La reine de la prairie

Barbara Stanwyck stars as hard-riding redhead who is out to reclaim land and cattle stolen from her by an unscrupulous rancher in cahoots with hostile Indians. Many of the standard western movie clichés make up the story so there isn't anything new here. Ronald Reagan appears as an undercover government agent investigating unlawful distribution of rifles to the Indians and has trouble keeping Stanwyck out of harm's way. Lance Fuller is a college-educated Indian who wants his people to walk in the ways of the white man. Anthony Caruso, who was great at portraying villains, is on target as a bad Indian who's in cahoots with Gene Evans who conspires to drive Jones off her rightful claim to the valley. The picture also has a wealth of great character actors such as Myron Healy, Jack Elam, Morris Ankrum, Chubby Johnson and Rod Redwing. The film has fine technicolor lensing and an okay music score.

Out of RKO Radio Pictures comes Cattle Queen of Montana, directed by Allan Dwan and written by Robert Blees, Howard Estabrook (screenplay) & Thomas Blackburn (story). It stars Barbara Stanwyck, Ronald Reagan, Gene Adams, Lance Fuller, Anthony Caruso, Jack Elam & Yvette Duguay. The music is scored by Louis Forbes and it's a Technicolor production with John Alton on photography. Locations used for the film are Glacier National Park, Montana & Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, California.

Stanwyck plays Sierra Nevada Jones, a tough cowgirl who along with her father, drive the family herd up from Texas to Montana. Planning to build a ranch to set themselves up, tragedy strikes when they are attacked by some renegade Blackfoot Indians. However, all is not as it seems, just what has shifty Tom McCord (Evans) got to do with things? Why is gunslinger Farrell (Reagan) working for McCord? And can war between the Blackfoot and the white man be averted?

Standard formulaic stuff that is only really of interest for the photography of Alton. Cowboys and Indians, good and bad on each side, go head to head in a cliché riddled movie bogged down by a pretty turgid script. Not even the normally classy Stanwyck can lift herself to a performance capable of saving the piece. There's some credit due for making the lead protagonist a strong willed woman, and even tho it's a bit late in the cycle of topic, depicting the Indians as not all savages-as the white man encroaches onto their land-is a bonus. But with American character actors Fuller & Caruso playing the in fighting leaders of the Blackfoot tribe, it just comes across as corny and wholly unbelievable, while Dwan was indeed a more than capable director, here the action lacks zip and the film gasps for some dramatic air as the narrative goes around in circles.

The story off screen is more entertaining than the film itself, where Reagan was constantly at odds with producer Benedict Bogeaus. The future President of the United States of America took one look at the script and voiced concerns, suggesting many changes, all of which were ignored. Royalty status was afforded Stanwyck while Reagan got next to no help from the producer, this perhaps goes someway to explaining his limp performance. Tho, again, the script calls for him to be part of one of the most lukewarm and pointless romances in 1950s Oaters, he got no help either way on this picture. Still, there's Alton's photography of the Glacier National Park to hold the attention, even if the "new" scrubbed up print of the film is far from doing it justice.

That its claim to fame is being the film playing at the theater in Hill Valley in the film Back to the Future, says volumes, this is poor all told, and not even worthy of recommending to those after a time filling Cowboys & Indians no brainer. 3/10

"Cattle Queen of Montana" was one of those "tough old broad" westerns that Barbara Stanwyck made during the 1950s.

In this one Sierra Nevada Jones (Stanwyck), her father Pop Jones (Morris Ankrum) and their foreman Nat Collins (Chubby Johnson) have driven a herd of some 1,100 cattle up from Texas to settle in Montana. On their arrival, the herd is stampeded, Pop is killed and old Nat seriously wounded. The raid is led by renegade Blackfoot Natchakoa (Anthony Carouso) who is in league with local rancher McCloud (Gene Evans) to drive off any new ranchers arriving in the area.

Into the picture comes gunfighter Farrell (Ronald Reagan) who signs on with McCloud. In the meantime "good" Blackfoot, Colorados (Lance Fuller) rescues Sierra and Nat and takes them to his village to recover. Gradually Sierra and Colorados become allies much to the chagrin of Colorado's girlfriend Starfire (Yvette Duguay) and Natchakoa.

It turns out that Farrell is an army officer working under cover to discover who has been selling guns to the renegade Blackfeet. Well you knew that the clean cut Reagan would turn out to be a good guy didn't you? Anyway, Farrell aligns himself with Sierra and Colorados against the baddies and well, you know the rest.

Director Alan Dwan gives us a beautifully photographed outdoor western. The VCI DVD has been digitally remastered to its original technicolor brilliance and this alone makes this a must see.

Reagan is not very convincing as a ruthless gunfighter. He just doesn't come across as being mean enough. Stanwyck would play a number of similar roles in other westerns culminating with her long run on TV's "The Big Valley". She's supposed to be a "cattle queen" here but doesn't have any cattle to speak of through most of the picture. Lance Fuller looks about as much like an Blackfoot Indian as I do.

Also in the cast are Jack Elam and Myron Healey (who has a good scene with Stanwyck) as McCloud's henchmen, Hugh Sanders as Col. Carrington and a toothless Glenn Strange as the old Blackfoot Chief.

Oddly enough most of the featured players (and Reagan) in this film would turn up in "Tennessee's Partner" the following year.

If you already have seen MAVERICK QUEEN, FORTY GUNS, THE FURIES, also starring Barbara Stanwyck, then this western will look familiar to you. In all those movies, she plays strong lady, leading men, and admit that's not too usual in westerns, mostly macho oriented. And the most astounding is that she never loses her feminine touch. I was also excitied by the jawdropping natural settings, on locations. The story is also very touching and director Allan Dwann, one of the most prolific ever, gives here a terrific performance in one of his latest movies. Benedict Bogeaus production, who were in charge of those latest Dwann's stuff, is also on the level; nothing to do with a Sam Katzman production's film for instance.

Perhaps the most uncomplicated of America's classic directors, Dwan made a series of films in the fifties for producer Bogeaus that allowed him a degree of flexibility he'd been unused to since the silent days. Cattle Queen of Montana, the tale of Stanwyck's struggles to hold on to the property of her murdered father, is beautifully lit by cinematographer Alton, the great unsung Hollywood cameraman. It evokes a world of easeful innocence far removed from the cynicism and violence that was the norm in the Western of the fifties. Reagan is the mysterious gunman who comes to Stanwyck's rescue. Stanwyck, who did all her own stunts, so impressed the Blackfeet Indians hired as extras that they made her a blood sister, and gave her the Indian name of Princess Many Victories.

Phil Hardy