Bugles in the Afternoon (1952)

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. He also finds 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.

Ray Milland as Kern Shafter, sticking by a severely wounded comrade in Bugles in the Afternoon (1952)

Hugh Marlow as Capt. Edward Garnett, a man with an old grudge against Ken Shafter in Bugles in the Afternoon (1952)

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.

Helena Carter as Josephine Russell, the pretty woma Kern Shafter and Capt. Garnett both court in Bugles in the Afternoon (1952)

Forrest Tucker as Donavan, a soldier who becomes good friends with Kern Shafter in Bugles in the Afternoon (1952)

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.

Barton MacLane as Capt. Myles Moylan, learning of a cavalry disaster in Bugles in the Afternoon (1952)

James Millican as Sgt. Hines, trying to survive an attack by the Sioux in Bugles in the Afternoon (1952)

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.”

Helena Carter as Josephine Russell and Ray Milland as Kern Shafter, during a carriage ride in Bugles in the Afternoon (1952)

William ‘Bill’ Phillips as Tinney, one of the soldiers in the 7th Cavalry in Bugles in the Afternoon (1952)

Stuart Randall as Bannack Bill, a cavalry scout warning of trouble in Bugles in the Afternoon (1952)

Ray Milland as Ken Shafter and Forrest Tucker as Donavan, awaiting another charge by the SIoux in Bugles in the Afternoon (1952)