A Quadrilha dos Renegados

A.C. Lyles produced a number of cheapie westerns in the 1960's, many of which featured former marquee stars that were approaching senior citizen status. This reformed gunman vs. the greedy villain follows that same, tired pattern. The writing and budget were poor.

Don "Red" Barry, John Russell and others were always at home in the saddle, but this low-budget, unchallenging western did not give them a whole lot to work with. The film had a lack of energy & freshness that failed to draw me in as a viewer.

Fort Utah is a mediocre film, that leaves you wanting more ........ Recommended for die-hard sagebrush fans only .

John Ireland plays Tom Horn, a man trying to go from nowhere to somewhere who rides right into an Indian uprising in the process. He finds himself trying to save the members of a wagon train, first from the Indians, then from the renegade whites who massacred an Indian village to set the redskins on the warpath in the first place.

John Russell plays Ela Jonas, a guide who lost one wagon train and desperately wants to lead this one to safety. Robert Strauss plays Ben Stokes, a grizzled Indian agent. And Virginia Mayo is Linda Lee, a woman headed West as a singer ... or a mail-order bride ... or perhaps a prostitute ... who tries to hide the truth from everyone but Horn.

All find themselves in the abandoned Fort Utah, wondering who they'll have to fight off - the Indians or the white renegades, led by Dajin (Scott Brady). And wondering where the cavalry troop that was supposed to occupy the fort has gone.

Wagon train travelling in perilous country, smoke signals, renegades, deserted fort and angry native Americans - this western full of familiar tropes but it's not any less enjoyable. Actually the plot is quite good - there's no cavalry coming to the rescue and the bad guys are not the Indians, but a band of renegade led by Scott Brady. There's some good action sequences especially at the end and good performances by John Ireland, Virginia Mayo and John Russell. It might have stock footages, poor stunt doubling but it does its job as diverting time filler.

FORT UTAH (1967) is another A.C. Lyles western with faded Hollywood stars who were put through their paces for a week of shooting, supplemented by a ton of stock footage. This one's about a wagon train of settlers heading for California, an Indian attack, a band of army deserters committing murder and mayhem, and a gunslinger and an Indian agent trying to protect the settlers. That's pretty much all you need to know. Every shot containing more than one wagon came from another, more expensive western. Every shot containing more than ten Indians came from another western. A location shot featuring smoke signals came from another western. At one point, a cavalry troop joins the wagon train but we only see one cavalry officer in this film's actual footage and no troopers at all, until stock footage of an Indian battle from another movie is inserted to give us a quick glimpse of other troopers. I kept thinking I'd rather be watching that other, bigger-budgeted western. Every time the hero, Tom Horn, gets into a fist fight, the actor who plays him, then-53-year-old John Ireland, is doubled by a stuntman with little resemblance to Ireland. And he has fights with at least four of his co-stars, some of whom have stuntmen with at least a mild resemblance to the actor they're doubling.

For the record, this one has fewer name actors in it than most other Lyles westerns. (TOWN TAMER, for instance, is packed with former stars.) John Ireland seems a bit slower and less proactive here than his character ought to be. After this and his next Lyles production, ARIZONA BUSHWHACKERS, he went off to Italy for a lucrative career in spaghetti westerns and war thrillers, usually in supporting roles. Virginia Mayo plays a wagon train passenger who claims to be an opera singer headed for a performing gig in San Francisco. The truth turns out to be much more sordid, which doesn't bother Ireland at all. Her backstory takes up way too much screen time, although I can't imagine that Mayo would have taken the part with any fewer scenes. I'm a huge fan of Mayo, but she's much more subdued here than the shameless brassy blonde she was during her Warner Bros. heyday in the 1940s and '50s (WHITE HEAT, THE IRON MISTRESS). Some of her contemporaries were a much better fit for the Lyles westerns, e.g. Jane Russell, who made two, and Yvonne De Carlo, who made four. Robert Strauss, who made a career out of playing comical gangsters, is quite good here as the grizzled Indian scout, Ben Stokes, who is out to find the army deserter, Dajin (Scott Brady), who caused all the trouble. I wonder why Strauss didn't make more westerns. Brady is billed third but doesn't appear until the last 25 minutes. His henchmen include Jim Davis, Harry Lauter and Donald "Red" Barry, all old hands at this kind of thing. John Russell, James Craig and Richard Arlen are also on hand lending dependable support. The character of Horn is no doubt based on the actual gunslinger of that name and he is treated here as someone whose fame precedes him. (The real Horn was hanged in 1903 for a murder committed during a range war.)

