Le sabre et la flèche

This movie takes place in the southwestern part of the United States with the Comanche chief "Black Cloud" (John War Eagle) having left the reservation with a large number of warriors to wage war upon everyone in that area. And one of his first targets is the small town of Dry Buttes where a small cavalry regiment finds itself forced to fight against incredible odds. Eventually finding themselves unable to successfully defend the town, a few cavalry soldiers led by "Sergeant Matt Trainor" (Broderick Crawford) manage to escape into the desert but in their haste carry very little food or water with them. Not long after that they come upon a stage coach headed directly for Dry Buttes and after turning it around they realize that their only chance to survive depends on their making it safely to Fort Macklin which is over 100 miles away. But to do that they will not only have to evade the Comanches but also need to find a source of water somewhere in the very near future as well-and that is much more difficult than they realize. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a pretty good Western which captured the feel of the harsh conditions of the southwestern desert pretty well. Admittedly, a couple of the decisions made by Sergeant Trainor seemed rather odd but it made for good entertainment none-the-less. Be that as it may, while this film may not have been a great Western by any means it managed to pass the time fairly well and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

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.

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

This movie is almost a carbon copy of the WWII, 1943 version of the movie Sahara which starred Humphrey Bogart as Sergeant Joe Gunn. Bogart and a ragtag group of soldiers cross the Sahara Desert and make an almost hopeless stand against terrible odds.

They and the Germans are greatly in need of water. The..."trade a rifle for a cup of water... two rifles, two cups of water" is the same in both.... still fun to watch. It's fun to match the characters and the similarities. Sahara (1943) is a very, very good WWI movie.... Last of the Comanches (1952) is a so-so Western.

This is an old fashioned cowboys and Indians story with the cavalry literally saving the heroic band of Indian fighters at the last minute. It has some very good old fashioned character actors with the likes of Broderick Crawford, Martin Milner, Mickey Shaughnessy and a much younger Della Street in the guise of Barbara Hale. In this age of extreme anxiety, with bands of terrorists threatening we know not where or what, it was very nice to escape back in time to this kind of well produced, well acted 50's western. Though it is, perhaps, a movie for those of a certain generation.