Steineded How sad is this?

Catangro After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

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

Robert J. Maxwell Lots of conflict and shooting in this rather routine Western of US cavalry versus Apaches. Bibi Andersson, who practically glowed in Ingmar Bergman's movies, is only a subsidiary character and looks like just another Hollywood blond. James Garner could be a fine actor when the role was right and Sidney Poitier was one of the most skilled of his generation. I have no idea why they dressed him up in a cowboy hat, fancy vest, skin-tight trousers, and black boots,.But what can you do with a B script that's enlivened by a few unusual incidents. Here are two unusual incidents. The Apache are chasing a cook wagon. And what do they do? They SHOOT ONE OF THE HORSE and the wagon has to stop! Hallelujah! Finally, a move script allows the Indians to figure out that if you want to stop a wagon you don't necessarily have to pick off the guy driving it.Here's another incident. Dennis Weaver is a miscreant who finally sides with the good guys. It doesn't save him from being brutally tortured over a fire by the Apache, to the point at which he later begs the cavalry men to kill him. The Apache, by the way, weren't racists. They were indiscriminately brutal, as many other Western tribes were. Weaver may have been roasted alive, but others were de-boned, beginning with their fingertips.But these scenes can't redeem a B script that has a lonesome patrol fighting overwhelming odds and being picked off one by one until the final and inevitable rescue by the rest of the cavalry. Want to know what would have been REALLY innovative? They all die. But then who would have paid to see the movie?Very nice location shooting though, among bluffs that alternate gray strata with rust, and the horses for some reason look beautiful, not like just any old horse.

Scott LeBrun Interesting casting is just one of the assets of this lightning paced, socially relevant Western that features some exhilarating action scenes certain to make the viewer sit up and pay attention.An unlikely bunch of protagonists band together as the Cavalry takes on a mission to deliver some new recruits to a far away fort, while Apache forces are growing very aggressive. James Garner is the scout determined to find out who violated and butchered his Apache wife, Sidney Poitier is the former officer turned gambler roped into coming along, and Bill Travers is the stoic Cavalry lieutenant supervising the mission.It's great fun to see Mr. Poitier in this kind of setting, and he handles his role with his standard dignity and smoothness, while Garner is likable and charismatic as always, and Travers does well as a basically good man who knows the odds are stacked against his men. The supporting cast is equally impressive: beautiful Bibi Andersson is Ellen, the wife of bigoted trader Willard Grange (Dennis Weaver), who has her own compelling subplot: she'd once been kidnapped by Apaches, and bore one of the tribe a son, to whom she tries to return, especially as Willard and other townspeople insist on giving her the cold shoulder. Also appearing are William Redfield as Sgt. Ferguson, Bill Hart as Cpl. Harrington, and John Crawford as Clay Dean. Director Ralph Nelson (who'd previously directed Poitier towards a Best Actor Oscar win for "Lilies of the Field") appears on screen as Col. Foster, using the pseudonym of "Alf Elson", and Richard Farnsworth has an uncredited bit as a wagon driver.Viewers can take note than even while these Indians are portrayed as the antagonists, we can still feel sympathy for the way they are treated, the same way we feel sympathy towards Ellen. Filmed in Southern Utah, this is an absolutely gorgeous film, extremely well shot by Charles F. Wheeler, and given a nicely rousing score by Neal Hefti. Smart and fun at the same time, "Duel at Diablo" does not have one dull moment to speak of, delivering one huge set piece around the midway point and two concurrent showdowns for the big finish. Highly recommended to action and Western fans.Eight out of 10.

