Blood Arrow (1958)

Phyllis Coates is Bess, a Mormon girl sent to a trading post to fetch medical supplies her settlement needs to fight a smallpox epidemic.

But it seems the Blackfeet have a new chief, Little Otter, who hates whites and has vowed to burn down the trading post if its owner lets the medical supplies get through.

So Bess employs the help of three strangers, offering them $600 in gold nuggets for their trouble.

That group includes Gabe, a trapper willing to make the trip because he wants to search for a lost partner named Ez; and Brill, a gambler convinced his luck is about to change because any Mormon girl with gold nuggets in her pocket must know the location of a fabulously rich mine.

Then there’s Dan Kree (Scott Brady), a bitter gunmen. He’s bound for Oregon, having lost his faith in his fellow man.

Seems he had to shoot his brother in a fight over a cattle ranch; then was abandoned by his wife, who fell for another man.

So they head out for Bess’s valley, with the medical supplies in tow and Little Otter and his Blackfeet warriors on their trail.

Scott Brady as Dan Kree, a gunfighter badly in need of a stake for a new start in Blood Arrow (1958)

Phyllis Coates as Bess, determined to get badly needed medical supplies to the valley where she lives in Blood Arrow (1958)

Review:

The film looks like what it is, a lackluster, low-budget effort. One thing is you’re likely to remember about it is the character of Ez. He’s eventually found, with his eyes burned out. Seems Little Otter swore Ez would never set eyes on Blackfeet country again, then took his eyes to make the prophecy come true.

While Gabe is watching over Ez, Brill is becoming more and more desperate to learn the location of a mine that Bess insists doesn’t exist. But Bess’ determination to help the folks in her valley, and her refusal to abandon Ez though it would be far less dangerous to do so helps restore Kree’s faith in mankind. To that point, he had wanted to move to Oregon where he wouldn’t have to be close to any other people.

This marked the last Western film outing for Brady until 1964, when he began to appear in a series of low-budget films, beginning with “Stage to Thunder Rock.” In between, he starred in the Western TV series “Shotgun Slade,” which ran for 78 episodes from 1959 to 1961.

Paul Richards as Brill, the gambler who’s certain Bess knows the location of a gold mine in Blood Arrow (1958)

Richard Gilden as Little Otter, the Blackfoot chief determined to drive whites out of the area in Blood Arrow (1958)

Directed by:
Charles Marquis Warren

Cast:
Scott Brady … Dan Kree
Paul Richards … Brill
Phyllis Coates … Bess
Don Haggerty … Gabe
Rock Shahan .. Taslatch
Richard Gilden … Little Otter
John Dierkes … Ez
Jeanne Bates … Aimee
Diana Darrin … Lennie
Patrick O’Moore … McKenzie
Des Slattery … Ceppi
William McGraw … Norm

Runtime: 73 min.

Richard Gilden as Little Otter, the Blackfoot chief determined to drive whites out of the area in Blood Arrow (1958)

John Dierkes as Ez, a trapper left blind after the Blackfeet burned out his eyes in Blood Arrow (1958)

Memorable lines:

Gabe, admiring Bess: “Every time that girl walks by, this game slows to a crawl.”
2nd Card player: “Pull in your horns, Bill. She’s a Mormon. Mormons don’t tolerate gamblers or … gamblers.”

Dan Kree: “You mean you’d give up a horse?”
Bess, trying to convince Kree to help deliver medical supplies to her valley: “When the lives of human beings are at stake.”
Kree: “I never saw a human being worth half as much as a good horse.”

Brill to Bess, about Kree: “You know, I think he was raised on sour milk.”

Phyllis Coates as Bess and Rock Shahan as her Indian guide Taslatch on the watch for trouble in Blood Arrow (1958)

Patrick O’Moore as McKenzie, the trading post owner who doesn’t want to turn over the medical supplies for fear of raising Little Otter’s ire in Blood Arrow (1958)

Scott Brady as Dan Kree, listening to Bess’s offer to help her get back to the valley in Blood Arrow (1958)