Marshal Guthrie McCabe had a cushy life in western town; getting a hundred dollars a month plus ten percent of the town's business; that is until his old friend 1st Lt. Jim Gary of the United States Army rides into town 'requesting' that he accompany him to a Fort forty miles away to undertake an unspecified task. When he gets there he learns that they want him to go into Comanche territory to bargain for the return of white prisoners, who were captured many years before; many of whom were young children at the time. Guthrie says that it is a fool's errand; any child will have grown up to live as a Comanche a will have forgotten their old life. The people are desperate though and eventually he agrees; if the price is right. Once in the Comanche camp he and Jim talk to the chief and he agrees to take one unwilling boy and a woman, Elena, back. He does not take an old woman who asked to be left and another young girl who had had children there; knowing their families will not welcome them back when they see how they have changed. Elena is a Mexican who had only been with then for five years and was married to a hot-headed brave. Once back at the camp things do not go well; the people treat Elena with contempt and things go even worse for the boy. There is also a romantic subplot involving Jim and Marty, a girl who is hoping to find her lost brother.
I hadn't heard of this film until I saw it advertised but seeing as it stared the usually reliable James Stewart I thought I'd give it a go. I am glad that I did as it was pretty good; not as good as 'The Searcher', which covers similar themes, but still worth watching. James Stewart was good and surprisingly amusing as Marshal McCabe and Richard Widmark put in a solid performance as Jim Gary. The story was pretty decent and it was a relief that the Comanches weren't depicted as being any worse than the 'civilised' white people back at camp; although it was unfortunate that native actors weren't used; I know that is how things were done back then but it still seems a bit off. Coming from director John Ford I'd expected stunning vistas but the settings weren't that spectacular; the film still looked good enough in the countryside where it was set. Overall I'd say this wasn't a must see film but if you like westerns or the films of Jim Stewart it is certainly worth watching.
I hadn't heard of this film until I saw it advertised but seeing as it stared the usually reliable James Stewart I thought I'd give it a go. I am glad that I did as it was pretty good; not as good as 'The Searcher', which covers similar themes, but still worth watching. James Stewart was good and surprisingly amusing as Marshal McCabe and Richard Widmark put in a solid performance as Jim Gary. The story was pretty decent and it was a relief that the Comanches weren't depicted as being any worse than the 'civilised' white people back at camp; although it was unfortunate that native actors weren't used; I know that is how things were done back then but it still seems a bit off. Coming from director John Ford I'd expected stunning vistas but the settings weren't that spectacular; the film still looked good enough in the countryside where it was set. Overall I'd say this wasn't a must see film but if you like westerns or the films of Jim Stewart it is certainly worth watching.