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.
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.