Dragoon Wells Massacre (1957)

Dennis O’Keefe is Capt. Matt Riordan, the lone survivor of an Indian attack. But pretty soon, he finds himself de facto commander of a small caravan trying to make it to the safety of Dragoon Wells with the Apache on the warpath.

There’s Marshall Bill Haney’s prison wagon, with accused killers Link Ferris (Barry Sullivan) and Tioga (Jack Elam) aboard.

There’s a trader’s wagon driven by Jonah (Sebastian Cabot). And there’s a stage with two pretty women aboard, Mara Fay (Katy Jurado) and Ann Bradley (Mona Freeman).

Ann used to be Riordan’s lover; now she’s involved with a rich businessman who can buy her anything she wants.

One Indian attack later, the caravan is reduced to the trading wagon, which turns out to be filled with rifles Jonah planned to deliver to the Apache. And that trek to Dragoon Wells will only get tougher, as O’Keefe’s motley band is whittled down, man by man.

Along the way, he takes a liking to Mara. Ann and Link spar, before sparks fly between them as well.

But with the odds they face, it doesn’t appear either romance will have a chance to blossom.

Dennis O’Keefe as Capt. Matt Riordan, trying to negotiate with the Indians in Dragoon Wells Massacre (1957)

Barry Sullivan as Link Ferris, one of the outlaws being delivered for justice in Dragoon Wells Massacre (1957)

Review:

Spirited little Western that survives some improbabilities, like Ann having fallen for three different men in the less than merry little troupe and Riordian’s survival of the initial Indian attack because the Apache chief “owed him.”

Freeman and Jurado engage in a spirited catfight, and the script throws in a rather fanciful ending.

This marked one of the final film roles for Freeman, who would continue to play small roles on TV for several years. Sullivan would later star in a pair of short-lived Western series, as Pat Garrett in “The Tall Man” (1960-62) and as Ben Pride in “The Rode West” (1966-67).

Mona Freeman as Ann Bradley, getting to know Link better in Dragoon Wells Massacre (1957)

Katy Jurado as Mara Fay, trying to teach Ann the value of a canteen full of water in Dragoon Wells Massacre (1957)

Directed by:
Harold D. Schuster

Cast:
Barry Sullivan … Link Ferris
Dennis O’Keefe … Capt. Matt Riordan
Mona Freeman … Ann Bradley
Katy Jurado … Mara Fay
Sebastian Cabot … Jonah
Max Showalter … Phillip Scott
Jack Elam … Tioga
Trevor Bardette … Marshal Bill Haney
Jon Shepodd … Tom
Hank Worden … Hopi Charlie
Warren Douglas … Jud
Judy Stranis … Susan
Alma Beltran … Station agent’s wife

Sebastian Cabot as Jonah, the man caught smuggling rifles to the Indians in Dragoon Wells Massacre (1957)

Trevor Bardette as Marshal Bill Haney, trying to deliver two outlaws to justice in Dragoon Wells Massacre (1957)

Memorable lines:

Ann Bradley, upon learning of outlaw Link Ferris’ fine background: “Why’d he throw it all away?”
Marshal Haney: “Who knows? I guess some people are just born heaven bound and some, like him, hell bent for sure.”

Link, to Ann: “You have the disposition of a sick Apache.”
Ann: “Well, if you don’t like my disposition, why don’t you leave me alone?”
Link: “Maybe because you don’t want me to, for one thing.”
Ann: “You’re crazy.”
Link: “Besides which, I never had the sense to run away from trouble.”

Tioga: “Trouble comes easy to an ugly man. You know, even as a kid I’d try extra hard to be real nice and always do the right thing. It was no use. Into each face, would come the same look? So I’d run away and hide. Then, one day, I saw that same look in my mother’s face, so I run away and didn’t go back … because I was ugly, they thought I was bad.”

Mara Fay to Ann Bradley: “Miss Fancy Britches. I have been waiting to muss you up for days.”
Ann: “I’m going to muss you up, too!”
And let the catfight begin!

Katy Jurado as Mara Fay and Dennis O’Keefe as Capt. Matt Riordan, pondering their chances in Dragoon Wells Massacre (1957)

Max Showalter as Phillip Scott with Mona Freeman as Ann Bradley in Dragoon Wells Massacre (1957)

Jack Elam as Tioga, discovering what Jonah has in his wagon in Dragoon Wells Massacre (1957)

Hank Worden as Hopi Charlie, the stage driver in Dragoon Wells Massacre (1957)

Judy Stranis as Susan, the young girl the motley crew rescue in Dragoon Wells Massacre (1957)

John War Eagle as Yellow Claw, chief of the marauding Indians in Dragoon Wells Massacre (1957)

Dennis O’Keefe as Capt. Matt Riordan, threatening the life of Jonah (Sebastian Cabot) in Dragoon Wells Massacre (1957)

Barry Sullivan as Link Ferris, getting a wound treated by Ann Bradley (Mona Freeman) in Dragoon Wells Massacre (1957)