This western gets of to a good start when two bank robbers connive to shoot the third in the back and take his share of the loot. Too bad for them they didn't check that he was dead because he will bump into them again in town. In many stories the conclusion would be when he faced down the two who tried to kill him; here that is just the beginning of his adventure. He is one of several people wanting to get to Laramie; it seems everybody wants to go there including a senator who is preaching the case for peace with the Indians, a woman called Amy Clarke who wants to catch up with the partner who robbed her and a travelling minstrel. The ticket seller tells them that the stage is full but when it finally arrives it is clear that there will be places available
those aboard are full of Cheyenne arrows! They don't get far before the coach loses a wheel and they have to take cover in a dry riverbed as the Cheyenne prepare to attack. When the attack comes not all of them will make it out alive.
I was surprised just how much I enjoyed this less well known western, the opening scene got me interested and I was not bored from that moment till the end. I hadn't heard of any of the actors before but thought they all did a pretty good job, especially Dale Robertson who played the bank robber John Banner and Linda Darnell who played Amy Clarke; it isn't surprising that all the male characters took an interest in her; she was stunning in her scarlet dress. I feared that it would be an old fashioned 'white man good, Indian bad' film however by the end our anti-Indian hero had grown to respect them. The action was pretty tense and I was surprised at how much bright red blood we see; most of the westerns I've seen from this era show very little if any. If you enjoy westerns of this era I'd certainly recommend this one; it might not be a classic but it is still worth watching.
I was surprised just how much I enjoyed this less well known western, the opening scene got me interested and I was not bored from that moment till the end. I hadn't heard of any of the actors before but thought they all did a pretty good job, especially Dale Robertson who played the bank robber John Banner and Linda Darnell who played Amy Clarke; it isn't surprising that all the male characters took an interest in her; she was stunning in her scarlet dress. I feared that it would be an old fashioned 'white man good, Indian bad' film however by the end our anti-Indian hero had grown to respect them. The action was pretty tense and I was surprised at how much bright red blood we see; most of the westerns I've seen from this era show very little if any. If you enjoy westerns of this era I'd certainly recommend this one; it might not be a classic but it is still worth watching.