Unlike several other reviewers here I do not think this had a ' B ' cast. Both Troy Donahue and Suzanne Pleshette were hardly second rate actors in the early 60's and they impress here. Walsh was a good director, but he should have known a 1960's hairdo when he saw one and Pleshette is given one. Donahue is allowed to be more credible and given the inaccuracy of most Westerns concerning clothes and hair he follows more in the tradition of the 1950's interpretation ( we got most of our cinematic images from then as Westerns were at their arguably best.) Film has never really got to grips with the dirt, the diseased prostitutes and filth of the town environments. Walsh at least puts dust on the Cavalry clothes and gave Donahue in one scene a desperate need for a wash. The studios like Warner gave too much glamour and cleanliness for the women, but then this clearly drew the audience in. Overall the film is exciting, and their are some grisly deaths which may have been cut including a human branding in the UK. It was cut there for its ' A ' Certificate ( children allowed in only with adults. The widescreen scenery is as it should be and yet the excitement is not quite enough and the plot simply standard fare of any ' B ' Western. My main criticism is the overwhelming aural assault of Max Steiner's dreadful music. Worth watching yet again for Troy Donahue and the proof of how versatile he was as an actor.
Review of A Distant Trumpet
