Cheyenne (TV Series) West of the River (1956) User Reviews

Enjoyable.

[corriganville · 8/10 · 25 August 2006]

This episode is a remake of The Charge at Feather River. I knew something was up when I saw Clint Walker with a hat that seemed too small for him. It took about a minute to figure it out (which maybe says more about me than I want to admit). He was dressed to match up with footage of Guy Madison. Poor Clint gets stuck in obvious sound stage "outdoors" while any real outdoor shots are Guy Madison. Still it was fun to watch plus featured old favorites Lane Bradford and Harry Lauter. Don't believe the IMDb listing of L Q Jones still playing Smitty. His character disappeared after a few episodes. I gave it an 8 instead of 10 because of the obvious phony outdoor shots.

This edit is for pepe January 2007. Clint Walker got stuck wearing a hat that was too small for him so that the editors could match up his new footage with the old footage of Guy Madison in Charge at Feather River. Look at any of the actual outdoor shots and you will see that "Cheyenne" is suddenly not as muscular as he is in the closeups. In the first episode of Cheyenne, Clint Walker is dressed to match up with footage of Errol Flynn in Rocky Mountain. At least in that one, they filmed the outdoor scenes outdoors at Vasquez Rocks. Not where Rocky Mountain was filmed but at least outdoors.

This Episode of "Cheyenne" Is the TV Version of "The Searchers!"

[zardoz-13 · 8/10 · 28 December 2007]

This episode of the Warner Brothers television western series "Cheyenne" makes good usage of the action footage from another of the studio's westerns "The Charge at Feather River." Not only does big Clint Walker dress like Guy Madison, the hero of "Feather River," but also there's the tobacco spitting rattlesnake scene. The snake scene retains as much suspense this time around again. More interestingly than its derivative use of "The Charge at Feather River" is "West of the Divide's" anticipation of several themes that occurred in the legendary John Ford western "The Searchers" with John Wayne. In "West of the Divide," resolute storekeeper Ed McKeever (Trevor Bardette of "Rage at Dawn") learns that his two daughters that were abducted by Kiowa Indians five years ago have been seen in a nearby Native American encampment. Cheyenne (Clint Walker) warns McKeever that his daughters may not want to reenter white, Anglo-Saxon society. In fact, Cheyenne explains that he lived with the Indians for while and then decided to leave. If these women had wanted to leave, Cheyenne believes that they could have left of their own volition without restraint from the Kiowas. Nevertheless, McKeever decides to go ahead with his plan to rescue his daughters. Colonel Kilrain (Russell Hicks of "Devil Dogs of the Air") orders Cheyenne to lead the rescue party and reluctantly agrees to arm the soldier with the rapid-fire, repeating Winchester rifles. Volunteers from the guardhouse constitute the source of Cheyenne's men and the commander promises to wipe their slate clean if they survive the ordeal. Again, here is an instance of criminals or convicts obtaining the chance to clear their records by agreeing serve in a suicide battalion. Initially, McKeever is skeptical about this 'guardhouse brigade. Cheyenne, McKeever, and this guardhouse brigade approach the Kiowa camp during a war dance and cut through a ten and take Ruth McKeever (Louis Collier of "A Night in Casablanca") and her sister Jennie (Stephanie Griffin of "The Last Wagon") without alerting the Indians.

Later, the Kiowas attack and wound Ed McKeever, and our heroes have to build a stretcher to carry him. Meanwhile, Ruth suggests that they hand Jennie and her back over to the Indians, but Ed refuses to let them turn his daughters loose again. Jennie, we learn, is schedule to become the war chief's new bride, so he has a stake in seeing that she is retaken. Jennie convinces one never-do-well trooper to let her escape and she will see to it that the chief spares his life. She shoots her father in the leg before she leaves. Things go horribly wrong for Jennie and she plunges off the side of the mountain and dies. Ruth decides to stick with the rescue party. The Kiowas run off our heroes' horse and they are set afoot. Sergeant Baker (Lane Bradford of "Zombies of the Stratosphere") and Trooper Ryan (Harry Lauter of "Ambush Bay") are assigned to the detail because Colonel Kilrain caught them fighting over Baker's wife. Baker decides to make an attempt to reach the fort on foot and bring back the cavalry. Cheyenne asks him who he was to take with him and he chooses Ryan. A scene where Baker spits on a rattlesnake instead of shooting it and giving away their position to a Kiowa war party passing by is suspenseful.