Spikeopath Duel at Diablo is directed by Ralph Nelson and co-adapted to screenplay by Michael M. Grilikhes & Marvin H. Albert from Albert's own novel, Apache Rising. It stars James Garner, Sidney Poitier, Bibi Andersson, Dennis Weaver and Bill Travers. Music is by Neal Hefti and cinematography by Charles F. Wheeler.Searching for the man responsible for killing his Comanche wife, Jess Remsberg (Garner) is crossing the desert when he rescues Ellen Grange (Andersson) from the Apache and returns her to her husband Willard (Weaver) at Fort Creel. After a run in with Toller (Poitier), an ex-trooper who now makes his living supplying and breaking in horses for the cavalry, both men wind up joining a cavalry party carrying supplies to Fort Concho. With the Apache angry about their treatment by the white man, this party are at great risk travelling through Diablo Canyon. And so it proves, where joined by the Granges, secrets will out and Apache will attack….Obviously intended to be driven by a strong racial dynamic between whites and Indians, Duel at Diablo never really follows through on its promise of something more cutting. With full development instead of snatches of politics, both sexual and racial, this could have been thematically as dynamite as the picture is as a Western war piece. However, its strengths are many, and Western fans after violence and reams of action get fully paid up here. Nelson's (Soldier Blue) film barely pauses for breath as the director crams as much in as he can, fisticuffs, pursuits, shoot outs, warfare, torture, explosions and lots of blood, all of which get their respective day in the sun. The stunt work is top notch and the writing at least allows for some intelligent tactical thinking to be shown by both sides during the Diablo Canyon siege.It's also rich in characterisations: Remsberg is driven by revenge (Garner channelling Randy Scott from the Boetticher movies): Ellen, once captured by the Apache and taken as a bride and a mother to a half-breed baby, she's treated like a disease by the town folk: Willard, her husband, carries that burden, but not with ease: Toller, a black man who has served his time in the army, he now wears dandy clothes and answers to nobody: Lt. Scotty McAllister (Travers), the archetypal hero in waiting officer. All are interesting characters, and crucially they are given very good portrayals by the actors. Wheeler expertly photographs the Kanab, Utah, locale to form a beautiful, yet imposing, backdrop, and Hefti's score is very different, a blending of styles, it's part spaghetti, part traditional and part Hippy Woodstock!A ripper of an entertainer that's better than the standard Cavalry v Indians Oater the plot synopsis suggests. But you will most likely come away thinking it should have had more conviction thematically. 7.5/10

wsidejack1 A bloody, brutal Western where the action never stops. First, the Bad (let's get that out of the way). Like all Westerns, the plot has its flaws -- with an Indian war party off the reservation they would not have sent a shipment of ammunition through a narrow canyon guarded by only one squad of green recruits on unbroken/partly saddle broken horses. But so what? In the classic Western Stagecoach the Indians would have shot the horses pulling the stage and then finished off the passengers as opposed to shooting at the people in the coach. Also, Sidney Poitier's silver vest remains immaculate throughout the long desert journey and several pitched battles.However, the movie moves so fast that you never really have time to stop and remind yourself that you have to "suspend disbelief" to watch it.Next, the Good. On one level, it's a classic cavalry vs. Indians story. But viewed through a different lens than in earlier Westerns; the Indians are shown with some perspective, if not total sympathy, which probably makes this one of the first Westerns to get beyond a one dimensional view of them. There are a variety of interesting subplots which flesh out the major characters and keep things twisting, turning, and moving along between the combat scenes. In fact, almost every one of the characters is angry about something, creating lots of tension between them. James Garner's character is looking for the men who raped and killed his (Indian) wife, Dennis Weaver's Will Grange is angry about almost everything, including that his wife was held captive by the Indians, Sidney Poitier's Toller (now a civilian) is mad that circumstances forced him to accompany the cavalry on this mission ....Garner and Poitier give excellent performances and the other actors rise to the occasion, helping us forget that they are, in fact, Scottish or Danish.At the end of the movie the various subplots are tied up and the issues are resolved with (in one case) a very surprising twist.On top of that, you have a wonderful (almost superb, for this movie) Neal Hefti score, which always seems to correctly reflect the mood of the scene. It fits the movie even better because it makes heavy use of Western/military instruments: guitars, horns, drums, ....Finally, the Ugly. There are some fairly graphic scenes here (although not exactly like in the Wild Bunch or Saving Private Ryan). The Apaches could torture with the best of them and some of that appears in this movie, although we're spared the close-ups.All in all, I must say that this is one of my long time favorites. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!!