Hottoceame The Age of Commercialism

Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

JohnHowardReid A Regal Films Production released by 20th Century-Fox. U.S. release: March, 1958. U.K. release: 13 April 1958. Australian release: 14th August, 1958. 73 minutes.SYNOPSIS: A Union patrol joins forces with a group of ex-Confederate soldiers to ward off an Apache attack.COMMENT: A typical RegalScope production: (1) It marks the directorial debut of a film editor,* which as usual turns out to be an inauspicious, unpromising and entirely disappointing debut. The direction, whilst not exactly inept, is as dull as all get-out and extracts every last grain of tedium out of the lethargically-staged proceedings. (2) The players are all afflicted with the B-grade shuffle in spades, moving at a tiresomely slow gait and speaking with plenty of pauses between words, and so spinning a 50-minute script out to 73 minutes without the producer having to go to the expense of employing an additional writer. This film has a distinct advantage over its stablemates in that the lead actress is supposed to be a Mexican and this gives her an excuse to hesitate twice as long between every word as the rest of the cast.† (3) The script has a surfeit of feeble dialogue. There is not much action and what there is happens to be pretty tame. (4) The photography is flat and almost completely featureless. Gray tones are prominent and there is very little contrast. There is no such thing as a deep, rich black in a RegalScope film. (5) Production values are noticeably skimpy. The cast is fairly small, the sets are drab, the locations unattractive, the music score strictly routine and other production credits are totally undistinguished. One odd thing is that Regal films seldom, if ever, use any stock footage. So far as I know, all RegalScope films were photographed in black-and-white.

gordonl56 AMBUSH AT CIMARRON PASS 1958 This low end western was a Regal Production released through 20th Century Fox. The cast includes, Scott Brady, Clint Eastwood, Frank Gerstle, Margia Dean, Irving Bacon and Baynes Barron.A US Cavalry patrol led by Scott Brady has captured gunrunner, Baynes Barron. Barron was collared with 36 new Winchester rifles he was planning on selling to the Apache. The Apaches are not amused, and have been following the patrol, knocking them off one by one.The men come up on another group that is also in having their share of trouble with the natives. The men have had their herd of cattle rustled by the same Apaches. In charge here is Frank Gerstle. One of his hands is played by Clint Eastwood. The men are all veterans of the late war between the States. The Cavalry are Yankees while the cattlemen were Confederate types.The two groups decide to join up for added protection from the Apache. They are soon joined by Margia Dean who was a prisoner of the Apache. Miss Dean delivers a message from the Apache. If they turn over the 36 Winchesters they can all go without a fight.Brady will have none of this idea, he knows full well the Apache will wipe them out if they lay their hands on the rifles. The Apache chase off the group's horses that night leaving them on foot. It is at least a 6 day walk to the Cavalry fort.The next day, the men and Miss Dean set off for the fort. The bunch is short of water and food, but they have the rifles and plenty of ammo. The Apache keep their distance because of the firepower. They do however manage to knock off any stragglers etc. Also in the mix here is Irving Bacon. Bacon is stirring up trouble between ex Confederate Eastwood and the Yankee Sgt, Brady.Matters come to a head when the Apache try a night time raid to grab the guns. The raid fails with dead on both sides. The group continues on their trek to reach the fort. The heat, lack of food and a poisoned water hole take their toll on the group.On their last legs, Brady has an idea to even the odds. They pull a night time raid on the Apache hoping to reclaim their horses. The raid goes sideways and the horses get away. The party though are able to do some serious damage to the Apaches. The surviving men and Miss Dean now manage to stagger their way to the fort.I seriously wanted to like this film, but it barely rises above average at best. The 72 minute run-time seems much longer, with cast being shown constantly walking up hills, then down hills. The direction is incredibly static, showing why this was the only big screen film helmed by, Jodie Copelan. The story is just a re-hash of tales one has seen many times before. Veteran writer John K. Butler had done much better work before.The cast gives it their all and are not to be blamed for the poor end product.

starracer007 Let's face it - the only real reason to catch this pedestrian oater is to get a glimpse of a 27 year old Clinton Eastwood. The future star is still coltish in his acting craft here, and he hasn't fully developed his excellent timing and intensity as in "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" and "Dirty Harry", but the B western does show why this film was a good reason that he pursue acting. His scenes with Margia Dean are the best in showing a charisma which would one day make him box office.Made in 1958, Eastwood looks very youthful. He holds his own in scenes with a sturdy and sullen Scott Brady, and is somewhat confined by a script that has him cast as the young fool. But Eastwood does well with what he's got, and exhibits a star quality as a young Hollywood actor.

helpless_dancer A partially decimated Army unit teams up with a group of cowboys, who also had been hit by renegade injuns. The cavalry squad was trying to get a gun runner and 3 dozen rifles back to their fort, but had to fight their way through fierce indian raiders intent on getting the weapons. Average soldier vs. redskin shoot-em-up.