La rivière de la dernière chance

Since "broken arrow" it had become politically correct to treat the Indians as human beings and it was about time!Like James Stewart ,the hero lived with a tribe,married a squaw (who died too) ,but it was a bad idea cause he was a military man and by leaving his "people " behind ,he became a deserter .He was captured and held prisoner in a fort in jeopardy for the Indians are all around.The only way is the river which runs through the canyon.

The screenplay is predictable to a fault ,the female part (Piper Laurie)is essentially decorative ,but the landscapes are worth the price of admission.Like Richard Widmark in " the last wagon" ,Dana Andrews will "redeem himself" (but he is actually so noble there is nothing to redeem indeed).This is a "river movie" ,in which the enemy is actually not the Indians but the dangerous waters and the white men's jealousy and hatred .

Like this ? try these...

"River of no return" ,Otto Preminger

"The far horizons" ,Rudolph Maté

When Captain William Tallman returns to the fort with accused deserter Dana Andrews, he finds himself besieged by Indians who want him back. Tallman won't give him up, and the Utes threaten to kill everyone. So Andrews leads them on an escape by boat down the wild Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.

There are some technical issues with the obvious process shots. You can easily see which shots re shot in the studio against a screen. Even so, the location shots by Clifford Stine are lovely, and the sparse lines well delivered by a cast that includes Piper Laurie, Milburn Stone, Gordon Jones, and William Schallert -- even though Miss Laurie ater stated that Andrews was drunk throughout the shoot.

This otherwise routine western has two things going for it—great red rock scenery and William Talman as the cavalry captain. The scenery speaks for itself, but it's Talman's committed performance that lifts the human element. He makes his by-the-book officer utterly believable. Couple that with his screen time and it's really he who has the starring role. Too bad he settled into his long-running D.A. role on Perry Mason; then too, despite his semi-good guy role here, no one from that era could do bug-eyed psychos as well as Talman.

At the same time, it's too bad Andrews couldn't get motivated for his role. He pretty much picks up a paycheck and leaves it at that. But then a Universal western is a comedown for this former TCF movie star, and it shows. It's also pretty much a ditto for Laurie who tags along in indifferent fashion, this not surprisingly being her last film for Universal. Good thing the supporting cast includes so many capable, familiar faces— Stone, Wilke, Jones—to help save the acting day.

Frankly, the plot seems more complicated than the script could lucidly handle, then again, maybe that's just me. But one thing with most westerns—you can enjoy the scenery and action without having to follow the plot. And that appears the case here. On the whole, the centerpiece action on the river is well done with only a few blended process shots. And boy, I really jumped when the one boat suddenly struck a rock in totally realistic fashion.

Anyway, as a western, the movie has its compensations without being anything special.

"Smoke Signal" is an exceptional western in many ways. It has very good acting but more importantly it has excellent writing.

The story begins with a company of cavalry soldiers trying to make their way back to the fort...but hostile Ute Indians are trying to stop them. This is unusual because until recently, the Ute had been pacified. But now they most certainly are NOT and they want to wipe out the white men on their land.

When most of them manage to make it to the fort, things aren't a lot better. The fort's been under siege for some time and sooner or later, they're going to take the fort. However, the Captain (William Talman) is surprised when he and his men arrive at the fort...there's an unexpected prisoner there. Apparently Captain Halliday has been captured and his back story is an unusual one. It seems that Halliday objected to the way his commanding officer treated the Ute. The commander essentially wanted them dead...and Halliday's entreaties to treat them well had fallen on deaf ears. Eventually, in desperation, Halliday deserted...going to live with the Ute. So how did he get in the fort? Well, it seems that the Ute are so angry about the white men and their treatment of them, they want Halliday dead as well....so Halliday seems like a dead man regardless. There's a lot more to the story....try to see it if you can...as it only gets better.

"Smoke Signal" is a product of the 1950s. In the 50s, Hollywood was reassessing the way they portrayed natives. While still they often painted up white folks to play 'Indians' (fortunately they did NOT in this film), often these people were being portrayed more generously....and when they were warlike it was a reaction to their mistreatment and loss of land.

So what did I like about it apart from the acting and writing? Well, I liked the originality of the screenplay.... I cannot think of another western like it...and I've probably seen well over a thousand or more films in the genre. I also loved the Colorado River locale...it was beautiful and seeing the wilderness (mostly around Moab, Utah) is nice. My only complaint is that in closeup shots of the actors as they braved the treacherous river...well, these were done poorly and it's obviously they were rear projecting the river footage behind them...clumsily. It's a shame, as otherwise the footage is amazing...and it's one of the most breathtaking parts of America.

Smoke Signal is directed by Jerry Hooper and co-written by George F. Slavin and George W. George. It stars Dana Andrews, Piper Laurie, William Talman, Rex Reason, Milburn Stone and Douglas Spencer. A Technicolor production that's primarily filmed at the Grand Canyon of The Colorado, cinematography is by Clifford Stein and musical supervision is provided by Joseph Gershenson.

After their fort is attacked by Indians a small group of survivors escape to the wild Colorado River. Their only hope of survival is to tackle the unforgiving stretch of water whilst holding off the pursuing enemy. But can they survive each other first?

Very much a mixed bag in terms of production, Smoke Signal is enjoyable enough for the undemanding Western fan. The story is a safe one as it focuses on a fractured group dynamic having to come together in order to survive the terrain and hold off the enemy pursuing them. The group consists of a pig-headed Captain (Talman), soldiers with prejudice, a pretty lady (Laurie), a trapper (Spencer) and a prisoner (Andrews), the latter of which is a despised "Indian Lover" because of him having been married to an Indian woman and therefore lived with the Ute tribe. Many human traits and qualities will be tested on this journey, the narrative strong enough to warrant the interest being held to see how it will all pan out.

The central idea and its themes has been done far better before in films like The Last Wagon and River of No Return, to name just two. However, Smoke Signal does feature unique location work on the Big Bend of the Colorado River (Stine doing fine photography work), and it's good to see a rarely seen tribe of Indians featured in a Western, the Utes. Bonus, too, is Talman (The Hitch-Hiker), who gets a good meaty part to show what he could give as an actor. Yet the makers give good stuff with one hand and take it away with the other. Great scenery is coupled with poor back projection shots, dummies are all too evident and Laurie is arguably the ultimate token lone female character in a Western. Even the normally reliable Andrews looks weary throughout, were it not for Talman and Spencer, this would fall into the badly acted drawer.

Western fans don't demand too much from a "B" production, but some of the efforts here are dangerously close to being "Z" grade. A shame because the strong story and the real location photography carry a high interest factor for the genre follower. A better director than Hooper would have certainly improved things, or at the least someone who could stitch things together more knowingly with tricks of the trade. The Pegasus DVD release has a decent print, not pristine, but clear in picture and colour levels. It's not one to recommend with great confidence to like minded Western fans, but there's enough in here to rank it just above average. 6/10