Make no mistake, Guy Madison invented the word "cool". Any dictionary dated before his birth that has the word "cool" in it, is a forgery.
Knowing this helps to cast him in the correct role. He was meant to be the "cool" character who makes sense out of situations in which lesser characters lose their heads.
Here, he is perfectly cast. He is the fourth character, actually, in the love triangle, which is where he does best.
The southern belle's husband appears only briefly, and is afterwards only spoken of in his endeavors in this Civil War adventure.
The other member of the triangle is an artillery officer for the South, who resembles Gable in looks, but in character is more like John Wayne.
Guy Madison plays the Union artillery officer opposing him. He is also a friend of all three of the other characters.
The story is a familiar one, one that has been made many times since, of Confederates on a mountain, trying to buy time for their army.
What really makes this film special is that it could have been cliché, but it avoids all of the clichés. The characters are probably much too believable and three dimensional for the modern beavis or butthead, but easy for most people to relate to and feel some empathy for. This is not for the IMDb bubble boy.
The soldiers are especially three dimensional. One Union soldier whom we expect to be the usual cliché jerk, actually becomes a very sympathetic character in this drama.
The events seem to be written as they occur. Nothing looks contrived, so when we find the coincidence of the friends meeting in battle on opposite sides, it becomes the only coincidence, making it quite credible, as in a world where there are a million possible coincidences an hour, one is sure to happen.
It is the natural flow and non judgmental occurrences, where the chips land wherever they may land, that make this special.
Excellent war Western.
