed mostly of Hollywood vets - are mostly acceptable, entertaining, but where clichés are unfortunately not always absent. Here, you have a tremendous Scott Brady as the lead villain, the bad guy in chief.... Nothing exceptional but quite good, better than a lead good guy played by a wooden John Ireland. It is action packed, with a bodycount that will help you wasting time without any boredom. So that's not the worst of AC Lyles productions, and maybe among the three or four best. I have always had tenderness for those features hiring forgotten Hollywood glories, giving them a second chance.

In his review, revdrcac was right on--this is a fairly typical sort of A.C. Lyles production. In the 1960s, he made quite a few westerns starring folks who used to be stars. Few of these films were particularly distinguished and most seemed to have very small budgets--but they were entertaining (especially "Johnny Reno"). The likes of Dana Andrews, Richard Arlen, Howard Keel, George Montgomery, Rory Calhoun, Lon Chaney and Yvonne De Carlo all found work in his films--folks whose careers had long seen better days. Perhaps Lyles just liked these older and experienced professionals or, more likely, he liked that they could be had for a lot less money than the hotter and younger actors of the day. Here, John Ireland, Arlen and Virginia Mayo all get a second chance--which I appreciate, as they were good actors (particularly Ireland).

The film begins with Ireland on his horse--minding his own business. Suddenly, an Indian attacks him and the attacker is killed in the mêlée. Soon, an Indian agent (Robert Strauss--in a VERY atypical sort of role for him) meets him and they decide to ride together for safety. Soon, they are attacked by even more natives. Obviously, SOMETHING is up with the local Indian tribes! Then, they soon meet up with a wagon train and their leader (John Russell)--and they decide to help them, otherwise they could soon be massacred. What about this Fort Utah? Well, the hope is that someone can get their and get help...otherwise they're all on their own. But, when Ireland makes his way to the fort, he finds it nearly abandoned...except for some nasty killers who are deserters. See this film to see and to find out what happens next.

What I first started watching this film, I thought this was yet another film where the Indians were stupid and one-dimensional. Well, fortunately, this turned out not to be the case--they had a darned good reason to be mad! Aside from a bit of macho posturing and cheap production values (the lousy use of stunt-men in the fight between Ireland and the would-be rapist is pretty laughable), the film manages to work pretty well due to good acting and a decent script. I particularly like the relationship that developed between Ireland and Mayo, but also LOVED the weird casting of Strauss--he was a hoot. Not at all brilliant overall, but well worth seeing if you like the genre.

Fort Utah is directed by Lesley Selander and written by Steve Fisher and Andrew Craddock. It stars John Ireland, Virginia Mayo, Robert Strauss, Scott Brady, John Russell, Richard Arlen and James Craig. Music is by Jimmie Haskell and cinematography is by Lothrop Worth.

Drifter Tom Horn (Ireland) teams up with Indian Agent Ben Stokes (Strauss) to help a pioneer wagon train against army deserters and Indian renegades.

Filmed in Technicolor/Techniscope out at Vasquez Rocks and Santa Clarita in California, Fort Utah, in spite of being shot in 1966, feels like a 1950s Oater. Of course the big giveaway is that the headliners in the cast are more long in the tooth than back in the day. Yet collectively they have produced a a very decent Oater with old fashioned value.

There's plenty going on in the plotting. The Indians have had enough of the reservation living arrangements so a renegade band have fled, leaving Ben Stokes the not unenviable task of trying to locate and placate. There's a gang of army deserters - The Marrauders - led by nefarious Dajin (Brady) out for what they can get their hands on, illegally of course. Right in the middle of hostile territory is a wagon train of pioneers who unbeknown to themselves are going to need help to survive, enter Tom Horn and the Fort Utah of the title.

Pic never wants for action, Horn gets into a fight pretty much every ten minutes, be it fisticuffs or shoot-outs, there's barely pause for him to take breath, well except for when he's getting smitten with Linda Lee (Mayo a gorgeous mature at 46) that is. She's travelling with the wagon train and has a secret as well as a major cleavage that gets an airing during a ferocious Indian attack on the wagon train. Whilst unsurprisingly she's getting unwanted attention by a scallywag pioneer fellow...

Some of the stunt doubles are very poor, which sort of sits with Haskell's cheesy musical score, and the big finale features a WTF moment to close down the encounter. But with some very nice photography for the night time scenes, and the superb backdrop of Vasquez Rocks pleasing the eyes, one can't grumble about not having it all. It's not a classic of course, and it has some formulaic baggage to carry around, but for old fashioned Oater lovers this has much to recommend. 6.5/10

John Ireland is Tom Horn, a famous gunfighter. Robert Strauss is Ben Stokes, a government agent for the Indians. Virginia Mayo is Linda Lee, an "Opera singer". And Scott Brady is Dajin, an army deserter who's wanted by the Indians. Oh, and then there's Jim Davis as Scarecrow, one of Dajin's men among others in the cast. I'm not a big fan of heroes attacking Indians since that usually means those Natives are being portrayed as savages but here, there's at least a reason they're not always friendly to the white men who are simply trying to survive. The fights between Horn and various of the villains attacking him are, however, quite entertaining the way they're choreographed. I also liked Ireland's dialogue with Ms. Mayo and his friendship with Strauss. Oh, and knowing about Davis' previous western roles as both bad and good guys and his later iconic role as Jock Ewing in the original "Dallas", he was the highlight of the picture for me. So on that note, I highly recommend this obscure oater, Fort Utah.