Cavalry Charge (1964)

Cavalry Charge (1964) posterAlan Scott is Cpl. Paul White, a new officer at a Royal Mounted Canadian post, and he rides into all sorts of trouble.

First, he rescues pretty Valerie Jackson (Maria Silva) when her horse guides her cart halfway across a river, then refuses to cross the rest of the way.

That immediately puts him on the wrong side of post commander John Bedford (Frank Latimore) because he considers Valerie his girl and White arrives with a reputation as a womanizer.

Fact is, he’s quite attracted to Valerie and vice versa.

Next, White interrupts crooked traders when they gun down three Indians for their furs, but spare pretty Flower of the Mountain (Diana Lorys), figuring she’s more useful alive than dead.

White rescues her, and she’ll return the favor more than once.

But the incident also prompts Chief Brown Bear to declare war against whites in the region.

And that means no one’s safe — fur trader, settlers or the soldiers inside the Mountie fort.

What’s more, just when the situation looks most bleak, White finds himself locked up in the fort for striking his superior officer.

And he’s in a cell next to the fur trader who started the whole mess.

Alan Scott as Cpl. Paul White, introducing himself as a new arrival in Cavalry Charge (1964)

Alan Scott as Cpl. Paul White, introducing himself as a new arrival in Cavalry Charge (1964)

Frank Latimore as Inspector John Bedford, in charge of the fort that's attacked in Cavalry Charge (1964)

Frank Latimore as Inspector John Bedford, in charge of the fort that’s attacked in Cavalry Charge (1964)

Review:

A couple of large-scale and pretty well handled battle scenes are the highlights of this north-of-the-border Western.

One features an Indian attack on a Mountie-guided wagon train taking the settlers to the fort for their safety. The other is an all-out attack on the Mountie outpost.

The latter would work better if Paul White’s faithful scout wasn’t used for comic relief, knocking out Indians as they sneak through a hole in the fort wall until he’s stacked up a whole pile of bodies, then blissfully tossing sticks of dynamite over his shoulder at the marauding warriors.

As for the female leads, Maria Silva is given little to do except appear torn as two handsome officers vie for her affections.

Diana Lorys has the more active role, freeing White after he’s been captured by her tribe, guiding him back to the fort, then freeing him again when he’s thrown in jail there.

Maria Silva as Valerie Jackson, torn between the affection of two men in Cavalry Charge (1964)

Maria Silva as Valerie Jackson, torn between the affection of two men in Cavalry Charge (1964)

Diana Lorys as Flower of the Mountain, watching Paul White fight the bad guys in Cavalry Charge (1964)

Diana Lorys as Flower of the Mountain, watching Paul White fight the bad guys in Cavalry Charge (1964)

Directed by:
Ramon Torrado

Cast:
Alan Scott … Cpl. Paul White
Frank Latimore … Inspector John Bedford
Diana Lorys … Flower of the Mountain
as Diana Loris
Maria Silva … Valerie Jackson
as Mary Silver
Alfonso Rojas … Sgt. Custer
Bernabe Barta Barri … Don Halsey
Fernando Bilbao … Brighton
Rafael Hernandez … Adams
Tito Garcia … Burton
Jose Truchado … Chief Brown Bear
Juan Cortes … Jackson

Also with: Rufino Ingles, Xan da Bolas, Alfonso de la Vega, Luis Barboo, Guilermo Mendez, Javier Ingles, Antonio Moreno, Ricardo G. Lillo

Runtime: 101 min.

aka:
La carga de la policia montada

Music: Daniel J. White

Tito Garcia as Burton, the fur trader behind much of the trouble in Cavalry Charge (1964)

Tito Garcia as Burton, the fur trader behind much of the trouble in Cavalry Charge (1964)

Jose Truchado as Chief Brown Bear, ready to lead an assault on the fort in Cavalry Charge (1964)

Jose Truchado as Chief Brown Bear, ready to lead an assault on the fort in Cavalry Charge (1964)

Memorial lines:

Sorry, I watched a foreign language version of this film.

Fernando Bibao as Brighton and Alfonso Rojas as Sgt. Custer, two of the officers serving under Bedford in Cavalry Charge (1964)

Fernando Bilbao as Brighton and Alfonso Rojas as Sgt. Custer, two of the officers serving under Bedford in Cavalry Charge (1964)

The sidekick and scout for Cpl. Paul White in Cavalry Charge (1964). Does anyone know who plays this part?

The sidekick and scout for Cpl. Paul White in Cavalry Charge (1964). Does anyone know who plays this part?

Trivia:

* New Jersey born Alan Scott appeared on one other Euro Western, 1964’s “Texas Ranger” with George Martin, Jose Nieto, Susy Anderson and Silvia Solar.

* Frank Latimore had appeared in a number of Hollywood films in the 1940s before heading to Europe to appear in films there. According to IMDb, he met his wife, opera singer Rukmini Sukarno in Rome in the 1960s. She was daughter of the president of Indonesia.

Diana Lorys as Flower of the Mountain finds Paul White (Alan Scott) a captive of her tribe in Cavalry Charge (1964)

Diana Lorys as Flower of the Mountain finds Paul White (Alan Scott) a captive of her tribe in Cavalry Charge (1964)

Maria Silva as Valerie Jackson and Alan Scott as Cpl. Paul White in Cavalry Charge (1964)

Maria Silva as Valerie Jackson and Alan Scott as Cpl. Paul White in Cavalry Charge (1964)

Frank Latimore as Inspector John Bedford and Alfonso Rojas as Sgt. Custer talk strategy in Cavalry Charge (1964)

Frank Latimore as Inspector John Bedford and Alfonso Rojas as Sgt. Custer talk strategy in Cavalry Charge (1964)

Diana Lorys as Flower of the Mountain, showing gratitude to Paul White, the officer who rescued her in Cavalry Charge (1964)

Diana Lorys as Flower of the Mountain, showing gratitude to Paul White, the officer who rescued her in Cavalry Charge (1964)

Rate this movie on film's main page.

Leave a Reply

Comment moderation is enabled. Your comment may take some time to appear.