Macdonald Carey is Jim Bowie, sent West to help negotiate a treaty with the Comanche and come to terms so that the government can mine silver on their land.
But there’s trouble afoot. Katie Howard (Maureen O’Hara) and brother Stacey (Charles Drake) have their eyes on that silver. So they swipe the treaty from Daniel Seeger and plan to move in on the Comanche land, knowing a new copy of the treaty is unlikely to arrive in time to meet a key deadline.
Bowie decides to pose at a silver buyer in order to figure out who’s behind the shenanigans. Soon, all signs point to Katie, the feisty, yet attractive redhead he keeps bumping heads with.
She confesses and tells Bowie greed isn’t her motivation. Her true goal is to make sure whites settle and flourish on the land her ancestors fought so hard to tame. He, in turn, convinces her she’s going about it in the wrong way — that the government needs the silver and that violating the treaty will merely lead to bloodshed.
And so Katie, growing sweeter on Bowie by the minute, has a change of heart. Her brother goes along — or rather pretends to go along — with her new view on how to help the territory thrive.
Review:
Every bit as hokey as it sounds — the town where Bowie heads to solve the mystery is called Crooked Tongue! — with an ending that follows right along.
Fortunately, the script doesn’t call for the film to take itself too seriously. For instance, Will Geer plays Seeger in the film’s best role. The government agent, he’s sure he can identify the person who stole the treaty from him by the smell of their perfume. So he spends the early part of the film sniffing everyone he meets.
And after threatening to spank Katie more than once, Jim gives her a couple swift kicks in the tush when she gets stuck under a table during a ballroom brawl. The film’s message: She might be feisty, but she’s also a woman who needs to be put in her place.
Hardly one of the more memorable films from director George Sherman or better Westerns featuring Maureen O’Hara.
Directed by:
George Sherman
Cast:
Maureen O’Hara … Katie Howard
Macdonald Carey … James Bowie
Will Geer … Daniel Seeger
Charles Drake … Stacey Howard
Pedro de Cordoba … Quisima
Ian MacDonald … Walsh
Rick Vallin … Pakanah
Parley Baer … Boozer
James Best … Sam
Edmund Cobb … Ed
Glenn Stranger … Big Joe
Runtime: 76 min.
Memorable lines:
Jim Bowie, about the bullet in Seeger’s arm: “I’ll get it out as quick and easy as I can.”
Daniel Seeger: “No hurry, son. But don’t throw it away. I like to save the lead folks take out of me. Got near three pounds of it.”
Daniel Seeger, introducing himself: “Daniel Gideon Seeger. Ex-hunter. Ex-Indian fighter. Ex-Congressman. And, as you have probably figured out, the biggest hog-tied, jug-headed, turnip-sucking liar in the whole world.”
Jim Bowie: “I didn’t know ladies made bets.”
Katie, pulling her gun: “You call me a lady once more and I’ll fill you full of lead.”
Jim Bowie to Katie, who’s holding a gun on him: “In Louisiana, when we meet a lady, we make love to her, we kiss her and occasionally, we spank her. But we don’t shoot her.”
Daniel Seeger: “I’ll keep on smelling til my smeller gives out.”
Stacey Howard: Katie’s really a nice person, Mr. Bowie, once you get to know her better.
Jim Bowie: “Getting to know her better is one ordeal I’m hoping to spare myself.”
){kind=link}