Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Spikeopath Flaming Feather is directed by Ray Enright and written by Gerald Drayson Adams. It stars Sterling Hayden, Forrest Tucker, Arleen Whelan, Barbara Rush, Victor Jory, Edgar Buchanan and Richard Arlen. A Technicolor production, music is by Paul Sawtell and cinematography by Ray Rennahan.The mysterious outlaw known only as The Sidewinder is in cahoots with the Native Americans and terrorises Arizona's settlers. But when The Sidewinder chose Tex McCloud (Hayden) as one of his targets, he hadn't banked on Tex linking up with the U.S. Cavalry to hunt him down.Enjoyably energetic Oater that makes up for what it lacks in originality with gorgeous location photography and a barn storming finale. Ray Enright was a good old pro at this sort of thing, and here he doesn't waste any time with pointless filler scenes or drawn out conversations that don't advance the plot. From the get go we are thrust into an action sequence, and from there on in the film rarely pauses for breath.Hayden and Tucker make for a beefy coupling, and although the mystery element is not exactly rocket science to work out, the presence of three lovely lady characters does spice up the intrigue surrounding The Sidewinder and those in pursuit of him. It all builds to a wonderful finale that starts out with a Little Big Horn type siege, which then develops into a pursuit and battle up at the Montezuma Castle Monument in Arizona, where fire pit punch ups and ladder skills enthral greatly.It isn't hard to pick holes in it, it is after all one of those quintessentially early 1950s Westerns that was ignorant to intelligent scripting and screenplays. Yet for sheer gusto and consistently airy beauty this is a must see for Western and Hayden lovers. 7/10

bkoganbing Flaming Feather casts Sterling Hayden as a rancher and Forrest Tucker as a cavalry lieutenant who make a bet as to who will catch the notorious outlaw known as the Sidewinder. Hayden whose ranch was recently burned out and cattle stolen is not satisfied with the performance of the army in catching this desperado. The Sidewinder has as his gang a collection renegade Ute Indians which makes him the army business as opposed to civilian law enforcement. Hayden and Tucker have a wager on who will catch him first as no white people know his identity.It wasn't hard to figure it out just look at the casting. Even without IMDb identifying the Sidewinder on Flaming Feather's page it was easy to figure out by the kind of roles this player is usually cast in. The real suspense is whether Hayden or Tucker will wind up with leading ladies Arleen Whelan and Barbara Rush. Another good part is that of Carol Thurston who played many exotic types in her career and is the Indian mistress of The Sidewinder.Flaming Feather is good, but highly predictable.

MartinHafer Often I wish we could give scores like 6.5, as "Flaming Feather" isn't quite good enough to merit a 7 but better than a 6. I also notice that the other reviewers really liked this one. Well, I did too--just not quite as much.The film begins with a rancher (Sterling Hayden) having his homestead attacked by an Indian bandit named 'The Sidewinder'. In the attack, Hayden loses everything but his life and is naturally determined to watch this bandit and punish him. Along the way, he meets up with the Cavalry--and Hayden isn't particularly nice to them. After all, they should have stopped the Sidewinder, as he and his gang have been at it for years and no one STILL has any idea who he is. He and the Commander (Forrest Tucker) make a bet as to who will get the Sidewinder.In town, Sterling meets up with two interesting ladies--a crazy red-head who seems like poison and a gorgeous and nice dark-haired lady (Barbara Rush) who is headed west to marry some guy named 'Lucky'. However, twice folks try to either kill or kidnap her--and both times the hero, Sterling, rescues her. What's next and what the fiancé (Victor Jory) has to do with all this is something you'll need to see for yourself.I think the film's biggest strength is that the plot is unusual--something pretty rare with a western. And, it never hurts to have Sterling Hayden starring in a film. But the film also has a few problems--such as wasting Edgar Buchanan in a support role, a ridiculous fighting scene where tiny little Jory is a match for the hulking Hayden as well as a final scene where the Indian lady runs up and grabs a gun and shoots someone--as Forrest Tucker just sits there and lets her do this. This final complaint is just sloppy and with a better finale, I might have scored this one a bit higher. Worth seeing--just not brilliant.

helpless_dancer A band of renegade Utes, led by a sneaky, low down, forked tongue white man, burn, loot, and pillage across the southwest. A rugged settler and the Army go after the elusive skunk and his gang of dirty rats and meet in a blazing gun battle in the mountains. Above average western.