The Siege at Red River

5/1/19541h 26m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ ...And the two best soldiers in the line that day were the Captain from Georgia and the Yankee Spitfire! ~

Overview:

Cavalry Captain Farraday attempts to prevent the delivery of Gatling Guns into the hands of hostile Indians.

Director:

Rudolph Maté

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

civil war
gatling gun

Cast

Van Johnson

~ as ~

Capt. James S. Simmons / Jim Farraday

Joanne Dru

~ as ~

Nora Curtis

Richard Boone

~ as ~

Brett Manning

Milburn Stone

~ as ~

Sgt. Benjamin 'Benjy' Guderman

Jeff Morrow

~ as ~

Frank Kelso

Craig Hill

~ as ~

Lt. Braden

Robert Burton

~ as ~

Sheriff

Pilar Del Rey

~ as ~

Lukoa

John Cliff

~ as ~

Sgt. Jenkins

Ferris Taylor

~ as ~

Anderson Smith

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

Wuchak
Written 1 year(s) ago
6
Decent early 50’s Western with Van Johnson and Richard Boone marred by dubious bits

A Confederate captain (Johnson) goes undercover in the North to steal a Gatling gun with his sergeant (Milburn Stone), but a Pinkerton operative is suspicious (Jeff Morrow). As they take advantage of an unknowing Rebel-hating woman (Joanne Dru), they hook up with a mercenary (Boone) to help them get through Indian country.

The era of 1953-1954 featured great Westerns like “Shane,” “Destry,” “Garden of Evil,” “Johnny Guitar” and “Vera Cruz,” as well as formidable ones like “Arrowhead,” “Escape from Fort Bravo,” “Gun Fury,” “Hondo,” “Pony Express,” “Broken Lance” and “The Raid.” I bring that up because “Siege at Red River” (1954) doesn’t exactly place with these Westerns as it’s flawed by amusing, yet generally unfitting humor and a too-busy giddy-up score, which is seriously quaint.

This isn’t helped by splicing in Indian-fighting footage at the climax from “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” from five years earlier. Another problem is the disingenuous geography in the first half that’s supposed to be areas near the Ohio River, but is obviously the Southwest (of course, this was more of a ‘B’ Western and it would simply cost too much to transplant the cast & crew to somewhere in the East for those particular scenes).

Nevertheless, there’s a lot to enjoy in this old Western. Van Johnson's non-cowboy mannerisms actual fit the role since Capt. James S. Simmons/Jim Farraday hails from Atlanta back East. Johnson had charisma to spare and Milburn Stone is entertaining as the sidekick. Meanwhile Boone was unsurpassable as the unlikable character with "toxic masculinity." Add to this winsome Dru, the beautiful scenery and the interesting Gatling gun subplot and you have an entertaining enough early 50’s Western with some lame elements.

It runs 1 hour, 25 minutes, with outside shooting done in east-central Utah at Professor Valley, Colorado River, Castle Valley and Dead Horse Point; as well as in Durango, Colorado, which is 158 miles southeast of there.

GRADE: B-/C+