Pilastras do Céu

Pillars of the Sky (AKA: The Tomahawk and the Cross) is directed by George Marshall and adapted to screenplay by Sam Rolfe from the novels "Frontier Fury" & "To Follow a Flag" written by Will Henry. It stars Jeff Chandler, Ward Bond, Dorothy Malone, Keith Andes and Lee Marvin. A Technicolor/CinemaScope production, photography is by Harold Lipstein and music is by Joseph Gershenson.

Oregon County 1868, and the Native Indian tribes have been shunted on to government sanctioned reservations. As the U.S. troops arrive to lay the roads through Indian territory for new settlers, the Indian chiefs decide to fight back. Led by Chief Kamiakin (Michael Ansara), the Indians attack leaving the army short on numbers, all that's left is a small band of soldiers and some civilians. Can they survive on guts and religious comfort alone?

It was originally intended to be made with John Ford directing and John Wayne starring, but come 1956 the pair were unable to commit to the production. They had another Western to make that year, The Searchers! Plot is familiar for Pillars of the Sky, but the even handed portrayal of the Indians and a pro-Christian bent in the narrative, lifts it out of the ordinary. Picture is further boosted by some excellent action sequences that are skilfully crafted by director Marshall (Destry Rides Again/How the West Was Won). Indian attacks, via horseback or flaming arrows assault, considerably raise the pulse, while the sight of the army desperately trying to conquer the rocky terrain while under attack is a bona fide piece of Oater grit. With the exteriors actually filmed on location in Oregon at Joseph & La Grande, the backdrop is gorgeous, expertly brought to life in Technicolor "Scope" by Lipstein (No Name on the Bullet/Von Ryan's Express). While Gershenson (Horizons West/The Man from the Alamo) scores it with genre compliant riffs on Cavalry marches and Indian flavouring.

That it isn't better known or thought of higher comes down to a so so set of acting performances and a pointless love triangle that pads the picture out with boorish periods of chat. Malone, looking beautiful as per usual in colour, is basically a token character, who serves only to be a romantic interest that causes friction between Chandler and Andes. In fact her dialogue is minimal. Marvin has only a small role, and he offers up a quite poor Irish accent as well, while Andes fails to convince. Chandler does cut a decent rugged figure, portraying First Sergeant Emmett Bell as a man you would fight alongside, but it's a performance that lacks charisma, something that Duke Wayne no doubt would have brought to the role. It's left to Bond to take the acting honours, where in an unusually restrained role for him as strongly Christian Dr. Joseph Holden, he gives good value for money as he plays it out with stoic nobility.

With a great DVD transfer and the correct aspect ratio used, the film looks absolutely terrific. It has flaws for sure, but it comes easily recommended to the Western fan. 7/10

A rather sombre film for veteran director George Marshall, set in Oregon in 1868.

In a well-acted film, Ward Bond is particularly good in a sympathetic role as a preacher; and even Lee Marvin is permitted a touching scene as one of the troop.

I am not a huge fan of westerns but from time to time I don't mind watching some on TV. The problem is that most of the time the plots are all very similar... originality is not a trademark of the genre. Yet PILLARS OF THE SKY was a bit different. Let's see why.

In 1868 Oregon various Indian tribes are confined in a reserve built by Doctor Holden (Ward Bond) and Sergeant Emmet Bell (Jeff Chandler) has to make sure that there is always peace. However, some transfert of US Army Weapons makes chief Kamiakin (Michael Ansara) very suspicious and they attack the Army. Unfortunately appeals for a truce don't work, and after Kamiakin is killed by one of his own the other chiefs and Bell will do whatever is necessary for keeping the peace.

The acting was very good for a Western. Jeff Chandler was very good and believable as an Army Sergeant that is very concerned about keeping the peace between the Army and the Indians. Dorothy Malone gives a great performance other than still looking gorgeous, and the cast is chock full of many familiar faces of those years: Martin Milner, Lee Marvin, Willis Bouchey, Philip Carey and a scene-stealing Michael Ansara are all pretty entertaining. The Oregon scenery was great and makes you want to go on vacation there, and the soundtrack fit the movie's spirit very well.

