Director Andre de Toth pretty much did his apprenticeship under Charles Chaplin and, neither man displaying a deep interest in photography, it is not surprising that LAST OF THE COMANCHES should look rather run of the mill from a visual standpoint.
Action sequences are OK, some good ones blending rather jaggedly with some less than convincing Indian attacks. One curiosity: in other flicks I have watched involving Comanche braves, apparently they did not engage in fighting at night because of ancestral beliefs.
Well, in LAST OF THE COMANCHES good old murderous Chief Black Cloud throws caution and tradition to the wind and proceeds to attack the few cavalry men (and one woman, Barbara Hale) left at the old church in the ravaged village, and they do it in the dead of night (pedestrian day for night filming).
Crawford and Bridges deliver strong performances, Shaughnessy as the practical and loyal Irishman is probably the most likable character. Johnny Stewart as the Indian boy, Little Knife, is clearly too caucasian to pass off as Indian, and credibility suffers as a result. Sadly, Hale has to make the best of an unmemorable part where she just loads rifles and occasionally fires off a round, ultimately escaping unscathed where everybody else is mowed down or wounded.
Clearly, the producers felt there had to be a lady in a film with the cavalry coming to the rescue in the nick of time. Not that it rescues the film or the time you have invested in watching it but the acting warrants 6/10.
Action sequences are OK, some good ones blending rather jaggedly with some less than convincing Indian attacks. One curiosity: in other flicks I have watched involving Comanche braves, apparently they did not engage in fighting at night because of ancestral beliefs.
Well, in LAST OF THE COMANCHES good old murderous Chief Black Cloud throws caution and tradition to the wind and proceeds to attack the few cavalry men (and one woman, Barbara Hale) left at the old church in the ravaged village, and they do it in the dead of night (pedestrian day for night filming).
Crawford and Bridges deliver strong performances, Shaughnessy as the practical and loyal Irishman is probably the most likable character. Johnny Stewart as the Indian boy, Little Knife, is clearly too caucasian to pass off as Indian, and credibility suffers as a result. Sadly, Hale has to make the best of an unmemorable part where she just loads rifles and occasionally fires off a round, ultimately escaping unscathed where everybody else is mowed down or wounded.
Clearly, the producers felt there had to be a lady in a film with the cavalry coming to the rescue in the nick of time. Not that it rescues the film or the time you have invested in watching it but the acting warrants 6/10.