I lancieri del deserto

Massacre River is a cavalry story, but don't expect John Ford's cavalry here. The story concerns a pair of army lieutenants Guy Madison and Rory Calhoun, both who are courting the commanding officer's daughter Cathy Downs. Her brother Johnny Sands is a shavetail from West Point and he's friends with both.

Downs kinda sorta favors Madison but then saloon girl Carole Mathews arrives in town and she takes over half of the town saloon from Steve Brodie. When Madison starts showing an interest in Mathews all the drama ensues.

A couple of brief skirmishes with some Indians who have not respected treaty boundaries, one of them at the end of the film are the action. Monogram Studios believe it or not splurged on some location money for this film. And then wouldn't go for color. Seems a waste.

And this rather trite soap opera wasn't meant for the wide open spaces. Except at the climax.

Massacre River is directed by John Rawlins and written by Louis Stevens. It stars Guy Madison, Rory Calhoun, Carole Matthews, Cathy Downs, Johnny Sands and Steve Brodie. Music is by John Leipold and Lucien Moraweck and cinematography by Jack Mackenzie.

Three army buddies, two ladies, and Indians unhappy about land encroachments. Spells trouble for sure.

Massacre River is a tricky Western to recommend in that it is not one for those expecting a Cavalry and Indians actioner, this is no high energy "B" Western. It relies heavily on character dynamics and a story ripe with surprising forays into darker territories. In fact it is far from routine stuff, a tag that even the New York Times reviewer of the time was quickly wrong to call it.

We have five people caught in a devil's pentagon, friendships and passions are tested and emotions reach boiling point. Thankfully the makers involved here have the courage of their convictions to make bold decisions with some of the characters. Decisions that bring the pic into a film noir realm, which when aided by some pleasing monochrome photography, and shadow play when the story goes bleaker, marks this out as very being aware of that style of film making that was bubbling away with menace at the time.

It begins all jaunty with pals larking around, even bordering on the homo erotic as two of the guys wrestle in a bath of water (seriously), and with a meeting of the fort colonel and the Indian chief (Art Baker and Iron Eyes Cody) outlaying a problem brewing between the two factions, it appears to be heading into "formula". But once the action switches to Jackson (the last outpost bordering Massacre River), the whole tone shifts, very much so, and it becomes a spicy hotbed of human agonies and vagaries of fate.

Problems exist of course. It's nice to have Calhoun and Brodie in the same movie, but the former's fans are made to wait for him to be seen at his best, while the latter is very under used. Story wise there is a hint of under staffing at one of the forts, but it's not explored for benefit, while the Indian angle ultimately feels tacked onto the human drama. But it's nicely performed by the cast, there's some nice photography and camera work, while the comforting sight to Western fans of the Iverson Ranch locale is boosted by shots filmed at Canyon de Chelly National Monument.

Well worth a look for Western fans familiar with noirish angles of the period. 7/10

Footnote: Some sources have it listed as being in Sepiatone. Not sure if it was filmed originally in that format? But the print I saw via TCM's HD channel wasn't so, it was a straight and very nice looking monochrome print.

After having watched ' Till the End of Time ' ( a masterpiece of film making in my opinion ) I was intrigued by Guy Madison's supposedly ' wooden ' acting, and his visual beauty, to take my chances with ' Massacre River ' and found that he really could act given the chance with complex emotional subject matter. He did so later in the underrated ' Hilda Crane. ' Enough has been said about the subject matter of ' Massacre River ' ( a title unworthy of the content ) except to add that this is a mixed genre film; Film Noir in the West, ambiguous love stories and traditional Western subject matter thrown in. The love stories include a bromance between Rory Calhoun and Guy Madison and Madison's immature passion for two women played by Cathy Downs as the ' good girl ' and the excellent Carole Matthews playing the dubious saloon owner. Thrown into this cauldron of desires is the innocent brother of Cathy Downs with the unfortunate name of Randy played very well by Johnny Sands ( an actor who should have been a star. ) Filmed in black and white, which enhances the Noir feeling, the scenario races along to its ending, and broken hearts are quite literally broken. Made in 1949 it paved the way for the more complex Westerns of the 1950's and should be seen more often than it is. Its low budget adds a grubby feel, appropriate to the content, and despite a certain amount of uncertainty of direction it is rewarding to watch. Plus the factor of it being perfectly cast. I can think of two others who broke the Western mould and they too approached borderline territory; ' Night of the Hunter ' and ' The Fiend Who Walked the West. ' Needless to say they were misunderstood.

In this routine oater, Larry (Guy Madison) and Phil (Rory Calhoun) are officers in the Army stationed at a remote fort at the edge of Indian territory. The Indian chief (Iron Eyes Cody) represents the native inhabitants near the end of their fight with the white man; therefore, the fort and nearby town of Jackson are populated by mostly settlers and other civilians. Larry is engaged to Kitty (Cathy Downs), the daughter of the fort commander, and Kitty's brother Randy is the mild comedy relief. Although the film's poster promises some violent Army-Indian clashes, there is only one mildly good battle scene and a skirmish near the finale. The bulk of the movie is a leaden soap opera concerned with how Larry jilts Kitty after he falls in love with the hardened co-owner of Jackson's saloon (Carole Matthews). This sets both Phil and Randy against Larry. The divisions this causes leads the death and tragedy in a "character-driven" western which, despite good performances from Madison and Matthews, strains to make us believe that their characters have any sort of believable future together.

A beautiful little unknown western, made in beautiful settings, natural settings, which brings much charm to it. The story is not that exciting, because a bit too predictable but it deserves to be seen. The ending seems missed for me but that doesn't spoil the whole. I guess that film is among the best that John Rawlins gave us, above the batch of B movies he made in his carrer. He was a good technician, with no ambition, but in the Hollywood industry of this period, only a handful of ruthless sharks could make what they really wished to.