L'or des Cheyennes

Lloyd Bridges shines as a cowardly calvary captain while actor, Vince Edwards, looks terribly miscast as an Indian in this Bryna Film Production. Bryna Productions was the company that was formed by actor, Kirk Douglas, that produced such films as "Spartacus", "Last Train From Gun Hill", "Paths of Glory", etc. I suspect this film was shot around the time that "Last Train From Gun Hill" was shot as some of the scenery where Rory Calhoun (Tate) has a confrontation with Vince Edwards (Chief Little Wolf) appears to be the same area where Earl Holliman rapes and kills Kirk Douglas wife in "Last Train From Gun Hill". What "Last Train From Gun Hill" has that this film doesn't have is a good script, a solid plot and beautiful Technicolor. "Ride Out For Revenge" is an interesting and entertaining film in so far as it points out the many wrongs that the "white man" has inflicted on the Indians as well as the hatred that has been sowed over the years through the losses of life from both sides. The plot puts Tate (Rory Calhoun) who loves an Indian princess (Joanne Gilbert) in the middle of an Indian vs "white man" confrontation. Now add the fact, that gold is found on the Indians land. Throw in a cowardly captain (Bridges) who hates Indians but would love to have their land and their gold. Sprinkle a widow (Gloria Graham) and a child (Michael Winkleman) that have both lost spouse and father by Indian massacre. Add a touch of vengeful Indian (Vince Edwards) whose father has been murdered by the town's people .... and you have all the ingredients for what is to come. The film, in my opinion, is at best a mediocre western with a very important but "preachy" message. What I found most interesting and important was the morale of the film which can be found is some of the final dialog of the film. Pretty Willow (Joanne Gilbert) says "If everything changes ... what will happen when someone comes to take the land from the "white man" and Tate (Rory Calhoun) responds "I don't know I never gave it much thought."

Some westerns portrayed the American Indians as unthinking, one- dimensional idiots--riding around in circles waiting to be picked off by folks in the wagon train or by the cavalry. Others, like this one, are more sympathetic and show these same people as multidimensional and decent.

When the film begins, the local chief is murdered. This is a serious problem, as the chief was a man of peace--and the new, younger chief is more headstrong and ready for revenge. Fortunately, there is a local guy (Rory Calhoun) who understands these Indians and treats them decently--and he can diffuse the situation. But the town is a hellish place that wants no part of peace and the local cavalry commander (Lloyd Bridges) is a cowardly jerk-face. With the Indians on the warpath and Calhoun's character the only person with any common sense, things look pretty awful for this stupid town.

The Indians are generally portrayed well. However, a complaint I often have is that the main Indians are played by white folks--such as Vince Edwards! So, it's like two steps forward and one step back. Overall, however, the film is interesting and presents a more balanced view of the west. The only problem is that, at times, the characters are a bit more like caricatures--a bit too one- dimensional to be believable.

A sheriff battles his gold hungry town and a cavalry captain who covet gold-rich Indian land.

The movie's pretty unremarkable except for the cowardly cavalry captain (Bridges). Cavalry officers were generally not portrayed in such a negative light. But here Bridges tries hard, if not very persuasively, to be as craven as possible. The film came along at a time when Hollywood was beginning to recognize the Indians' side of the struggle over land. Thus their side gets a fairer treatment than had been usual.

Calhoun plays an Indian sympathizer who tries to control the more bloodthirsty whites in the town. And, of course, he has an eye for the comely Indian maiden (Gilbert), who happens to look a lot whiter than he does. But then Hollywood never cast real Indian women as major romantic interests, even though they might use real Native Americans in all the other parts.

I'm not sure why cult actress Grahame is in the film since her part appears inessential. I guess it was for marquee value, though her best years are clearly past. On the whole, it's a rather dull western, without the expected big shootouts, but with a lot of talk instead. Its heart is in the right place, but not much else, I'm sorry to say.

This is a mostly pretty standard, Saturday morning kid's western. John Wayne could have easily been cast in the Rory Calhoun role (Tate) with no appreciable difference. Fans of Gloria Grahame and Vince Edwards will like it, even though there's nothing particularly memorable about their acting or scenes.

The biggest detriment is the large amount of screen time given to 'Little Billy'. You could see it coming right at the beginning of the movie, although his fate isn't particularly typical in these kinds of movies.

A real shame because, otherwise, it's not such a bad movie. As other's have mentioned, Lloyd Bridges' over-the-top, bad guy performance is the most redeeming quality. The other is the more sympathetic attitude given to the Native Americans' plight.

The story plays off of the hatred of Native Americans, and although there is a thread of support for equality and fairness, there's enough race-baiting stereotypes here to satisfy all spectrum of viewers. Gloria Grahame delivers a mannered, poor performance as a spurned love interest. The material is weak; her character goes from hating Indians (they killed her husband) to delivering a sanctimonious speech about hatred toward the end. Lloyd Bridges is over the top, easy to loathe. His character is a weasel. We get to see Vince Edwards, the future Dr. Ben Casey, as an indian. The best performance here is from Rory Calhoun, whose character has a strong moral compass; his performance is good leading man material. He's cool, relaxed and steady. Calhoun is the only reason to enjoy the film. Overall, not much new ground covered in this film. Nothing special.