Assedio all'ultimo sangue

Though the War Between The States has officially ended, a group of Confederate soldiers continues to fight for their own cause, laying siege to a small group of Union soldiers holed up in a farmhouse who are guarding a substantial amount of gold coins for a federal agent. The story comes off okay in this noticeably low-budget effort thanks to all the personalities this film features. The presence of all that gold seems to affect all of them in interesting ways. The farm owner is a Union army vet who converted to pacifism after experiencing the war, while his wife is trying to attract the Union commander who is trying to protect the gold from both his men and the Confederates, who include some strange characters, one of which is Ted Knight. The film is more drama than action which is perhaps because the action scenes are not too great, but the drama is barely passable enough to at least kind of keep one watching.

Lee has surrendered to Grant, but Brad Dexter isn't happy with it. So when a horse trader shows up with Union gold in his pockets, he and his men decide they are still Southern patriots -- at least until they collect all that gold and a few dead Yankees.

This was the period when everyone was going through a war-is-hell reaction to World War Two and Korea and this obviously cheap second feature sticks everyone in Civil War garb -- at least this time it's the Southerners who are the bad guys. It's pretty much a rote production, but it's well handled by the actors. Ted Knight is particularly good in a cynical role.

This 1960 western stars Brad Dexter, Grant Williams and even features a young Ted Knight in a supporting role! The film takes place in the immediate aftermath of Robert E. Lee's surrender to Grant. While the Yankees led by Williams are ready to go home, Dexter and his Rebs are not willing to go quietly into that good night ........

Dexter later became famous in the Magnificent Seven and starred in a number of Sinatra films. In this low budget film, Brad Dexter brings his smiling villainy to a meaty role as the Confederate officer.

This film was low budget and standard, but is worth a look to see Dexter and Ted Knight in an early role.