Ray Milland plays Kern Shafter, a man drummed out of the army for taking a saber to a fellow officer in a fight over a woman during the Civil War. He finds civilian life isn’t for him, so he heads West to join the 7th Cavalry, where he’s assured of some real action.
He finds real action, and an old enemy, Capt. Edward Garnett (Huge Marlowe), the officer he feuded with during the war. And, once again, the men find themselves competing for the same woman, pretty Josephine Russell (Helena Carter), daughter of a grocery store owner.
This time, Garnett is the superior officer and he takes advantage of his rank to put Shafter in one precarious position after another, frequently using him as bait to lure out the Sioux. Shafter meets every challenge, but there’s a bigger fight on the horizon — at the Little Big Horn.
Review:
After a slow start, a lively and better than average cavalry vs. Indian yarn. Custer’s Last Stand is the backdrop for the climax, but the backdrop only, as the story continues to focus on the feud between Shafter and Garnett.
Helena Carter comes off as a bit more sophisticated than you’d expect a grocer’s daughter to be. Garnett might be her boyfriend, but it’s Shafter who raises her curiosity.
Barton MacLane plays the captain who’s sympathetic to Shafter’s plight and protects him as much as he can. Tucker is a brute of a soldier named Donavan, who becomes fast friends with Shafter once he’s been beaten by him in a match of fisticuffs.
Directed by:
Roy Rowland
Cast:
Ray Milland … Kern Shafter
Helena Carter … Josephine Russell
Hugh Marlowe … Capt. Edward Garnett
Forrest Tucker … Donavan
Barton MacLane … Capt. Myles Moylan
George Reeves … Lt. Smith
James Millican … Sgt. Hines
Gertrude Michael … May
Stuart Randall … Bannack Bill
William “Bill” Phillips … Tinney
Runtime: 85 min.
Memorable lines:
Capt. Moylan: “Why’d you come out here, Kern.”
Kern Shafter: “Well, I guess I wasn’t cut out for civilian life. Or maybe the war knocked it out of me.”
Kern Shafter: “Back East, they just play at soldiering. Put you out on parade, then put you back in your box at night. I don’t want any part of that. I didn’t want any part of the aimless existence I’d drifted into either.”
Donovan to Shafter: “Get out of here. Leave a man to do his dying in peace.”
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