Comanche (1956)

The year is 1875, and the Comanche are raiding on both sides of the border, killing whites and Mexicans alike.

Dana Andrews is Jim Read, a cavalry scout sent on a perilous mission — to find Quanah Parker (Kent Smith), chief of the most powerful band of Comanche, and convince him peace with the whites is preferable to war.

He accomplishes that task. The fact that he’s Quanah’s cousin helps. The fact that he and his sidekick Puffer saved Quanah’s brother from death at the hands of other white men helps even more.

But not all of Quanah’s followers agree with his stance. Black Cloud (Henry Brandon) doesn’t think the whites can be trusted and splinters from the tribe, taking about 50 warriors with him.

That means Read’s next task will be making sure a peace is negotiated before Black Cloud and his band of renegades can start a war.

He doesn’t know it yet, but Read faces trouble from his own superiors as well. A former head scout named Downey, who dabbles in selling Comanche scalps, convinced an Indian commissioner named Ward that Read can’t be trusted and that force is the only way to deal with Quanah and his followers.

Stuck in the middle is Gen. Miles, preferring Read’s way of dealing with the Indians, but under orders to issue Quanah an ultimatum as he leads his troops toward the Comanche camp.

Review:

A wonderful looking piece of fluff complete with some decent cavalry vs. Indian action sequences.

But the silly ending is likely to leave you shaking your head. Just watch how Quanah deals with Black Cloud’s messenger.

Nestor Paiva provides comic relief as Puffer. He’s a bald man who’s always complaining about his head being cold, so Jim Read gives him a wig. Later, the wig slips off when he’s about to be scalped, scaring the Indians into thinking he has some magical powers.

And Linda Cristal provides the love interest as Margarita, a young Mexican woman the Comanche have captured. About the most you can say for her performance is that she looks quite lovely. She also falls for Jim Read in a heartbeat, though her views of Indians differ greatly from his.

The film features a silly but catchy theme song, “A Man Is as Good as His Word.”

Directed by:
George Sherman

Cast:
Dana Andrews … Jim Read
Nestor Paiva … Puffer
Linda Cristal … Margarita Alvarez
Kent Smith … Quanah Parker
Henry Brandon … Black Cloud
Stacy Harris … Downey
Lowell Gilmore … Ward
John Litel … Gen. Miles
Mike Mazurki … Flat Mouth
Tony Carbajal … Little Snake
Reed Sherman … Lt. French

Runtime: 87 min.

Title tune: “A Man Is as Good as His Word”
performed by The Lancers

Memorable lines:

Puffer, after Jim Read gives him the gift of a wig: “Bet I’m the only guy on the open plains with an extra scalp.
Read: “Might come in handy sometime.”

Margarita: “Comanches! Savages! All should be killed! To stop this murder, torture.”

Quannah Parker, returning to his village with plunder: “There are many horses and mules. Many guns. Many bullets. Much powder. Cloth of many colors. Mexican captives for those who need them. There are two white faces. Later, we will find out how long their spirits can stay in their bodies under endless torment.”

Quannah Parker: “You ask me to be better than my enemies?”
Jim Read: “I ask you to be greater.”

Quannah Parker: “A man must have fire in his mind to offer four horses for one woman.”

Lowell Gilmore as Indian Commissioner Ward, urging force against the Indians in Comanche (1956)

Stacy Harris as Downey, former scout turned scalphunter in Comanche (1956)