MGM Western movie with glimmer Technicolor cinematography , impressive landscapes and including romance of the daring pioneers of the West . This is a good Western , plenty of action , shootouts , thrills and fist-play . It's a thrilling western with breathtaking confrontation between the protagonist , his enemies and savage Indians Pawnies . Late in the American Civil War, from an Union prison called Camp Benton, our handsome hero, a Confederate Sergeant called Will Owen (Joel McCrea) is imprisoned at a hard Northern jail , he is a highly respected Southern official . But he escapes along with Jesse Wallace (Barry Sullivan) and Clint Priest (James Withmore) . Soon fall into the hands of pro-Confederate raiders, followers to leaders Bushwhackers as Quantrell and Anderson , such as as Keeley (Jeff Corey) and Bye (Ted De Corsia) , two roguish confederate rebels , both of whom have a war task for them who force them to act as "outriders" or escorts for a civilian wagon train that will be secretly transporting Union gold among the personal possessions in the caravan of Don Antonio Chaves (Ramon Novarro) from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to St. Louis, Missouri . They are eventually able to convince Don Antonio to be his escorts or outriders . The three men are to lead the wagons into a raider trap in Missouri, but one of them begins to have misfortunes and misgivings . As they guard the caravan from marauding Indians and other dangers along the way . Meantime , Will Owen falls in love a beautiful woman named Jen Gort (Arlene Dahl) , a recent war widow, who is accompanied by her teenaged brother-in-law Roy Gort (Claude Jarman Jr.) .
This Western is a superior outing because it displays thrills , emotion , shoot'em up , brawls , intrigue , riding pursuits and many other things . There is filled with action in the movie , guaranteeing some shots or stunts every few minutes . Interesing and moving screenplay by Irving Ravetch based on his own story . Here filmmaker Roy Rowland delivers a nice film , however he could be counted on to deliver solid "B" pictures which, at MGM, were often better than most other studios' "A" pictures . Brief character studio about three escorts or outriders , Joel McCrea/Barry Sullivan/James Withmore they became friends despite their differing personalities , until the inevitable final conflict . The highlights of the movie are the spectacular as well as violent getaway from Benton Missouri Camp and the sensitive dance between Arlene Dahl and the sex-hungry soldiers . Very good support cast such as James Whitmore , Ramon Novarro , Jeff Corey , Alex Montoya , Ted De Corsia and a young Claude Jarman Jr of Rio Grande and The yearling . Colorful as well as evocative cinematography by Charles Edgar Schoenbaum supported by expert cameraman Henry Jaffa . Adequate and atmospheric production design by Cedric Gibbons , MGM's usual , though also contains abundant matte paintings . Rousing and breathtaking musical score by Andre Previn who married Mia Farrow
The motion picture lavishly produced by Richard Goldstone and MGM studios was well directed by Roy Rowland . He sharpened his directing chops at MGM with a series of shorts starting in the 1930s, then moved up to features in 1943 . Roy spent quite a bit of time at the studio, from 1943-51 and again from 1954-58 ; he had the good fortune to marry the niece of Louis B. Mayer and was the father of actor Steve Rowland . While not one of the studio's top-rank directors , he was a good professional who had a considerable success . Most were B-movies, but he occasionally handled such A-graders . His greatest hit was , of course , the fantasy movie titled The 5000 fingers of Dr T (1953) . Rowland made an action picture for independent release based on a Mickey Spillane "Mike Hammer" novel starring Spillane himself (Girl hunters (1963)) . He specialized in a variety of genres, including musicals : ¡Viva Las Vegas! (1956) The seven hills of Rome (57) , Two weeks with love (50) and dramas : Our wines have tender grapes 45 with Edward G Robinson (1945). He was also responsible for the tough, fast-paced Rogue Cop (1954), one of the few MGM films that could be considered "film noir". Roy was a Western expert , as the last film he made at MGM was a "B" western with Stewart Granger, Gun Glory (1957); besides , he filmed Bugles in the afternoon with Ray Milland and Many rivers to cross with Robert Taylor ; after which and then he traveled to Europe for a string of Spanish/Italian-made westerns such as Los Pistoleros De Casa Grande and Ley Del Forastero . His final film as director was a somewhat cheesy pirate movie (he was uncredited ; his Italian co-director Sergio Bergonzelli got sole credit) called El Tigre De Los 7 Mares and its sequel : Tormenta Sobre el Pacífico (1966). He was associate producer on Nathan Juran's Italian-shot Al Infierno, gringo (1969), after which he retired.
This Western is a superior outing because it displays thrills , emotion , shoot'em up , brawls , intrigue , riding pursuits and many other things . There is filled with action in the movie , guaranteeing some shots or stunts every few minutes . Interesing and moving screenplay by Irving Ravetch based on his own story . Here filmmaker Roy Rowland delivers a nice film , however he could be counted on to deliver solid "B" pictures which, at MGM, were often better than most other studios' "A" pictures . Brief character studio about three escorts or outriders , Joel McCrea/Barry Sullivan/James Withmore they became friends despite their differing personalities , until the inevitable final conflict . The highlights of the movie are the spectacular as well as violent getaway from Benton Missouri Camp and the sensitive dance between Arlene Dahl and the sex-hungry soldiers . Very good support cast such as James Whitmore , Ramon Novarro , Jeff Corey , Alex Montoya , Ted De Corsia and a young Claude Jarman Jr of Rio Grande and The yearling . Colorful as well as evocative cinematography by Charles Edgar Schoenbaum supported by expert cameraman Henry Jaffa . Adequate and atmospheric production design by Cedric Gibbons , MGM's usual , though also contains abundant matte paintings . Rousing and breathtaking musical score by Andre Previn who married Mia Farrow
The motion picture lavishly produced by Richard Goldstone and MGM studios was well directed by Roy Rowland . He sharpened his directing chops at MGM with a series of shorts starting in the 1930s, then moved up to features in 1943 . Roy spent quite a bit of time at the studio, from 1943-51 and again from 1954-58 ; he had the good fortune to marry the niece of Louis B. Mayer and was the father of actor Steve Rowland . While not one of the studio's top-rank directors , he was a good professional who had a considerable success . Most were B-movies, but he occasionally handled such A-graders . His greatest hit was , of course , the fantasy movie titled The 5000 fingers of Dr T (1953) . Rowland made an action picture for independent release based on a Mickey Spillane "Mike Hammer" novel starring Spillane himself (Girl hunters (1963)) . He specialized in a variety of genres, including musicals : ¡Viva Las Vegas! (1956) The seven hills of Rome (57) , Two weeks with love (50) and dramas : Our wines have tender grapes 45 with Edward G Robinson (1945). He was also responsible for the tough, fast-paced Rogue Cop (1954), one of the few MGM films that could be considered "film noir". Roy was a Western expert , as the last film he made at MGM was a "B" western with Stewart Granger, Gun Glory (1957); besides , he filmed Bugles in the afternoon with Ray Milland and Many rivers to cross with Robert Taylor ; after which and then he traveled to Europe for a string of Spanish/Italian-made westerns such as Los Pistoleros De Casa Grande and Ley Del Forastero . His final film as director was a somewhat cheesy pirate movie (he was uncredited ; his Italian co-director Sergio Bergonzelli got sole credit) called El Tigre De Los 7 Mares and its sequel : Tormenta Sobre el Pacífico (1966). He was associate producer on Nathan Juran's Italian-shot Al Infierno, gringo (1969), after which he retired.