Traição Heroica

I saw this one at the theater as a kid and was somewhat disappointed, probably too much story and not enough action to suit my taste at the time. However by today's standards, this one treats the Native American much more respectfully than other movies of it's time, most notably the God-awful "Arrowhead"(1953). The story moves along well and there really is enough action to go around and Francis shows that he had some real star quality, had he lived. Not a bad one.

This film starts out with a Calvary Army Officer being shot in the leg by a Native American Indian and is treated by an Army Doctor who is bombed out of his mind on booze and tries to operate on his leg and cuts an artery and the soldier dies. Philip Carey, (Capt. Peter Blake) is very upset about other Army doctors who have caused him problems in the past who were on drugs and booze also. Robert Francis, (Dr. Allen Sewart),"Caine Mutiny" '54 is a new doctor and commissioned by the Army to serve with Capt. Peter Blake. Blake mistrusts Dr. Allen Sewart and gives him a very hard time, because he seems to hate all doctors. Donna Reed,(Laurie MacKaye) takes a liking to Dr. Sewart and encourages him to stand up and fight back at Capt. Blake. May Wynn,(Manyi-ten) "Caine Mutiny" is a white woman who is married to an Indian and seeks the help of Dr. Sewart and falls in love with him. This is a great story and will hold your interest from beginning to the very end. It is very sad that in real life, Robert Francis, was killed in an airplane accident right after he made the great film "Caine Mutiny" he was only twenty-five (25) years of age.

When I found this on YouTube, I discovered that it was chopped up into various highlight segments that altogether ran only about maybe 50 min., more or less. Still, I highly enjoyed what I saw with Robert Francis as the new Calvary doctor sticking with his oath of caring for all human beings including the American Indians forced into the reservation near him. That gets him in plenty of hot water with superior Philip Carey who already doesn't trust doctors since the previous ones were drunk or just plain unreliable. May Wynn, Francis' co-star from The Caine Mutiny, is a white woman who was raised on the reservation after her parents were killed. And Donna Reed is the initial flirt who eventually gets on Francis' side when the others call him an Indian lover (the actual name they called him was "woodhawk".) Quite compelling what I saw so I decided to review this here in case I don't have the chance to watch the whole thing. Still, if I do, I'll come back here and either add some comments or rewrite the whole thing...

Directed by Phil Karlson who later helmed the excellent GUNMAN'S WALK, this one involves an army surgeon (Robert Francis) who is at odds against his commander (Philip Carey) over the treatment of a malaria outbreak amongst the Kiowa.

Carey hates army doctors as much as the Kiowa since the last three he's had on his post were drunkards who should never have been in the service to begin with, so he doesn't take too kindly to Francis and treats the guy with contempt. Francis also feels he has to step in order to prevent another Indian war and he disobeys a direct order from Carey to treat the Kiowa chief's ailing son.

It's fairly standard fare that could have been better if the dialog wasn't so silly and they avoided using old stock footage of battle scenes that looked out of place with the rest of the film. Not to mention the fact that the rest of it was filmed on the same Columbia ranch locations that we've seen a hundred times before. It makes the whole thing look more typical than it should be.

With Jack Kelly & James Best as the junior officers, and Donna Reed as the niece of the post commander who spends a lot of time flirting with the officers, I'd give this one a less than average rating than a subject treatment like this deserves.

4 out of 10

Notable B-Movie Director Phil Karlson Helmed this Above Average Early Fifties, Low-Budget Western with Little Style but its Social Concerns Rode the "New" Esthetic that Shined a much needed Light on Bigotry. There are some Corny Side-Elements to be sure, but the Aforementioned Elevate this one to Respectability.

The Plot is all about a Military Doctor (Robert Francis) and His Treatment of Indians and viewed Them as, God Forbid, Equal People as seen from the Eyes of a "Medicine Man".

Donna Reed is Awkward as a Centerpiece of the Soldiers Attention (one proposes to Her on sight), but the rest of the Cast do Yeoman's Work and it is left to Francis to Carry the Movie. He is Adequate, but the Strength is the Story and its Ramifications about the Mistreatment of a Defeated People thrown in the Trash Bin of History, until Recently.

There are some Wild and Wooly Battles that Punctuate now and then for the Action Oriented Crowd that could give a Hoot about Empathy and Inclusion of a whole Race of People that Desired Respect that was Initially Withheld.