CheerupSilver Very Cool!!!

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

JohnHowardReid Errol Flynn (Lafe Barstow), Patrice Wymore (Johanna Carter), Scott Forbes (Lieutenant Rickey), Guinn "Big Boy" Williams (Pap Dennison), Dick Jones (Jim Wheat), Howard Petrie (Cole Smith), Slim Pickens (Plank), Chubby Johnson (Gil Craigie), Buzz Henry (Kip Waterson), Sheb Wooley (Kay Rawlins), Peter Coe (Pierre Duchesne), Rush Williams (Jonas Weatherby), Steve Dunhill (Ash), Alex Sharp (Barnes), Yakima Canutt (Ryan), Nakai Snez (Man Dog).Director: WILLIAM KEIGHLEY. Screenwriter: Alan LeMay, Winston Miller, based on the story "Ghost Mountain" by Alan LeMay. Music by Max Steiner. Director of photography: Ted McCord. Film editor: Rudi Fehr. Art director: Stanley Fleischer. Set decorator: L.S. Edwards. Sound: Stanley Jones. Wardrobe: Marjorie Best. Orchestrations: Murray Cutter. Assistant director: Frank Mattison. Producer: William Jacobs. A Warner Brothers-First National Picture.Copyright 13 October 1950 by Warner Brothers Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Strand: 3 November 1950. U.S. release: 11 November 1950. U.K. release: 23 August 1951. Australian release: 23 May 1952. 83 minutes. Censored to 7,427 feet (82 minutes) in the U.K.SYNOPSIS: Flynn's last western sees him as a Confederate officer sent with a small group of soldiers to California where they are supposed to meet with a powerful group of outlaws and persuade them to take the territory in the name of the Confederacy. The two groups are to meet at a hot, arid plateau in the desert that is fraught with danger and has been the site of many skirmishes between warring Indians and Union soldiers. As Flynn and his men wait for their party, a stagecoach being attacked by Indians roars by. The Confederate soldiers repel the Indians and inside the stagecoach is a beautiful young woman, Wymore, who was on her way to meet her fiancé, Forbes, a Union Army officer. Though Flynn is quite taken with the girl, he uses her as bait to lure her fiancé and his patrol into the desert in search of her. The Confederates manage to capture the Yankees, but then the Indians launch a massive attack.NOTES: Film debut of Slim Pickens.COMMENT: Meticulously directed by William Keighley, incorporating a most exciting chase sequence (doubtless staged by Yakima Canutt) right at the very start, this beautifully photographed mainly-on- actual-locations, Civil War western runs through its 83 minutes in commendably short order. The taut screenplay provides plenty of interesting and intriguing sequences and only one or two dull ones (the interludes between Flynn and Wymore). Performances are never less than capable.OTHER VIEWS: Despite a story that keeps to the suspenseful Greek unities of time, place and plot, this Rocky Mountain adventure tends to be a wearisome climb. Chiefly to blame is the screenplay with its verbose dialogue and unconvincingly stereotyped characters. Veterans like Chubby Johnson and Howard Petrie can get away with it. Even Flynn manages with a certain degree of polish and style. But Scott Forbes and especially Dick Jones are distinctly uncomfortable. Miss Wymore is okay, but strikes no sparks. An added burden is provided by a dog, sketched into the plot solely to be milked for gratuitous sentiment.Keighley's direction is dull and occasionally lacking in finesse that results in clumsy editing with jarring close-ups arbitrarily inserted. But McCord's marvelous location photography with all its deep focus effects, clouded skylines and running inserts, is something else again. Uncredited Canutt undoubtedly did the action material and splendid stuff it is too.

vincentlynch-moonoi This is not one of Errol Flynn's great Westerns (and he had several), but it is quite a bit better than the average western of the time period right around 1950, so it is definitely worth watching. And although Flynn's star was beginning to fade by this time, he is still excellent here -- a very pleasing mix of rugged and a gentleman.The story is a bit different than what we usually see in Western -- it's actually about a group of Confederate soldiers that are on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, preparing to raise a band of less than noble men to start trouble and turn the Civil War around by changing the balance of power in the West. What they didn't take into account was that in addition to having to fight Union soldiers, they'd be in Indian territory, as well. Now the only real problem is that the scenery here is clearly red rocks (although in a black and white film), not what you'd see just east of the Sierra Nevadas. Looks more like what you'd see in northwestern New Mexico...which is, by coincidence...where it was filmed.The only star of note in the film is Errol Flynn, and he carries the film well. The rest of the cast play their supporting roles well, though there are no stars of note. Patrice Wymore, as the love interest (fiance of the Union soldier) wasn't ever a very notable actress, but she's attractive and does well here. Scott Forbes and the lead Union soldier is fine, but not notable. You'll recognize Chubby Johnson as the amiable stagecoach driver, and Slim Pickens and Sheb Wooly.There are 2 things wrong with this movie. First, with this scenery, it really should have been in color...it would have been stunning. Second, a dog can't run that far in a desert (you'll understand when you watch this film).This is not a film where everyone lives happily ever after, including Errol Flynn. It ends pretty much the way it had to end, but along the way it strived to show that Confederates were honorable men who were on the wrong side of history. I don't think I ever rooted for the Confederates in any film, and this may be the first Western where I shed a tear. Highly recommended.

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) I saw this film for the first time more than fifty years ago. In Brazil it was known as "Olhando a morte de frente" which the best translation I can come up with is "Looking straight ahead at Death". Even though I was a child I enjoyed it greatly and could not stop talking about it after. Seeing it again yesterday I realized how good this film is nowadays, of all Flynn' s westerns it is the one that less aged. The quality that only a big studio like Warner could provide makes most of the modern westerns pale in comparison. Great cinematography in black and white, great music by Max Steiner, great performance of Flynn, excellent actors like Slim Pickens. It is surprising why this film was never released before, and why it did not get the positive critical approval it deserved.

morris vescovi This film has an unusually gritty and authentic look and feel, and an unusual ending for a 1950's western.( I can't say more or I would ruin the plot for anyone who hasn't seen the film). It has a very good beginning and a truly exciting and emotional ending. The middle though,does drag a bit.The characters of the confederate soldiers are very well established and should elicit sympathy and respect.This was Errol Flynn's last western, and , while he was no longer in his prime and looks older and a little weathered, he is perfect for the role of a man who has seen too much war. One aspect of the film that is little commented on it the exceptional horsemanship in the film. In real life, Flynn and several of the co-stars were very good horsemen, and it really shows.