Grant needs to win Vicksburg but the south is fighting him to a draw. Colonel John Marlowe (John Wayne) leads an Union cavalry brigade to destroy a rail supply depot at Newton Station behind the confederate lines. Major Henry Kendall (William Holden) is the newly attached surgeon who is constantly at odds with Marlowe. Marlowe distrust all doctors after his wife was killed in an unnecessary surgery. Plantation mistress Hannah Hunter (Constance Towers) and her slave Lukey (Althea Gibson) overhears their plans and Marlowe takes them prisoner. They plan to fight all the way to Baton Rouge.
William Holden is good as the questioning doctor. He could have been played as some pacifist idiot but he shows more depth than that. I do want John Wayne to be harder and darker. His moral superiority keeps bumping against the gritty ugliness of the situation. The kids from the Jefferson Military Academy are a perfect opportunity to up the ante on the war action. Instead, the movie takes the safest route. The action is big but not always the most impressive. I actually like the bending of the rails but that's not really action. It's just something different. For the action, I want it to be grittier and darker. This is fine but not anything superior.
William Holden is good as the questioning doctor. He could have been played as some pacifist idiot but he shows more depth than that. I do want John Wayne to be harder and darker. His moral superiority keeps bumping against the gritty ugliness of the situation. The kids from the Jefferson Military Academy are a perfect opportunity to up the ante on the war action. Instead, the movie takes the safest route. The action is big but not always the most impressive. I actually like the bending of the rails but that's not really action. It's just something different. For the action, I want it to be grittier and darker. This is fine but not anything superior.