Le sabre et la flèche

Last of the Comanches (AKA: The Sabre and the Arrow) is directed by Andre De Toth and adapted to the screen by Kenneth Gamet. It stars Broderick Crawford, Barbara Hale, Lloyd Bridges, Mickey Shaughnessy, Johnny Stewart, George Matthews and Hugh Sanders. A Technicolor production with cinematography by Charles Lawton Junior and Ray Cory and music by George Duning.

Safe as a bomb shelter Western. A remake of Zoltan Korda/Humphrey Bogart's war movie "Sahara" from 1943, Last of the Comanches finds Broderick Crawford as the leader of what remains of a massacred cavalry troop. As they make their way across the desert they pick up ragtag group of stagecoach passengers and as water runs low, they must fight for survival against fierce Comanches led by Black Cloud.

In essence it's a survivalist story with some Indian War action dotted around the outskirts of plotting. It's nice and airy, pleasingly performed, easy on the eye with its Technicolor photography, and De Toth once again shows himself to be a good marshall of action scenes. Crawford carries the movie of course, imbuing Sergeant Trainor with fearless bluster that holds the dysfunctional group together. The narrative strength comes from the lack of water, both for the whiteys and the Comanche, where the often forgotten weapons of war, that of food or drink, firmly keeps the story engrossing.

Not as good as "Sahara" but still a safe recommendation to Western and Brod Crawford fans. 7/10

I saw this movie at a children's Saturday afternoon matinee performance in Belfast under its then-British title THE SABRE AND THE ARROW. Only a young child, I remember being extremely moved by the juxtapositioning of the Brodrick Crawford seen-it-all Cavalry Sergeant's pragmatism with Johnny Stewart's vulnerablity as Little Knife, the abandoned Comanche boy in the desert. Normally at a children's matinee kids fidget and talk throughout, only cheering or boohing the action sequences. Thus we mostly came away from a western with an impression rather than a comprehension because the noise built to a point where dialogue went unheard. Not so in THE SABRE AND THE ARROW, the children's attention being a tribute to this western's emotional pull in the days when just seeing movies in colour was regarded as a treat. Cinema-only viewing added to the lustre. The dryness of that sun-blanched desert still haunts my senses fifty years on.

An atmospheric, character-driven exercise in suspense shot mainly out in the open in brilliant sunlight, set shortly after the massacre at Little Big Horn. Handsomely mounted in Technicolor and grouped with a dramatic eye; the use of the singular being appropriate since the director himself famously had only the one eye.

The remainder of a squadron of cavalry and the unfortunate passagers of a stagecoach join forces throughout the desert escaping from hostile indians and fighting for their survival . An exciting, stirring tale about a stranded group who hardly ever holding Comanche attacks. Ten men...a woman..and only a ghost of a chance ! Ten against then thousand ... and a million-to-one chance to even the odds !

Gritty and decently written Western , exploring the anguish of soldiers and stagecoach passengers , and the hard relationship among them. This is a moving story about people surrounded and continuously harassed by Indians and other dangers . Make a thousand double bill Westerns and you must come up with one little gem . Director here and there puts every trick and action enough . Stars Broderick Crawford who gives a nice acting as a two-fisted Cavalry Sergeant commanding a ragtag team. He leads a parade of interpretations that make the characters live. The remmant cast are pretty good with plenty of notorious actors and other secondaries, such as : Barbara Hale, Lloyd Bridges, Mickey Shaughnessy, George Mathews, Chubby Johnson , Martin Milner and brief appearance uncredited of Steve Forrest.

It displays a thrilling and evocative musical score by George Duning. Furthermore, brilliant and picturesque photography by cameramen Charles Laughton and Ray Cory. The motion picture was well directed by Andre De Toth .At his beginning, De Toth entered the Hungarian film industry , getting work as a writer, editor, second unit director and actor before eventually becoming a filmmaker. Later on, Alexander Korda gave him a job in England, then Toth emigrated to the US in 1942 and started working as a second unit director in Jungle Book 1942. Andre De Toth was a skillful artisan, who made all kinds of genres as : Adventure : The Mongols , Morgan the pirate, Tanganyka. Peplum: Gold for the Caesar. Terror : House of Wax 1953, probably his best and most known film. And Westerns : Indian Fighter, Man in the saddle, Ramrod, The stranger wore a gun, Last of the Comanches . Rating : 6.5, well worthwatching. Essential and fundamental seeing for Western enthusiasts.

If you like Broderick Crawford, you will enjoy this film from beginning to end. Broderick plays the role of Sgt. Matt Trainor who leads a group of people from Arizona with all kinds of backgrounds, one man was a gun smuggler for the Indians, Black Cloud and a young woman, named Julia Lanning, (Barbara Hale) who is among many men but no one tries to hit on her, mainly because they are too busy fighting off Indians constantly. There is plenty of action with arrows flying through the air and people running out of water and Sgt. Matt playing all kinds of games with the Native American Indians who do not fool around and drive a hard bargain. Lloyd Bridges, "Sea Hunt TV Series" (Jim Starbuck) looks very young and gives a great supporting role. Enjoyable 1953 film classic which was filmed in Buttercup Dunes, California and not the Sahara Desert.