Having said all this, I must add that the action at the title fort, which takes up the second half of the movie, is quite suspenseful. Once the heroes arrive and find it mysteriously abandoned, except for a trio of Dajin's deserters who are quickly dispatched or driven off, they welcome the wagon train survivors and decide that their only chance against either Dajin's band or the rampaging Indians (angered by a massacre committed by the deserters) is to hole up in the fort with the repeating rifles stocked up by the wagon master (John Russell) and defend it when the attackers appear. There's a far-fetched but very clever resolution. Despite its seams showing, I found this film quite enjoyable and better than average for a Lyles western. I saw it on the Encore Western Channel in a pan-and-scan print. Which is how some of the other Lyles westerns are shown on Amazon Prime. I wish Paramount would spring for some widescreen prints.

In his review, revdrcac was right on--this is a fairly typical sort of A.C. Lyles production. In the 1960s, he made quite a few westerns starring folks who used to be stars. Few of these films were particularly distinguished and most seemed to have very small budgets--but they were entertaining (especially "Johnny Reno"). The likes of Dana Andrews, Richard Arlen, Howard Keel, George Montgomery, Rory Calhoun, Lon Chaney and Yvonne De Carlo all found work in his films--folks whose careers had long seen better days. Perhaps Lyles just liked these older and experienced professionals or, more likely, he liked that they could be had for a lot less money than the hotter and younger actors of the day. Here, John Ireland, Arlen and Virginia Mayo all get a second chance--which I appreciate, as they were good actors (particularly Ireland).

The film begins with Ireland on his horse--minding his own business. Suddenly, an Indian attacks him and the attacker is killed in the mêlée. Soon, an Indian agent (Robert Strauss--in a VERY atypical sort of role for him) meets him and they decide to ride together for safety. Soon, they are attacked by even more natives. Obviously, SOMETHING is up with the local Indian tribes! Then, they soon meet up with a wagon train and their leader (John Russell)--and they decide to help them, otherwise they could soon be massacred. What about this Fort Utah? Well, the hope is that someone can get their and get help...otherwise they're all on their own. But, when Ireland makes his way to the fort, he finds it nearly abandoned...except for some nasty killers who are deserters. See this film to see and to find out what happens next.

What I first started watching this film, I thought this was yet another film where the Indians were stupid and one-dimensional. Well, fortunately, this turned out not to be the case--they had a darned good reason to be mad! Aside from a bit of macho posturing and cheap production values (the lousy use of stunt-men in the fight between Ireland and the would-be rapist is pretty laughable), the film manages to work pretty well due to good acting and a decent script. I particularly like the relationship that developed between Ireland and Mayo, but also LOVED the weird casting of Strauss--he was a hoot. Not at all brilliant overall, but well worth seeing if you like the genre.

AC Lyles productions, also known as Second Chance westerns - because the casts were composed mostly of Hollywood vets - are mostly acceptable, entertaining, but where clichés are unfortunately not always absent. Here, you have a tremendous Scott Brady as the lead villain, the bad guy in chief.... Nothing exceptional but quite good, better than a lead good guy played by a wooden John Ireland. It is action packed, with a bodycount that will help you wasting time without any boredom. So that's not the worst of AC Lyles productions, and maybe among the three or four best. I have always had tenderness for those features hiring forgotten Hollywood glories, giving them a second chance.