Selvaggio west

An ex-Confederate officer and his young daughter, traveling West, rescue two women survivors of an Indian attack in a familiar yet taut and exciting little western. The typical hero escorts survivor through Indian territory story is given a shot in the arm by Victor Mature as the confederate officer, some good characters especially Faith Domergue's character who is a pretty horribly bitter person, some nifty action scenes and superb location of boulders, all set in stark black and white photography. These things lift it from its ordinariness. The end shootout is exciting and the hero's use of the rattler to overcome his enemy is well realised.

In the days following the Civil War, ex-Confederate Victor Mature (Italian accent intact!) and daughter travel west, where they're insulted by and then have to rescue two northeastern sisters from a group of marauding Indians, following a massacre of their military escort.

This is an entertaining enough western, though fairly by-the-numbers and low-budget. However, a short running time, some good suspense, great location photography (in Cinemascope), some sharp gun-play and a neat, rocky climax all help keep things moving along nicely.

Familiar western stars help out too, including Harry Carey, Noah Beery, and slim Pickens, as well as co-writer Leo Gordon and Gunsmoke's Ken Curtis, who play a couple of low-life Army deserters.

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.

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.

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.