The fact that this episode of a Warner Brothers television show dealt with the theme of recovering white Indian captives, the same theme in the classic John Wayne movie "The Searchers" is pretty amazing. "West of the River" is also another example of the ubiquitous pardon the convicts plot that originated with another Warner Brothers movie "Captain Blood" with Errol Flynn.

Altogether, "West of the River" ranks as an above-average adventure western on a television show budget that contains a surprise or two. The influential Roy Huggins served as the producer, the same individual who created "Maverick" and "The Fugitive."

"I believe this is a matter of principle, not arithmetic, Mr. Bodie."

[faunafan · 10/10 · 22 July 2022]

Cheyenne Bodie had lived with Indians from the time he was a baby and walked away with their blessing when he was of age; McKeever's daughters could have done the same thing. Why risk the lives of twenty men to save two girls who probably didn't want to be saved in the first place? Cheyenne gets his answer from a determined father.

Trevor Bardette plays a sympathetic character for a change. Ed McKeever's two daughters were captured by the Kiowa during an attack on a wagon train five years ago and he wants them back. The Army enlists a reluctant Cheyenne to lead a ragtag group of stockade reprobates to rescue the girls but the younger one, Jenny, doesn't want to be rescued and she makes the mission much more challenging, even shooting her own father in an effort to escape. Her sister Ruth, although only 23 years old, has been so traumatized by the experience that she feels unworthy to be repatriated into "prim and proper" white society. In the course of events, Ruth comes to believe Cheyenne when he says that she won't have any trouble fitting in to her new life post-captivity, including having a line of suitors to choose from. "Just save a place for me," he says. That genuine smile and kind tone of his would convince any woman that she is attractive; it just so happens that Ruth, a selfless and capable woman, really is. And the "Guardhouse Brigade" ends up triumphant against all odds, each member learning more about himself and his fellow fighters in the process. When the Army shows up at the eleventh hour, Cheyenne and Ruth walk off to meet them arm in arm.

This is a sweet story despite the gritty realism of the trek through the desert and the sometimes decidedly rancorous interaction between certain members of the motley group of soldiers who, in the end, become a band of brothers. Once again, Clint Walker is the bond that holds everything together, proving indisputably why "Cheyenne" was able to capture and hold the imaginations and hearts of millions who to this day cherish his contribution, not only to television history, but to the idea that truly honorable heroes do exist.

Below average Western suffers from slack direction & poor script

[pepe-46 · 4/10 · 19 January 2007]

What could have been an exciting battle of wits between the Kiowas and a bunch of misfit soldiers led by army scout Cheyenne Bodie, really turned out to be something of a damp firecracker.

A less than inspiring screenplay and slack direction from Richard L. Bare certainly did no favours for Clint Walker's laid back style.

Mr. Bare's direction is normally much tighter than this and I also felt that too much of the action was played out on the sound stages instead of utilising Warner's back-lots for more authenticity.

I'm sorry to say that the acting was below par all round with the exception of LANE BRADFORD whose portrayal of Sgt. Baker just about kept the interest going.

Where does Cheyenne get his hats from? This was the first time he had sported this particular piece of headware and to be quite frank it looked rather silly! For the size and build of the big man, it was far too small in the crown and too narrow around the brim. I hope Clint didn't stick to wearing this one for too long because I find it hard to take him seriously with this perched on his head!!