Gregory Peck is Capt. Richard Lance, a top soldier at a cavalry base in the middle of Apache country.
He captures Apache chief Tuscos and is about to escort him to prison when his ill commanding officer orders him to assign someone else to the dangerous mission. Lance is needed at the fort, the officer says.
The job falls to fellow officer Lt. William Holloway (Gig Young), who is vying with Lance for the attention of pretty Cathy Eversham (Barbara Payton).
Well, the escort detail is ambushed, the officer’s mutilated body arrives back at the fort.
And everyone — Cathy included — blames Lance for sending a good friend on a suicide mission.
What’s worse, with Tuscos on the loose, the fort is in a precarious position, understaffed, and Tuscos knows it.
The only solution: Send someone on a suicide mission to plug a canyon gap that leads to the fort.
This time, Lance takes the job. And he takes along a band of misfits, some of whom would prefer to see him dead.
Gregory Peck as Capt. Richard Lance, trying to protect Fort Invincible against overwhelming odds in Only the Valiant (1951)
Barbara Payton as Cathy Eversham with Capt. Richard Lance, the man she loves, in Only the Valiant (1951)
Review:
The film wasn’t one of Peck’s favorites and certainly pales in comparison to the Western he’d just finished, “The Gunfighter.” But it’s still a better than average cavalry-vs.-Indian tale, with Peck’s band of misfits slowly whittled down until their situation at Fort Invincible looks hopeless.
That band includes Ward Bond as the liquor-loving Gilchrist, Neville Brand as the sergeant who blames Lance for the fact that he can’t get promoted and Lon Chaney Jr. as a brute of a trooper with a “dark soul.”
Barbara Payton plays the female lead. With her reputation for winding up in bed with her leading men — including Peck — it wouldn’t be hard to read the first memorable line below as a double entedre.
As for the film, a less predictable ending would have helped immensely.
The film marked Michael Ansara’s first role as an Indian. He’d play many similar roles in the years to come and starred as Cochise in the TV series “Broken Arrow.”
Ward Bond as Cpl. Timothy Gilchrist, waiting for another attack at Fort Invincible in Only the Valiant (1951)
Jeff Corey as Joe Harmony, a cavalry scout urging Capt. Lance to kill Tucsos in Only the Valiant (1951)
Directed by:
Gordon Douglas
Cast:
Gregory Peck … Capt. Richard Lance
Barbara Payton … Cathy Eversham
Ward Bond … Cpl. Timothy Gilchrist
Gig Young … Lt. William Holloway
Lon Chaney Jr. … Trooper Kebussyan
Neville Brand … Sgt. Murdock
Jeff Corey … Joe Harmony
Warner Anderson … Trooper Rutledge
Steve Brodie … Trooper Onstot
Dan Riss … Lt. Jerry Winters
Terry Kilburn … Trooper Saxton
Hugh Sanders … Capt. Eversham
Herbert Heyes … Col. Drumm
Michael Ansara … Tucsos
Running time: 105 min. B&W
Neville Brand as Sgt. Murdock, fussing about being in the cavalry again in Only the Valiant (1951)
Terry Kilburn as Trooper Saxton, one of those selected for the mission to Fort Invincible in Only the Valiant (1951)
Memorable lines:
Lt. William Holloway, watching Capt. Richard Lance get an especially warm welcome from Cathy Eversham: “I got the same treatment, Dick, so don’t feel too proud.”
Cpl. Gilchrist: “If there’s anyone who can take Tucsos up to Fort Grant, it’s Captain Lance. I might hate his black heart, too, but he’s still the best officer I ever served under.”
Cpl. Gilchrist: “Captain, this is mighty thirsty work.”
Capt. Lance: “Most work is.”
Cpl. Gilchrest: “Come on you red-chested devils, I’m waiting for you.”
Tucsos to Capt. Lance: “Return to fort, soldier. With no water, you will soon be dust under the hooves of our horses.”
Capt. Lance to Rutledge: “Whatever you think, I didn’t bring this patrol up here to get every man killed. I’m going to get everyone out alive that I can. And especially you, Rutledge. I’m going to get you back to (Fort) Winston and have you court-martialed. I’m going to have you hung with the strongest length of rope in the whole New Mexico territory.”
Lon Chaney Jr. as Trooper Kebussyan, blaming Capt. Lance for Holloway’s death in Only the Valiant (1951)
Dan Riss as Lt. Jerry Winters, second in command on the mission to Fort Invincible in Only the Valiant (1951)
Michael Ansara as Tucsos, leader of the warring Apache in Only the Valiant (1951)
Steve Brodie as Trooper Onstot, finding himself in the hands of Tucsos’s Apache in Only the Valiant (1951)
Warner Anderson as Trooper Rutledge, resting between Indian attacks in Only the Valiant (1951)
Barbara Payton as Cathy Eversham with Gig Young as Lt. William Holloway in Only the Valiant (1951)
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