If you are a die hard western fan don't miss it if you haven't seen it, but for those who watch them from time to time it's solid and entertaining... what more you can ask?

Pillars of the Sky is an unusual western in that it touches on the role of Christian missionaries in the American West. This film also gives Ward Bond one of the most unusual roles he ever had in his career.

Bond plays a Christian missionary preacher/doctor in the Pacific Northwest region. There is still considerable debate among historians as to what they accomplished. It was thought at the time that the conquered Indian tribes would be more humanely treated under preachers than soldiers. There is no doubt that missionaries, not only in the American west, but in other parts of the world colonized by the west, probably saved indigent peoples from some acts of barbarism.

Whether though, even with the best of intentions, they had the right to destroy a culture is very much open to debate. And Bond is a man with the best of intentions even as he baptizes the Indians giving them names found in the Bible.

One Indian who isn't having any of it is Michael Ansara who's rousing all the tribes to resist the building of a new army post in their territory. But Colonel Willis Bouchey has his orders and Bond is caught in the middle.

Another trio caught in the middle is Captain Keith Andes, his wife Dorothy Malone, and Sergeant Jeff Chandler who Malone was previously engaged to. Malone and Olive Carey are captured by Ansara's bunch and Chandler rescues them. This little romantic subplot is exactly what the cavalry doesn't need as Ansara's band is on the hunt for them.

Pillars of the Sky was filmed on location in the Pacific Northwest and the photography is first rate. And the Indian attacks are well staged by some very smart Indians. Ansara is a cunning and ruthless foe.

It also succeeds in making you admire the courage of our cavalry in carrying out their orders though in fact they are in clear treaty violation. One of the best roles in the film is that of Lee Marvin, an army veteran from the Civil War who is giving the green troops some lessons for survival in a hurry.

I did find it a bit much the end Jeff Chandler has in store for him and I think most viewers will also. As Chandler said, Bond may have given the Indians the priceless gift of his God, but was the cost worth it?

Near the Oregon Trail in what is now southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon, tribal leaders are upset by the movements of a new cavalry officer and his troops, which break the treaty. An established First Sergeant whom the Indians trust (Chandler) tries to keep the peace, but war is inevitable. Lee Marvin is on hand as a young sergeant while Michael Ansara plays a hostile chief.

"Pillars of the Sky" (1956) came in the tradition of John Ford's Cavalry Trilogy from 1948-1950 and the ensuing "Warpath," as well "The Last Frontier" (aka "Savage Wilderness"). While it's arguably just as worthwhile as the Cavalry Trilogy in its own unique way, it's not as compelling as the other two.

Some of the key actors playing American Indians are Lebanese, Latino, Tennessean, and a New Yorker, but one is a Kickapoo and there are some other genuine Indian peripherals. Overall, their depiction is well done. Meanwhile Chandler's character is supposed to be an alcoholic, but he doesn't look or act like a typical functioning alcoholic, such as Ulysses S. Grant. Actually, Jeff is towering and god-like as the commanding noncommissioned officer, despite his drinking.

There's a love triangle thrown into the mix involving Chandler, Dorothy Malone and Keith Andes. While this might cause some eye-rolling, I'm pretty sure there were one or two love triangles during the decades of the Indian Wars. Speaking of rolling your eyes, there's some lame (and incongruous) comedy involving a raw recruit and his horse, but it's so minor it can be overlooked.

The best thing about this Western is the superb authentic locations and the muscular action. But I also liked the emphasis on Christianity with Ward Bond playing the missionary-physician. You'd never see this today, of course, as it's a great sin now to show Christianity in a positive light. Get real.

It runs 1 hour, 26 minutes (the version I watched), and was shot in northeast Oregon at Joseph and nearby Wallowa Lake, as well as LaGrande, which is to the west of there. Studio scenes were done at Universal Studios in the Los Angeles area.

GRADE: B-